Sophie successfully defended her national under-17 time trial title at the club road championships in Napier, representing the Central Otago-Wakatipu Cycling Club, and then made it a double by claiming the road race title.
Sophie has been selected in the New Zealand Under-17 team to compete in the Kowalski Junior Tour of Canberra in July.
It is an event familiar to her, as she won the under-15 title in 2008 and won two stages in the under-17 section last year.
Her progression into the sport came naturally as both of her parents race and her two older brothers are also top cyclists.
Sophie started riding when she was 12 and she is fortunate in having her father as her coach.
She rides about 300km a week as part of her training which includes hill work and sprint training, as well as two longer rides during the weekend.
Sophie is aiming to make the New Zealand team to compete in the world junior track and road cycling championships in Europe next year and she has set a goal to compete at the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games in years to come.
Paddlers make national squad
Six Dunstan High School kayakers have been selected in the New Zealand junior development squad.
They are: Rachael McLellan (second year), Finn Butcher (second year), Robert Hervey (second year), Geoff Johnson, Marcus Norbury and Matthew Arnott.
Their selection is based upon their performance in the recent national competitions.
They will train over the winter (as long as the ice is not too thick on the pond) before attending a training camp in spring.
They will join the other 12 members of the squad in January and travel to Australia, where they will compete in the Australian secondary school championships and the Australian national championships.
Before heading home, the paddlers will also get a week's training on the Sydney Olympic slalom course at Penrith.
Sporting activity at Queen's HS
Queen's High School' Interact Group held a sportathon in the last weekend in May to raise funds for World Vision.
Pupils, other schools and businesses were invited to enter teams to play a variety of sports.
Ten teams entered, including pupils from Queen's, Taieri College, John McGlashan College and local primary schools.
The Interact Group raised $570 for World Vision.
Danielle de Caigney ran the fastest individual time to help her team gain third place in the junior girls section of the Otago-Southland cross-country relays recently.
Other team runners included Crystal Hale, Yazmin de Caigney and Marcia Bylsma.
The Queen's cross-country was held in warm conditions on June 2 at Kettle Park.
The 3km course included a beach run and hill climbing through the scrub.
Danielle de Caigney won the junior section.
Yazmin de Caigney was second and Marcia Bylsma third.
In a very tight race, Crystal Hale narrowly beat Sophie Robb in the senior race.
Maxine Shanks placed third.
Taieri College duathletes
The Otago secondary schools duathlon was held in superb conditions on the North Taieri course recently.
This popular event featured more than 100 pupils from schools across Otago in both team and individual races.
Taieri College pupils came to the fore in many different races with success in the following areas: Jay Bremer and Logan Jenkins (first junior boys team), Hayden Symons and Bailey Koppert-Duggan (first intermediate boys team), Denton Hayward and Ricky Moore (second intermediate boys team), Aaron Blair and Brad Evans (first senior boys team), Ellicia Hiom and Caitlyn Kelly (third junior girls team), Melissa Bates and Amy Pearce (second senior girls team), Jayne Beattie and Alysha Keith (third senior girls team).
Bayfield pupils perform well
A large group of Bayfield High School pupils entered the Otago duathlon championships held recently on the Taieri Plain.
Strong interest has been shown by junior pupils who have competed regularly in triathlon and duathlon competitions, including weekend races.
The school intends to develop this talent by setting up a strong multisport/triathlon group.
The pupils competing in the Otago duathlon gained some excellent results: Samantha Hope and Robbie Gwynne-Jones won the intermediate mixed team section in a very fast time.
Jeremy Hadfield won the junior boys individual race, Sam Cresswell and Lachlan McCabe were second in the junior boys teams race, with Sam Van der Byl and Andrew Soper third in the same event.
The intermediate girls team of Jessica Todd, Rylee Davis and Danni Galdeman finished second.
St Hilda's runners prominent
The St Hilda's distance runners have been enjoying competing in the weekly road race, duathlon and cross-country events held over the last month.
There are 10 athletes from St Hilda's travelling to the New Zealand secondary schools cross-country championships being held in Waikanae on June 19, so these lead-up races have helped their preparation.
Amelia Kinnaird, Ruby Smith, Laura Mackay and Rebekah Greene won the Caversham relay and the Otago-Southland cross-country relay in Milton, with Rebekah gaining the fastest lap time in both events.
The St Hilda's year 9 team of Sophie Russell, Meg McKay, Harriet Keown and Millie Gordon was second in the junior races.
In the Otago secondary schools duathlon, Amelia was first, Rebekah was second and Laura third in the senior race, and Millie was second and Esther Fogarty third in the junior individual race.
Harriet Keown and Kate Holden were second in the junior girls team event, while eight other year 13 girls competed in the senior event as training for their NCEA year 13 triathlon.
Mt Aspiring netball tournament
Neither rain nor snow nor flooding could stop the Mt Aspiring College year 9 and 10 netball tournament from going ahead on May 30.
Fifteen teams representing Mt Aspiring, Dunstan, Wakatipu, Blue Mountain, Lawrence, Roxburgh and Columba met at Wanaka and played fantastic netball.
The A grade consisted of six teams, with the Mt Aspiring 10A team winning this grade with five wins out of five.
Dunstan 10 was second and Wakatipu third.
The B Grade was split into two pools, with Roxburgh and Mt Aspiring Green finishing with equal points, playing each other in the last game of their pool.
Roxburgh was too strong and took top spot, while Wakatipu year 9 was consistently ahead to come out on top in its pool.
The final game of the day was played in sunshine, Roxburgh v Wakatipu 9, with Wakatipu taking a narrow win.
Many of these girls will be travelling to Dunedin to play in the Otago secondary schools tournament.
Mt Aspiring College has had a number of successes lately: Jessica Bailey has been named in the New Zealand under-18 kayak slalom development team which will travel to Australia in January, Alex Dodds was second in the senior boys race at the Otago schools duathlon, while the under-13 boys placed first and the under-14 boys and under-16 girls both placed second in their age groups at the recent Central Otago futsal Competition in Queenstown.
Cromwell College round-up
Matt Beaumont and Dave Borrie entered the Southland schools orienteering championships held in Invercargill recently with Matt finishing third in the novice boys year 9-10 and Dave fourth.
Caitlin Walker, Jacinda Morton and Abby Holden all won medals in the New Zealand samurai karate championships held recently.
Along with Rianne Walker, they will head to Australia later in the year as part of a New Zealand team.
Vanessa Noble has been named in the Otago Under-19 netball team and Annalyse Shaw has made the Otago Under-18 hockey team.
Cromwell College girls and boys teams competed in the recent secondary schools futsal tournament held in Queenstown.
Cromwell girls won their grade and qualified to compete in the national tournament held in Timaru.
Shannon Jones (14), the captain, has been selected for the New Zealand Under-16 team.
These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Assn Inc (OSSSA) which is proudly sponsored by the Perpetual Trust.
Contacts: Des Smith, Otago Regional Sports Director, PO Box 6303, Dunedin.
Ph 470 1337 Fax 470 1786 Email: des@osssa.org.nz Website: www.osssa.org.nz
