These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association which is sponsored by Perpetual Guardian.
Dunstan High School
It has been a busy end to the winter season for Dunstan with many teams in finals for their respective competitions and others travelling to tournament week.
The senior A netball team won the Central Otago women's A grade along with 10A and 11A winning their grades. The first XI hockey team won the senior reserve A final and the Dunstan Falcons won their senior reserve B final.
Dunstan's first XV had a good win against St Kevin's in the Otago co-ed final and progressed through to the Highlanders region final where they faced St Peter's College. The teams could not be separated with a 17-17 score at fulltime. However, St Peters advanced to the South Island final as a result of being the first team to score a try in the game.
Dunstan's teams had mixed results at tournament week. The senior A netball lost in the plate final and was unlucky not to go through to the top 16 after missing out by a point. Both the hockey first XI and senior basketball team made it through to their semifinals but lost. The under-15 rugby side made it through to the B final but went down 17-10. The ice hockey team finished fourth overall while the boys and girls football sides started their week slowly but improved throughout their tournaments. The junior basketball team competed in tournament week for the first time. It had some tough matches and will be better for the experience.
John McGlashan College
Winter sport concluded with the hockey first XI losing its final against King's High School in a tightly contested match.
Seven teams travel to various parts of the country during tournament week. Best performed of these teams was the under-15 rugby side which won the Rural Livestock tournament. The senior football side finished third in its tournament, after penalty shots decided the final placings.
The first XI cricketers are preparing to travel to Melbourne in the school holidays. The opportunity to play on grass wickets at this time of the year will prove invaluable as a pre-season build-up.
Four swimmers attended the NZSS championships from in Hamilton on September 15-17. Ben Carr finished third in the 200m breaststroke. Geoffrey Kemp was first in the 400m freestyle, second in the 200m breaststroke and third in the 100m breaststroke and 200m backstroke. Nathan Wolf combined with the team to win two relays.
The star of the show was Courtland Ellis. He finished first in the 50m and 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle. He was also second in the 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m and 100m breaststroke, 50m backstroke and 200m individual medley. Courtland broke six school long-course records. The small team placed sixth in New Zealand and second in the South Island.
Kaikorai Valley College
The 2017 sports and cultural awards evening was held on September 26 when the school recognised many of the outstanding achievements of students this year. Recent impressive efforts include Kasib Murdoch continuing his fine form winning the national under-60kg boxing title.
Tessa Brownlie and Seth Moore competed in the South Island judo championships with Tessa collecting bronze medals in the under 63kg division and the open grade.
Charlie de Woeps was successful recently at the South Island surf life-saving championships in Timaru, gaining gold, silver and bronze medals in a variety of disciplines.
The year 12 Esol futsal team won the senior interform competition.
The staff smallbore shooting team defended its crown against the students and parents in the annual challenge.
The year 9 and 10 Get to Go Challenge team performed extremely well. The senior cross-country team won the recent co-ed race on the school grounds. The junior team came close to winning its section too. The gym is kept busy with the Dunedin primary schools table tennis competitions two afternoons a week.
King's High School
The first XI football finished second at the Jim Wishart Tournament in Christchurch, losing 4-3 in a penalty shootout to Kapiti College in the final.
The junior first XI football side won the inaugural NZSS junior tournament in Tauranga beating Westlake BHS 1-0 in extra time. This completed a very successful season as the team had also won the OSS junior midweek competition.
The first XI hockey team finished 10th at the prestigious Rankin Cup and remains a representative for next year's Rankin Cup/India Shield competitions. It also capped off a fine season by winning the Otago schools competition for the second year running.
The senior A ice hockey team finished second at the SISS tournament in Dunedin losing to Wakatipu High School 3-1 in the final.
The junior A basketball side finished a very creditable sixth in the junior SISS tournament in Ashburton.
The senior A basketball side finished 18th at the SISS Tournament in Dunedin.
The under-15 rugby team finished third after beating Marlborough Boys High School 36-22 in its final game at the invitational South Island tournament in Timaru.
The surfers were rewarded for consistent efforts with Elliot Brown, James Murphy, Jack McLeod, Reuben Peyroux and Jim Higgins all selected in the Otago-Southland scholastic team.
James Te Pairi-Simpson capped off a great rugby season with selection into the NZ Maori under-18 team to play games next month.
Malachi Buschl and Finn Ward have been selected into a New Zealand under-18 development hockey camp in December.
Logan Park High School
At the New Zealand boxing championships in September, Mane Marshall (17) won a silver medal in the under-18 64kg category. Earlier he won the Southland age-group championships and was named boxer of the tournament.
Rebecca Dalphin (13) won the junior girls individual section of the OSS duathlon championships last Sunday. Louis Freeman (16) was third in the senior boys individual section. It was a first duathlon for both.
Mae Rose Wills and Amasio Jutel attended the National Futsal Youth League as Otago representatives in July.
The curling team was third in the novice top six beating OGHS Outsliders 7-0.
In the Get 2 Go challenge adventure race on September, two junior teams competed. The race consisted of kayaking, orienteering, mountain biking and problem solving and is always a highlight on the sports calendar.
The boys hockey first XI attended the Coaches Cup in Oamaru as part of the winter tournament. The boys had a tough draw and narrowly missed out on the top eight.
The sports prefects have organised an interhouse indoor rowing competition as part of the House Challenge Shield to celebrate the end of the term.
Otago Girls' High School
The highlight of sporting achievements for the year has to be the girls first XV the secondary schoolgirls rugby competition. The hard fought-final against St Hilda's on September 13 was a real battle with Otago Girls' winning 44-43. The final was memorable also for the huge amount of school and community support present.
The junior A basketball team lost only one game in pool play at the South Island tournament in Ashburton qualifying it for the final against Kavanagh College which it narrowly lost. The senior A basketball team competed in the New Zealand qualifying tournament in Dunedin and was sixth overall.
The senior A netball team competed in the SISS tournament in Christchurch and finished 22nd, losing several games narrowly.
The senior A football team competed in the national tournament in Taupo finishing 12th.
The senior A hockey team finished 11th at the national tier tournament in Dunedin.
Two girls came second in the squash tournament.
The school is very proud of Rinaria Hepi who came first in the Junior Highlander squash series and Carina Donegan who recently competed for St Clair Surf Life Saving Club at the Southern Regional Pool Champs where she gained three gold, two silver and three bronze placings.
Roxburgh Area School
e netball team competed in the SISS tournament in Christchurch during tournament week. It played against Waimate, Riccarton and Geraldine in the first round of B grade and then progressed to the bottom 16, winning its next two games to finish 24th overall. The senior B netball team won the President's Cup in the B grade competition of the Central Otago Competition.
The basketball team finished second in its competition in Lawrence, making huge progress throughout the season.
St Hilda's Collegiate
The netball team overcame St Margaret's in a tough semifinal at the South Island championships to go on to beat St Andrew's College 38-33 in the final and to become back-to-back South Island champion.
The football team beat Roncalli College 2-1 in the final of the Lotto Sportswear Tournament in Invercargill, cementing a spot at the nationals next year.
The senior A basketball team got through pool play comfortably before beating Christchurch Girls 58-43 in the final to remain unbeaten for the tournament and become South Island champion.
The rugby team was unbeaten at the Highlanders under-15 10s tournament, downing Kavanagh 46-0 in the final.
The hockey team finished fourth in the Audrey Timlin Tournament.
The junior girls finished 14th overall at the South Island junior basketball tournament in Ashburton.
The curling team was fourth at South Island championships.
Cecilia Crooks won a silver medal in the 400m freestyle and a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle at the NZSS swimming championships in Hamilton.
Softballer Kaitlyn Hastie has been involved in the New Zealand under-15 development Sox squads this year and is is awaiting the selection of the teams to go to world championships in Oklahoma.
Taieri College
Taieri College sports teams competed across the length of the South Island during tournament week.
The under-15 boys rugby team lost only to South Otago in the quarterfinals to finish seventh overall at the Rural Livestock tournament in Greymouth.
The girls hockey team finished in the top eight in the Jenny McDonald tournament.
The senior A netball team finished 12th in the A grade in Christchurch.
The junior boys basketball team travelled to Ashburton for the Zone 4 tournament as part of a development programme.
The boys football team finished eighth in the Linwood tournament in Dunedin.
The cross-country team had a strong performance in the final race of the season at the co-ed championship.
Volleyball and futsal are now under way with large numbers of teams taking part.
