South Otago HS report
The South Otago High School boys 1st XV, competing in the inaugural Zero Fees competition, was the headline act in the early part of the competition and exceeded all expectations.
History was created with a win over Otago Boys HS in round three. Other convincing performances saw SOHS finish as the No 1 ranked team at the end of round-robin play.
Performances in the Top Four games were not as convincing, but the earlier performances ensured plenty of local support and a high media profile. Two players to stand out were captain Lee Allan and centre Matt Faddes.
Both boys went on to make the NZ Schools training squad and Matt also starred in the Otago Country premier team. The 2nd XV, U15 and U14 Blue teams all reached finals in their respective grades, showing the school has player depth. Five players were subsequently named in the Otago U14 development team, the most from any school.
Not to be outdone, the girls 1st XV also had a great year, winning the South Island Festival of Rugby in Oamaru in the July holidays, before successfully defending its title in the Southland Schoolgirls Competition.
Leyhanna van Vugt was the star and her selection in the Otago Spirit team was well deserved. The girls 1st XV has the impressive record of losing only one match in the past two seasons.
The boys 1st XI football team has also had a good season, winning the local Wednesday-afternoon reserve grade and finishing the season with a 10th placing at the Trident Trophy Tournament in Invercargill.
The team missed the top four in its pool at the tournament by one point. Like its oval-ball counterpart, football continues to grow at SOHS, and even attracts rugby players who take the opportunity to play on Wednesdays.
Kings rugby
Nine Kings High School pupils feature in this season's Otago U16 metropolitan rugby team which has so far defeated Southland 27-10 and Otago Country 58-5.
Ben Dolan, Isaac Cadogan, Hayden Fleury, Hagan Free, Caleb Gray, Gifford Henry, Connor Kemp, Ayden Lloyd and Tim Tolevae made the team, which still has two games to play.
The Kings High Rugby Academy, under the tutelage of Southern Premier coach Darryl Paterson, is producing some quality players.
East Otago HS ventures forth
After the fundraising of $36,000 in 18 months, September 5 finally arrived and 23 players, five managers and four parents boarded the plane for Brisbane for an eight-day adventure.
Hockey and netball were played against several Brisbane schools, the most significant factor being the size of those schools when compared with the visitors from Palmerston.
One school had four gymnasiums, while another had a swimming complex that runs full-day training programmes for pupils from 5.30am to 9pm. One of the state schools had a roll of more than 1600, many times the number at East Otago.
The hockey players won three of their four games, the most convincing a 7-1 win over St Ursulas U18 girls team. A 5-3 win over Murwillumbah State High School that had the score see-sawing until the final whistle was the most exciting. The netball team won two of its four games.
The most memorable game was a loss to Fairholm College, which fields 30 netball teams and had just won the state championships.
Grass karting
An event with a difference will take place on October 16-17 at Taieri College. Grass karting is a form of go-karts, and drivers will compete in sprint, slalom and relay events. Spectators are encouraged to come and watch.
Indoor rowing
The inaugural Otago Secondary Schools Indoor Rowing Championships were held at the Otago University Aquatic Centre recently. Events were held in the U15, U16, U17 and U18 age groups over distances of 100m, 500m, 1000m, and 2000m.
Entries were received from school rowers right across Otago: 35 girls and 14 boys competed from Otago Boys HS, Otago Girls HS, Queens HS, Kings HS, Logan Park HS, St Hildas Collegiate, Columba College, John McGlashan College, St Kevins College and Mt Aspiring College.
Medals were presented to individual age and distance winners, and trophies presented to the overall fastest boys and girls 2000m, and for the team relay events. The team relays were won by Columba College and Otago Boys HS.
OBHS rower Robbie Mears won the prestigious U18 2000m title in a time of 6min 27.9sec, and Zoe Hollander from St Hildas won the girls trophy in a time of 7min 31.5sec.
The dance of Queens
The Queens High School aerobics and hip-hop team had a very successful weekend at the NZCAF National Secondary Schools Aerobics Championships held recently in Christchurch.
All aerobics and hip-hop competitors competed in heats on Saturday and qualified for the finals on Sunday. All aerobics competitors achieved a placing in their categories: Courtney Cummings and Annelise Lowther finished first in their respective junior and senior events.
Sarah Hughes finished third in the senior open novice individual while Vyenna Pearcy and Lydia Bernard were third in the novice teams. Annelise Lowther, Sarah Hughes and Aleisha Gaudelius were first in the open novice hip-hop team section.
Queens finished second in the overall scoring to Christchurch Girls HS, and Otago Girls HS was third.
Petanque
The Southern Region Secondary Schools Championships were held last week with 72 pupils taking part, representing nine schools from Timaru to Invercargill. There was some close scoring in the early rounds, played in windy and at times squally conditions.
The addition of several novices to the playing ranks was pleasing and will hopefully provide encouragement for others to try petanque as a sport. With three of last season's national representatives playing, it was an excellent mix as the new players learnt techniques and game sense during the day.
The tournament was won by Michael Lilley and William Ching, from Timaru Boys High, who defeated Gregory and James Bishop, from Kavanagh College, in an exciting final dominated by the very competent pointing from the winners.
The inaugural South Island Challenge Rosebowl, based on combined school team results, was won by Kavanagh College with 13 points, closely followed by St Hildas Collegiate and Timaru Girls High, equal on 11 points.
Netball
The Dunstan High School Senior A team got off to a more-than-convincing start at the South Island Secondary Schools Tournament held in Timaru during winter tournament week. Pool play saw it beat Ellesmere College 32-21, Fiordland College 42-29 and then MacKenzie College by a whopping 54-10.
However, despite these early wins, Dunstan could not continue its run and was beaten 37-31 by Avonside Girls. Further losses to Cromwell College and Riccarton High School by four and five points respectively consigned Dunstan to playing off for 13th to 16th placings. A return to form saw the players redeem themselves to some extent by beating Menzies College 32-20, and then Bayfield 41-21.
While 13th was disappointing for the team, captain Anna Enright was named in the South Island B-grade talented players list.
• CALENDAR
Today: Golf, Eagles tournament, Cromwell.
October 1-2: Golf, Otago matchplay, Cromwell.
> 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. Phone: 470-1337. Fax: 470-1786. Email: des@osssa.org.nz Website: www.osssa.org.nz
