Otago junior touch teams recorded some impressive results at
the South Island tournament in Christchurch on Sunday, with
the girls teams proving a real force.
The Otago under-17 girls, under-15 girls, under-13 girls and
under-11 boys all gained victories at Sheldon Park in finals,
while the under-17 boys, under-11 girls and under-15 boys all
lost narrowly in their finals.
The under-17 girls team beat Southland 3-2 in the final, with
Laura McKenzie named most valuable player in her grade. Megan
Morrison, Olivia Wilson, Phoebe Steele and Grace Carruthers
were also named in the tournament team.
The under-15 girls were tied 3-3 with Canterbury in the final
at the end of fulltime. It went to extra time and with
players dropping off after two minutes, both sides were down
to four players when Otago went over the line to win the game
point.
Kiana Peasio was awarded the most valuable player in the
under-15 grade and was joined by Abbey Johnston, Atawhai
Hotene and Celine Timoko in the tournament team.
The under-13 side also required extra time to beat
Canterbury, with top efforts from Claudia Carruthers and
Mikayla Moore.
The under-11 boys beat Canterbury in the final, with good
efforts from Trey Russell and Angus Faulks.
The Otago under-17 boys had a tough final with Canterbury
before ending up on the wrong end of the scoreboard.
In extra time the teams could not be separated until both
sides had just three players each left on the field and
Canterbury claimed the win. Thomas Johnson was named the most
valuable under-17 player, while Hanlin Johnstone, Joseph
Cairns, Rory van Vugt and Taylor Haugh were named in the
tournament side.
Otago under-11 girls and under-15 boys were also involved in
close losses to Canterbury in their finals.
The next major tournament for Otago teams is the national
championships in Tauranga in March.
Otago traditionally sends only mixed teams but after the
success over the weekend, a boys and a girls under-17 team
will travel along with an under-15 mixed team.
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