Successful season for Kings' cricketers

The King's High Junior First XI has played traditional rivals Southland Boys', Waitaki Boys' and Shirley Boys'.

All three matches were very tight and the experience gained was invaluable to the continuing development of the top junior players.

The first interschool was against Southland Boys' in Invercargill. King's won the toss and elected to bat. Harry Proctor scored 30 and Patrick Arnold chipped in 27, but the highlight was the impressive 71 scored by Kurt Johnston. The team scored 188 for five off 40 overs. Southland Boys' chased the total down with two overs to spare, despite Kurt Johnston's three wickets for 32.

Next up was Waitaki Boys' at home. Waitaki batted first, reaching 173 all out. King's was coasting in the run chase until several batsmen threw their wickets away, but King's got over the line in the 39th over. Kurt Johnston (38) and Patrick Arnold (27) led the scorers.

The final interschool was in Christchurch against Shirley Boys'. A solid opening partnership between Eli Turner (19) and Jordan Ward (21), followed by a faultless 44 from Patrick Arnold and 46 not out from Tarn Ockwell, helped King's to 172 off 40 overs. The bowlers then dismissed Shirley for 126. Offspinner Tom Pledge led the way with three for 17, while Cameron Botting and Matt Milton each took two wickets.

The touch team travels to the North Island in a couple of weeks to compete in the national secondary schools tournament. With Reece Te Pairi, Taylor Haugh, Hamish McCallion, Joe Cairns-Thompson, Jesse Farmer, Wilson Driver, Mika Vaitupu, and Radley Harahap all having been recently selected for the Otago under-19 team, the boys are quietly confident they will acquit themselves well.

Junior volleyball at King's is undergoing somewhat of a resurgence. Two teams are entered in the local competition and both have been extremely competitive in their respective grades. Last weekend, the A team competed in the Otago championships, which doubled as the South Island qualifier. After beating Bayfield, Taieri and Kavanagh in pool play, the team lost narrowly to Otago Boys' in the semifinals to finish third but qualify second for the South Island event. The goal at the upcoming Christchurch tournament is to qualify in the top 12 and progress to the top division.

St Hilda's awards

The school celebrated the achievements and success of its sportswomen at the annual sports awards evening. coach's choice awards were presented to individuals in each of the sports teams, and the champions from the school athletics, swimming sports, cross-country, badminton and tennis championships were acknowledged.

Sports and service blues were also presented. The nominees for the major prizes were announced and these will be announced and presented at the school prizegiving in December. It was great to recognise the girls who have been selected in New Zealand squads or trials this year: Aleisha and Nicole Ruske, Laura Taylor (basketball), Laura McKenzie (touch), Whitney Keenan (ice hockey), Shontelle Smith, Chelsea Whittaker (football), Tessa Jopp (hockey).

Taieri College

Sport at Taieri College has gone from strength to strength with fantastic growth in participation numbers as well as the performances of premier teams and athletes.

Participation numbers have increased 12%, the major winners being basketball (3%), football (one new team) and rugby (one new team). There has also been the formation of a multisport training squad at school and a netball development programme.

The Taieri First XV won the under-18 competition, the First XI football team was undefeated in league matches, the senior basketball teams gained promotion back to the A grade, and the year 8 netball team was undefeated in both the Taieri Plains competition and Dunedin schools competition.

A number of individuals have also made their mark. Tessa Nicol made the New Zealand schools football team, Will Pickering made the New Zealand development water polo team, Riley Bungard travelled to the Milk Cup with the Otago football team, Jarrod Casey gained Otago representative honours in both hockey and cricket, and Bradley and Aaron Tarleton are heading to the national schools athletics championships, having already broken Otago and South Island records in the hammer throw.

Otago Girls' update

Tayla MacDonald has been selected in the Otago under-21 cricket team and has recently been selected in the Otago Sparks team to play two twenty20 matches in Timaru.

On November 15-16, 10 teams competed in the Otago junior volleyball championships at the Edgar Centre. Otago Girls' had three teams competing. The 10A team emerged as champion after defeating Mt Aspiring College in the final (2-0). This qualified the team for division one at the South Island championships in Christchurch. The 9A team performed creditably to finish fourth and the 9B team finished eighth. In the junior Sports week tournament held on November 20, the 10A team was again the winner and the year 9 team finished third.

The water polo team was fifth at junior sports week. The tennis A team (Brooke Miller, Eliza Booth and Amelia King) won its competition.

Otago Girls' has eight athletes competing at the national secondary schools athletics championships from December 5 to 9.

John McGlashan cricket

The year 9A team travelled to Gore on November 19 to play St Peter's in the NZCT Cup. John McGlashan College batted first and got through to 148 for eight, Angus Simmers top-scoring with 35 and Fergus Keillor making 21. In reply, St Peter's fell two runs short at 146 for six, having needed nine runs off the last over. Ness Scully returned the impressive figures of five for 28.

The First XI has also had some outstanding achievements. Josh Preston has scored back-to-back centuries. His latest knock of 160 against University-Grange was tremendous and continued on his rich vein of form. Michael Rae smashed an outstanding 137 in the same game.

The McGlashan Second XI has joined the second grade and it is hoped this will build the school's depth and challenge the next tier of cricketers coming through.

Logan Park cricket

Logan Park High School beat Taieri College in the final of the twenty20 junior tournament held in Mosgiel on November 18-19.

Both teams went into the final with impressive wins over Kaikorai Valley College and John McGlashan in pool play. Taieri has won this tournament in the previous two years.,Logan Park had a team consisting mostly of year 10 pupils who had lost to Taieri in last year's final.

Taieri won the toss and sent Logan Park into bat. A solid opening partnership between David Spencer and Jaebyn Stevens saw the team through to 33 before the first wicket fell, bringing Taine Clinch to the crease. His aggressive hitting saw the run rate accelerate, and when George Maclaurin backed him up with a solid 48 not out, Logan Park had compiled a very competitive 145 for five at the end of 20 overs.

Taieri needed a solid start but lost an opener in the first over, bowled by man of the match Taine. A brief recovery by Taieri was halted by a screaming catch taken off Jaebyn's bowling by George at mid-on, which further turned the game Logan Park's way. Three run outs were executed as Taieri had to up the pace to reach the required run rate. As the overs passed and the total needed became insurmountable, Taieri was dismissed in the 19th over.

Dunstan High School

Dunstan hosted the Otago secondary schools junior softball tournament with teams from Dunstan, Kaikorai Valley, King's, Otago Boys', Maniototo and Roxburgh competing.

The Dunstan boys team, coached by Dylan Hoskins, beat Maniototo and Otago Boys', and drew 3-3 with King's. The Dunstan girls team, coached by Shaun Robinson, won all three games, against Maniototo, Kaikorai and Roxburgh.

Robert Allen competed in the Otago secondary schools junior golf tournament in Cromwell recently, recording the second best net score.

Georgia Vessey and Deahna Shearer were joint recipients of the sportswoman of the year award and the Kay Cup.

Georgia is a competent all-round sportswoman with particular strengths in tennis, cycling, netball, basketball and cross-country. She was last year's senior girls tennis champion and this year won the senior girls cross-country.

Georgia is best known for her cycling efforts, having represented New Zealand for three consecutive years. This year, she was captain of the New Zealand under-19 women's road cycling team that competed in the Australian championships. She was first New Zealander in both the under-19 Australian road race and criterium. Georgia has just been notified of her selection in the New Zealand under-19 squad for next year.

Deahna is also a multi-talented athlete. She was the senior girls swimming champion, has represented the netball A team for two years, and captained the girls adventure racing team that won the national title.

She has been a member of the New Zealand kayaking development squad for three years. This year, she was first in the under-18 K1 and C2 at the national schools kayaking and canoe slalom events. She also travelled to Europe to compete in the under-18 and under-23 world championships.

Will Meehan was sportsman of the year and recipient of the Morrison Cup. Will has represented the Dunstan First XI cricket team for three years and has also played softball for the boys A team for three years and was captain this year. He has played for the First XV rugby team for two years and this year was the recipient of the award for best contribution.

Will has also been a member of the boys A basketball team, which finished runner-up in the national championships in two consecutive years. Will's finest achievement was his selection for the New Zealand under-17 ISA softball team, which competed in Adelaide earlier this year.

 


• These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association (OSSSA) which is proudly sponsored by Perpetual Trust.

 

 

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