Athletics days focus for many schools

Photo: ODT files
Photo: ODT files
These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association  which is proudly sponsored by Perpetual Guardian

St Hilda's Collegiate

The annual St Hilda's athletics day managed to time the weather just right for the second year in a row with plenty of sunshine. There were some fantastic results throughout the day with championship-winning performances from Sarah Langsbury in the junior championship, Millie Scully the intermediate championship and Joccoa Palmer the senior championship.

St Hilda's placed second in the OSSS touch championships, qualifying to compete at the SISS championships.

Phoebe Aburn, Sophie Sinclair and Emily Hurdle finished first in the intermediate girls team event and Georgia Mitchell was second in the individual duathlon at the SISS triathlon championship. Suzie White was first in the senior girls event at the OSS champs

The first XI cricket team which won the 2016 NZCT championship has progressed to the regional final and will face Blue Mountain College to try to qualify to defend its New Zealand title

St Hilda's rowing has also had some very notable results with the novice double of Sophie Sinclair and Olivia Whelan-Henderson claiming first at the Canterbury SS champs. St Hildas also retained the Martha Gillies Trophy for top girls aggregate at the recent Otago Head of the Harbour Regatta.

Some good rowing conditions at the South Island champs in Twizel over the weekend led to great results with two silvers and a bronze in A finals. Sophie Sinclair and Olivia Whelan-Henderson took silver in the under-18 novice double. Emily Hurdle and Emma Burnside also claimed silver in the under-15 double and the under-15 girls octupule claimed bronze.

 

King's High School

All sports having been in full swing since early February. The school has had its athletic sports day and interschools against Southland Boys' and Shirley Boys'. The first X1 and junior first X1 had very good games with draws against Southland Boys and outright victories over Shirley Boys. The junior first X1 will be travelling to Palmerston North for the NZCT Tournament representing the Otago-Southland region during summer tournament week.

The touch programme run by Dan Koni reaped further rewards when the school won the OSS touch tournament. The sport was rewarded with more national success when year 13 pupil Josh Duff was named in the NZ open men's team to compete against Australia in May, while James Te Pairi, Josh Duff and Matt Horne were included in a NZ under-18 training camp. Sam Rowe and Taine Hand have been selected in a NZ under-16 talent ID squad.

Softballer Callum Rowley has been named in the NZ under-17 Junior Black Sox.

Liam Kinraid and Rhett Wilson are away with the NZ under-18 ice hockey team at the world champs in Taipei.

Seventy-three boys competed at the OSS athletics championships last weekend. A group of student coaches have attended a professional development course run by OSSSA at the Edgar Centre to give them practical knowledge around planning and implementing their own sessions.

 

Taieri College

Early in the term, the multisport team travelled to Cromwell for the Otago triathlon champs. Several individuals and teams gained placings.

The Taieri College mixed touch team had a highly successful OSS tournament, finishing second in the mixed grade and earning a spot in the South Island tournament in Christchurch.

In cricket, numbers have grown in recent years with four teams playing in the Saturday secondary school grades, and several senior players playing in the Taieri club senior teams. This growth in numbers has also been backed by strong performances in the qualifying rounds of the First XI Cup before a loss to Wakatipu High School.

The senior girls volleyball team has had some great wins and a couple of close losses at the OSS tournament. The team used the tournament as a warm-up for the national tournament in Palmerston North.

After a strong series of results from the school athletics day, Taieri College had a successful OSS champs. Four students broke Otago records - Hannah Ashton and Tara McNally one each, and Zharna Beattie and Hamish Mears two apiece. Twenty-six students have now qualified to go through to the Otago-Southland champs in Invercargill.

 

Logan Park High School

Athletics has been a focus this term with the school athletics day a highlight on the calendar and more than 400 students competing. Twenty-one students competed last weekend at the OSS champs with some impressive results. Leila East Giles won the under-16 long jump and was second in the 100m. Rebecca Dalphin was first in the under-14 3000m. Leila and Rebecca will be joined by Jacob Duffy, Zack Hibbert, Finn Lillis and Flynn Nichols, who also qualified for the Otago Southland athletics champs on March 25.

Year 10 pupil Ann Walrond has been selected as one of two top-20 sailors from the National Sailing Open BIC in January and will now compete in Bermuda in June.

Year 11 pupil Annie Kennedy Atchison competed at the Otago regional surf life-saving champs in February and won the individual under-16 ski race and won gold in the overall under-19 ironman event. She is training for the nationals later this month.

There are 12 futsal teams, nine tennis teams and six volleyball teams competing in local competitions as well as two handball teams competing in the new OSSSA and Dodgeball Otago competition. The mixed team has won all its handball games so far.

The senior boys A futsal team will compete at the nationala in Wellington later this month.

Kendo Otago and Logan Park have started a school-based kendo club and more than 20 pupils are involved.

Jacob Duffy and Lily Menzies are the head boy and girl of school sport and will lead the busy student sports council. Twenty-two students attended the student coach workshop last week.

A coaching academy called Logan Park Ace has been set up and students are coaching cricket, touch, volleyball and futsal at Dunedin North Intermediate this term.

 

Kaikorai Valley College

The college has had a busy start to the year with the school athletics on February 22 on the school grounds. Students dressed up in house colours and competed for points.

The school held the annual sports expo day last week. The weather was perfect and more than 800 pupils from KVC and contributing schools were able to try out new sports and activities throughout the day. With the introduction of new activities such as slacklining, marching and ultimate frisbee, the number of stations has grown to 34.

Two rugby league nines teams (year 7-8 and year 9&10) have been entered for the carnival day on Friday at Logan Park. This will run all day with finals being played as a curtain-raiser for the Warriors-Bulldogs game in the evening.

At the end of this month, Riccarton High School will visit the school for the bi-annual, overnight sports exchange. Kaikorai Valley College and Riccarton High school are sister schools which both opened in 1958 and the exchanges have been happening for almost 60 years. The Summer Shield will be up for grabs and there will be some serious competition across the sporting codes of touch, volleyball, athletics, tennis, and futsal.

 

John McGlashan College

Over the summer holidays, there were some stunning individual achievements.

Ryan Whelan was named in the New Zealand under 18-cricket team, George Hope was third in the NZSSl senior boys javelin and sailor Ollie Gilmour was first in the South Island Fresh Water Championships, first New Zealander in the National Bic Open and first in the Sir Peter Blake competition. His achievements earned him one of four available spots to travel with Russell Coutts to Italy where he will be coached for two weeks.

The rowing squad is building well for Maadi. It picked up four gold, one silver and one bronze at the South Island club regatta and enjoyed healthy competition with Otago Boys High School at the recent Head of the Harbour regatta. Competition was close throughout the regatta and the result was in the balance through to the final race, which was the eight. Gear failure hampered the Otago Boys eight, allowing McGlashan to take first and second place and retain the Head of the Harbour trophy.

The school athletics championships were held in perfect weather. Six records were broken, one each to Taylor Mechen, Dom Morrison and George Bell while rising star Josh Hou broke three novice records, all in distance races.

 

Roxburgh Area School

The has had a very busy start to the year with the school triathlon, swimming and athletic sports.

Haidyn Pringle broke six school records in swimming and has just returned from the national division 2 championships in Rotorua with six-personal bests. He was top 10 in three events.

At the Otago-Southland triathlon in Cromwell, Danae Wales, Alex Darling and Ethan Kitto were first in the mixed senior section and Tiaan McKinnel was first in the senior multisport event.

Brooke Johnston broke six school records at the athletics in 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, high jump, triple jump and shot put and Maddy Moore broke a record in javelin.

Brooke Johnston and Caileigh Forbes achieved ribbons in the Southland showjumping event recently as well as many ribbons in the Roxburgh A&P show. Maddy Moore, Paige Robb and Danae Wales also received ribbons.

Tiaan Mc Kinnel was in a team that was first in the Rail Trail duathlon mixed section and Alex Darling was second in the open male two-day mountain bike race. The boys are now in training for the South Island Adventure race in Cromwell later this month.

 

Otago Girls' High School

Maddie Campbell (year 13) and Jenna Thorne (year 12) were members of the New Zealand Youth under-18 women's volleyball team which has just competed at the 2017 Asian Youth (under-18) Girls Volleyball Championships in China. Maddie was also selected as captain of the team.

Charlotte Hewson (year 9) and Alyssa Shelton (year 11) have been selected in a national high performance gymnastic squad.

Zillah Conder and Annaliese McDuff (both year 10) have both been selected for the International Softball Academy and also for the New Zealand under-17 team which will compete in a tournament in Sydney in September.

Ashley Dickinson (year 11) has been selected for the New Zealand under-18 ice hockey team travelling to Bangkok, while Hannah Matehaere (year 10) has been selected for the under-16 New Zealand basketball team

Carina Donegan was first in the under-19 tube rescue and surf teams and third in the under-19 ironwoman at the Southern Region surf life-saving championship. Lucy Matehaere was first in the open ski race, second in the under-19 ski race, first in the under-19 double ski and third in the under-19 board race in the same competition.

The novice coxed quad sculls recently placed second at the South Island rowing championships at Lake Ruataniwha. The team was Aaliyah Cumming, Lucy Merriman, Hannah Sims, Pippa Sparrow and Amy Hinch (Cox).

The team of Caitlin O'Donnell, Sarah Ford and Madison Wills was first in the junior girls team section at the OSS triathlon.

 

Dunstan High School

The school held its annual swimming and athletics sports in week two and three of the term. Conditions for both events were perfect and participation rates.

The athletics squad will be busy over the coming weeks as it competes in provincial and South Island meets. The team will be looking to replicate the fantastic results achieved at nationals last year, the highlight being third place in the senior girls 4x100m relay.

Likewise the rowers have been preparing for the SISS Championships followed by the Maadi Cup. They will go into these events with confidence after some strong performances at club nationals, including a gold to the girls novice quad.

The kayak squad will also head away to nationals next month with many of the team fresh from competing for New Zealand.

The first XI and junior cricket teams continue to compete in the local competition and the first XI recently competed in the First XV Cup with other secondary schools from Otago.


 

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