Biking success for Dunstan
Dunstan High School 16-year olds Kate McDonald and Georgia Wight have been selected for the world mountain biking championships to be held in Canberra in August.
Kate has been selected for the New Zealand team to compete in the cross-country. She started out road cycling but following some success in some mountain biking races, she decided to compete seriously in the off-road discipline.
While Georgia has been riding bikes all her life, she only took up downhill racing a month before the national championships, where she won the open women's title. Both girls have represented New Zealand at past cycling events.
Cromwell teams impress
The Cromwell College A netball team has started the season with an exciting first-ever win over the Dunstan High School A team.
The game was clean, sharp and skilful from the beginning, with both teams shooting well. The teams were locked 15-15 at half-time and despite a slow start in the last quarter, Cromwell came right in the last few minutes and defeated Dunstan A.
Captain Vanessa Noble led from the front and dominated in her position at centre. Coach Louise Hay was exceptionally pleased with the all-round play of the team.
The Cromwell College under-16 girls futsal team played in the champion of champions tournament held recently at the Edgar Centre.
The team played very well all tournament and took the title, winning the final 4-3 against Logan Park High School. Adding to this success, Jess Offen and Catherine Marnane were selected for a New Zealand squad that will travel to Australia later this year.
Golfer Riho Kanazawa won the Cromwell senior women's championship with an superb effort in cold and wet conditions, taking the 36-hole matchplay event 12 and 11.
She also competed successfully in the Otago matchplay championships in Dunedin. Kirk Collins won the senior men's golf club championships, winning 7 and 6 over 36 holes. Both players are representing Otago in the South Island under-19 interprovincial championships to be held in Methven.
Futsal a winner at Otago Boys
Over Queen's Birthday weekend, Otago Boys High School went a long way towards establishing itself as New Zealand's best futsal school, winning all three male divisions at the Vikings champion of champions tournament.
Played in Dunedin, the tournament was brought forward to give successful schools the opportunity to participate in the upcoming Australian championships, and while there was an obvious absence of North Island schools, the level of competition was high.
The 14 boys reversed their round robin loss to Mt Aspiring by winning the final 4-3. Despite both teams losing key players to injury, it was a tussle befitting a final.
The 16 boys final was an all-OBHS affair, with the Blue team defeating the Golds 10-1. The Golds lost their play-maker, Sam Macaulay, in their last pool game and found the going too tough against their seasoned opponents.
In the 19 boys, OBHS won the senior boys title 4-3 in extra time. Linwood High School (Christchurch) were reigning 19 boys champions from 2008 and the fancied team. But OBHS had the mental edge, having pipped Linwood in the last game of pool play earlier in the day.
In the final, OBHS got out to a 3-1 lead, but with players missing because of outdoor football commitments, the side played through the 36 minutes of normal time with only two substitutes.
With time running out, OBHS weathered a frantic finish from Linwood, which saw the game taken to extra time.
With nothing separating the two sides, Otago Boys grabbed the vital goal to secure the title.
All three sides have now qualified for the Vikings Australasian champion of champions tournament to be held in Brisbane in October.
OBHS has been involved with futsal since its introduction to Dunedin in 2004, contesting Vikings New Zealand school leagues and tournaments each year. Last year the school won both the 14 and 16 boys' grades at the inaugural champion of champions tournament played in Queenstown.
This year has seen further growth in playing numbers both in competitive and social grades, brought about largely by the success the school is having but also because of the appeal of this fast-paced game.
The winning teams were:
OBHS 19 Blue: David Bonilla, Curtis Day, Sam Mepham, John Satterthwaite, Michael Taylor, James Watson, Liam McGarry, Cam Howieson.
OBHS 16 Blue: Cam Craik, Tom Stevens, Cam Howieson, Lian Lam Sam, Tyrrell Barringer-Tahiri, Brad McDonald, Matt Brook, Joel Stevens.
OBHS 14 Blue: Henry Alexander, Luke Bishop, Sam Brouwer, Lewis Jackson, Ryan McGarry, Jesse Smith, Joel Stevens, Nic Vinicombe, Tennessee Kinghorn.
Country basketball
Basketball Otago has taken the initiative and developed a country schools competition this season. Divided into southern and central divisions, boys and girls teams from a number of schools are competing, with two rounds of games over.
The south zone has teams from South Otago High School, Tokomairiro High School, Lawrence and The Catlins Area school. The central competition comprises teams from Mt Aspiring College, Dunstan High School, Cromwell College, Roxburgh Area School and Wakatipu High School.
St Hildas futsal
The St Hildas 19 girls team also competed in the champion of champions futsal tournament at Queens Birthday weekend.
The team had qualified by finishing second at the Otago tournament held in March.
Pool matches were played against Linwood High School, Taieri College and Mt Aspiring College. A good win over Taieri in the semifinal saw St Hildas matching up against Linwood HS in the final.
As St Hildas had been beaten 4-2 by Linwood in pool play, there was extra incentive for the St Hildas girls to take out the final.
In the final, the scores were locked 3-3 at full-time, so extra time was necessary. Like their male counterparts from OBHS in the 19 boys' final, St Hildas scored the winning goal to take the 19 girls' title. This was an especially meritorious result as three of the team are Year 9 pupils.
Midweek football
The boys Wednesday afternoon competition is back on track after a stuttering start because of the weather. Three of the five scheduled rounds have been completed, with the premier grade the closest so far.
Otago Boys First XI looks to be the team to beat as they seek another title to add to last season's success.
In the reserve grade, South Otago HS is on a march, having scored 27 goals without conceding any. The rest of the teams will be battling for the other semifinal places and will be looking to topple the runaway leader in the final.
The junior grade is being contested over two sections, with Otago Boys Blue and Kings Y10 leading the top section, and the Kings Y9 and the Kaikorai Valley College teams remaining unbeaten in the bottom section.
St Hildas, Kings to fore
It was great to see a large turnout of athletes at the annual Otago-Southland cross-country relays held in sunny Milton.
The 2km course was based at Tokomairiro HS, with the athletes running on varied terrain.
St Hildas won both the senior and junior girls events while Kings completed the same double in the boys' races.
This is the sixth year in a row Kings has taken the senior title. Kavanagh College won the senior mixed race, while Taieri College won the junior section. It was also pleasing to have 18 athletes with disabilities competing and thoroughly enjoying the experience.
The following 18 schools entered, with a total of 246 athletes competing: Kings HS, John McGlashan College, Gore HS, Otago Boys HS, Bayfield HS, Kaikorai Valley College, Tokomairiro HS, South Otago HS, St Hildas Collegiate, Otago Girls HS, Columba College, Queens HS, Taieri College, Dunstan HS, Catlins Area, Kavanagh College, Sara Cohen and Blue Mountain College.
Campbell Garry (John McGlashan) and Rebekah Greene (St Hildas) clocked the fastest boys' and girls' times respectively.
Otago cross-country
Nearly 160 runners took the place of the horses and competed on a heavy Wingatui track last week. With eight events over various distances, there was plenty of mud and tired legs at the conclusion.
Again, Campbell Garry dominated the senior boys 6km race, beating Kings runner Ben Anderson and Kavanagh's Alex Gorrie.
Anna-Lisa Uttley (Bayfield HS) turned the tables on the previous week's event and came home five seconds ahead of Rebekah Greene from St Hildas in the under-16 girls race. These two finished an amazing minute and a-half ahead of third place-getter Katrina Andrew from Otago Girls in the 3km event.
Kings HS won the boys under-14 and under-15 teams events, with John McGlashan doing the same in the under-16 and senior races. Columba took the trifecta in the girls under-14, under-15 and under-16 events, and St Hildas would have been great money in the senior event with the first four runners across the line.
• Calendar
June 13-14 - South Island secondary schools underwater hockey, Christchurch.
June 20-21 - Secondary schools cross-country, Nelson.
These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Assn Inc (OSSSA), which is proudly sponsored by the University of Otago College of Education.
Contacts: Des Smith, Otago Regional Sports Director, PO Box 6303, Dunedin. Ph 470 1337, fax 470 1786, or email: des@osssa.org.nz Website: www.osssa.org.nz.
