Columba College
The netball season is well under way for the teams at Columba College. This year the college has three year 9 teams, four year 10 teams and eight senior netball teams competing.
The format for the competition has changed this year with schools being able to enter teams in any grade regardless of the age of the team members. This has seen Columba enter the Senior B and C teams in Premier 1 (top Secondary School division), 10A are in Premier 2 and 9A are in the Premier 3 grade. Teams will move up or down a grade depending on their results throughout the season. The Senior A netball team is competing in the Premier B grade of the club competition once again.
Representative trials were held for U14, U15 and U17 teams recently. Columba College is well represented in all teams. The following are the girls who have been selected for Dunedin Netball Centre teams:Under 14: Cherish-Peach Nielsen, Emma Turner, Analise Cowie.
Under 15: Grace Carruthers, Laura Saville, Georgie Wood, Georgia Nichol, Olivia Wilson, Annabel Angland.
Training partners/non-travelling reserves: Millie Townsend and Olivia StevensUnder 17: Bridget Thayer, Renaye Flockton, Hannah Cowie.
During May, the Columba College Sports Council hosted a golf tournament at the Otago Golf Club.
About 25 teams of four competed, made up of Columba College Old Boys, Columba College Old Girls plus friends and families of the college both past and present. Sponsorship for the tournament came from local business houses, many of which have an association with the college. The golf tournament is set to become an annual event and judging by the level of interest and participation it will become a fixture on many calendars.
Samara Dalziel was selected for the Southern U21 team that competed recently at the New Zealand tournament held in Dunedin. She has also been selected in the Otago U18 team that will contest the New Zealand tournament in Wellington in the July holidays. Alexandra Menzies, Rose Johnston, Tyla Tohereri-O'Neill, Mackenzie Cassie and Emma Stackhouse were selected in the Otago U15 team that will contest the national tournament in Invercargill in the July break.
At the Logan Park road race, Columba College juniors took the top three places, with Hanna English first, Charlotte Cahill second and Olivia Wilson third.
This was excellent running from these girls in a field of 33 runners. Columba's top senior girls were Laura Carruthers in fifth place and Sian English six, in a field of 29 runners.
The Columba juniors continued their form at the Caversham road relay held at Kings High School.
Hanna English posted the fastest junior individual time of 6min 37ssec and Charlotte Cahill was third fastest in 6min 48sec. Grace Carruthers and Olivia Wilson ran strongly to complete the victory. The senior team consisted of Laura Carruthers, Sophie Napper, Sian English and Laura Bridger, who finished third behind the winners Otago Girl's and St Hilda's.
At the Otago-Southland road relay, held in Milton, both the senior and junior teams were placed second. Laura Carruthers posted the second-fastest senior time and Charlotte Cahill the third-fastest junior time.
Queens High Cycling and Aerobics
Queens High School has four year 13 students who have taken up a fantastic road cycling opportunity offered by Susy Pride. This initiative is supported by Wilkinson Adams Lawyers, Cycling Otago and the OSSSA Inc. Susy and her husband Chris Drake run cycling clinics in schools that instil a basic knowledge of road cycling. During the Friday recreational hour each week, either Susy or her husband Chris come into Queen's to take Merlissa Leslie, Maxine Shanks, Kate Robertson and Antoinette McIntosh out for a ride. The girls learn safety and basic training drills and how to ride together in a team trial formation. All girls have shown a great deal of promise, with their fitness levels being of a high standard already. While the girls were a little nervous at first about cycling in a pack formation, they have quickly started to get the hang of this and are now enjoying these rides; despite Chris's habit of wanting to extend the distance of the rides each week. It is hoped the group will join in on muster rides for all schools on Sundays.
Members of the Queen's High aerobics team competed in the (GSNZ) Otago Aerobics Championships on May 21st. This is the first time GSNZ has run the event in Otago. The standard of the competition was high with competitors from Auckland, Invercargill and Dunedin.
Seven of the 10-strong Queens High School team were competing for the first time and all but one placed in their respective categories.
Courtney Cummings also judged the heats after completing a judges course earlier in the year.
Several of the Queen's team, who weren't competing, helped out on the day with make-up, hair, warm-ups and the videoing of routines.
Bayfield Cross Country
This year's Bayfield High School cross country teams have a younger look about them with the departure of several well performed seniors. Leon Hook and Aaron Anderson, both year 9, have stood out in the boys helping the junior boys teams to credible placings in the Caversham (Kings) road relay and Milton cross country relay with a seventh out of nine teams and eighth out of 12 teams respectively.
In the Milton relays an all year 9 girls team was entered finishing an excellent sixth out of 17 teams with the versatile Shannon Hope being the standout performer. However it has been the senior girls team with standouts Jess Todd (year 11), and Britta Hamill (year 9) being backed up by Danielle Galdeman (year 11) and Melissa Halley (year 10) that have shown promise for the next couple of years with an impressive fourth in both relay events.
Cromwell College
Cromwell College has also been busy attending the cross country series, with the best results at the Milton relays, with senior mixed team of Brad Thompson, Jarred Maclachlan, Jess Offen and Laura Young placing second. The junior girls team placed eighth out of 17 and the junior boys team placed seventh out of 12. In both events this is the largest numbers the school has had compete.
Some recent top achievements by students have been:Abby Holden has passed her black belt grading in samurai karate; Brad Pako has been selected in the U21 New Zealand wood chopping team; Abby Holden and Nikita Schwass have been selected for the Central Otago U17 netball team and Kelsey Milne in the Central Otago U15 team. In hockey, Campbell Morton, Ethan Pugh, Bryn Gibson, Sean Fields, Joseph Pugh, Simon Taylor and Gabe Eden have all been selected in the Central Otago U15 team, and in basketball, Jennifer O'Connell has been selected in the U15 Central Otago team.
Kavanagh College
In the recent interschool fixture played between Kavanagh College and Roncalli (Timaru), great composure was shown in the last play of the rugby match and interschool by young Kavanagh College Under 16 first five-eighth Conor Clydsedale. He kicked a 30m penalty goal, in windy conditions at Kettle Park, winning the game and ultimately sealing victory for Kavanagh 4-3 in the sporting fixtures overall. Five sports were involved with seven teams each from Kavanagh and Roncalli. Overall, it was a great day, with Dunedin turning on the weather and great sportsmanship from both schools.
Kavanagh College is involved the inaugural junior quad tournament (years 7-10) which is contested between Kavanagh, St Kevin's, St Peter's and Verdon this year. The junior quad took place on June 1, involving basketball, netball and rugby teams competing from each school. This will be followed up by a senior quad (years 11-13) later in the year.
Joe Larson has made the Milk Cup soccer team and Zoe McBride, Hannah Duggan, Jack O'Leary and Bryce Abernethy had outstanding achievements at the rowing awards.
St Hilda's Representative Honours
As the winter sporting season continues many of the pupils have been selected in representative teams.
Shontelle Smith has recently been named in the New Zealand U17 football training squad. We were also delighted to learn of the selection of Holly Johnstone, Kate Morris and Annabel Batchelor in the Touch NZ Elite Youth Academy. Tessa Jopp and Courtney Ross competed in the Southern U21 hockey team that competed in the national tournament held in Dunedin. They have also been selected in the Otago U18 team, along with Ginny Spratt, Ginny Wilson, Lucy Kitchin, Maddie Parker, Kristin Tisdall, Kate Morris and Nita Sullivan.
Natalie Ashton, Laura McKenzie, Kate Holden, Harriet Keown, Maggie Burns and Kim Paisley have been named in Dunedin U14, U15 and U17 netball representative teams.
Recently, Caitlin Kenny won the girls high jump at the 2011 NZCAA Interprovincial teams meeting for grade 12 and 13 athletes in Taranaki, with a jump of 1.55m.
Mikaela Walsh won level 9 at both the Canterbury and Otago rhythmic gymnastic events. Alexa Anderson was second at both events for level 7, and Paige Walsh was third at Canterbury for level 7.
Sophie Coutts was third at Otago championships for level 6. The grade 4 group including Claire Lau, Gracie Hannagan and Emma Cunningham were first at the Canterbury and Otago championships, and the grade 5 group including Mikaela and Paige Walsh, Alexa Anderson and Sophie Coutts were third at the Canterbury championships.
During May weekly events were held where athletes competed in road races, relays, cross country and duathlons. Rebekah Greene was first in the senior girls Logan Park Road Race.
The St Hilda's senior team of Rebekah Greene, Laura Rogers, Frances Fulton and Caitlin O'Brien was second at the Kings Relay. Rebekah recorded the fastest time and Caitlin the third fastest time in the senior girls race. The St Hilda's junior team of Claudia Sole, Harriet Keown, Meg Mckay and Fran Chignall was second and Holly Campbell, Esther Fogarty, Erin O'Brien and Aleisha Ruske were third in the junior girls race.
At the Otago Secondary Schools Duathlon held at North Taieri, Esther Fogarty was second in the individual girls section while Meg McKay and Millie Gordon came second, with Harriet Keown and Bailey Sutherland third in the intermediate teams.
Calendar of Events
June 12, 13: Otago Netball Champs, Edgar Centre.
June 15: AWD Football Tournament, Edgar Centre.
These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association Inc (OSSSA) which is proudly sponsored by Perpetual. Contacts: Des Smith, Otago Regional Sports director, PO Box 6303, Dunedin. Ph 470-1337 Email:des@osssa.org.nz Website: www.osssa.org.nz
