Cricket
The Otago Boys year 10 cricket team represented the lower South Island at the finals of the New Zealand Community Trust competition held recently in Taupo.
In a fine bowling performance first up against Francis Douglas Memorial College, OBHS restricted the opposition to 106. Hamish McMillan was the pick of the bowlers, with three for 15. Otago Boys made the runs and won the match by eight wickets.
In a slightly closer contest on day two, Otago Boys restricted St Peters College to 153 and scored the required runs with three wickets and three overs to spare.
The last pool game was against the strong Kings College side from Auckland. While the team started off well by restricting the top-order batsmen, giving away 35 extras cost it dearly and Kings College finished on 187 for eight.
Otago Boys struggled to keep up with the required run rate, finishing nine wickets down after the allotted 40 overs with a score of 98.
The team showed character by bouncing back in the play-off for third and fourth place the next day against Lindisfarne College. Otago Boys was 12 for three and then 21 for four, but due to some excellent batting by Marcus Frost (48), Sam Ellis (44) and Nick Rapley (38), reached a respectable 198 all out.
Lindisfarne was soon in trouble against some accurate bowling but its seventh-wicket partnership did well to put on 60 runs before Alec Hodgson cleaned up the innings with outstanding figures of five for 32.
Otago Boys won this match by 25 runs and finished a very creditable third overall.
Wrestling
Kings High School pupils Lee and Ryan van der Lem and Jonnie Fraser competed at the New Zealand secondary schools wrestling championships in Katikati recently, with considerable success.
Lee was chosen for the New Zealand secondary schools team to compete in Australia against boys from that country and the United States.
In the final of the under-63kg division, Lee won the first of the three two-minute rounds but was pinned in the second. His second placing won him New Zealand selection.
Lee, a year 10 pupil, has been wrestling competitively since he was 10 and trains three times a week - one weights session and two drilling sessions.
Younger brother Ryan won his division and Fraser was fourth in his.
Tennis
The South Island secondary schools tennis teams event was held in Timaru from March 13 to 15. Otago was represented in the girls section by the St Hildas Collegiate School team comprising Libby Scott, Amy Rapley, Georgia Hume, Maddie Stevenson and Kate Ellison.
The girls competition was strong, with Rangi Ruru Girls School, St Hildas Collegiate, St Margarets College, Waimea College, Timaru Girls and Waitaki Girls all doing credit to their respective regions and playing some excellent tennis throughout the event.
St Hildas had outstanding results, with convincing wins over Waimea College (4-2), Timaru Girls (6-0), St Margarets College (4-2) and Waitaki Girls (4-2) in the early rounds before encountering Rangi Ruru in the final round of play.
After a long, hard-fought battle, Rangi Ruru prevailed by one set following a countback, making it the overall winner, with St Hildas a close second.
Bowls
During the past six months, Dunedin secondary school pupils have been provided with competition and coaching in bowls.
Late last year, a competition was held in the Westpac Bowls Stadium over a six-week period attracting more than 40 pupils. It was won by a team from Kavanagh College.
In February-March this year a similar competition was held at the St Kilda Bowling Club, with 60 pupils now playing - a positive increase in numbers for the sport. The top three teams were Kings Cambridge, Bayfield 1 and Kings Oxford.
The zone 6 championships were held in Alexandra on April 3. Three of the eight Dunedin teams reached the playoffs: Brooke Craik (St Hildas) in singles, and Greg and James Bishop (Kavanagh) and Cameron Craik and Andrew South (Otago Boys High) in pairs.
Sarah Davidson and Alex Pasco represented Roxburgh Area School in the Central team, with both these doing well to qualify to go to Auckland in December for the New Zealand secondary school championships.
Bowlers who qualified for the national event are: girls singles, Sarah Davidson (Roxburgh Area School), Lanah Craik (Waitaki Girls); girls pairs, Kate Willyams and Olivia Smith (Dunstan); boys singles, Connor Muir (Dunstan), Alex Pasco (Roxburgh Area School); boys pairs, James Bishop and Greg Bishop (Kavanagh).
Water polo
The weekly competition wound up with finals night on April 3.
As expected, matches were keenly contested. One goal decided the junior final, with Otago Boys beating Columba 3-2. Both teams traded goals, but Otago Boys scored the decider with one minute left and did enough to hang on to take the trophy for term one.
The play-off for third and fourth was an even closer affair, with the recently promoted Kings High team finishing in a 5-5 stalemate with Kavanagh College.
In the open grade, the play-off for third and fourth was a rousing affair between Otago Boys and John McGlashan. There were some tremendous long-range goals, with one goal separating the sides at the end of the each of the second and third quarters. Otago Boys scored four unanswered goals to take third in the grade with a 9-6 win.
The final was a repeat of last year's term four final, with South Island champion Columba taking on the St Hildas top side. The first quarter was scoreless and only a disputed goal to Columba with five seconds remaining in the second quarter separated the teams at half-time.
The 30sec shot clock appeared to run out before the shot was taken, but the goal was allowed to stand. This appeared to affect the focus of the gritty St Hildas team which, after a patchy third quarter, went into the final five minutes trailing 4-0.
A consolation goal was not enough as Columba added the local trophy to its cabinet yet again, winning 6-1.
Otago water polo has reported a 30% increase in numbers in its winter training squads, testament to the improvement in standards of local players and teams.
Volleyball
The Kings High School senior volleyball team returned recently from the New Zealand secondary schools championships in Palmerston North in buoyant mood as the fourth division champion.
Kings had not been to the national tournament for many years, so was not eligible for the top two divisions of 40 teams.
Entered in the challenger pool, Kings came close to gaining entry to third division, missing out on a points countback.
Throughout the week, the team continued to improve, winning both its quarterfinal and semifinal 3-0 and avenging an earlier defeat in pool play by Napier Boys.
In the final, Kings won the first set well, dropped the second and then showed good temperament to win the final two sets by narrow margins and become fourth division champion.
During a week of intense competition, Kings won eight of 11 games and gained valuable experience.
Sailing
During summer tournament week recently, the South Island secondary schools Sunburst regatta was held at the Otago Yacht Club.
The event, in its fourth year, attracted 11 teams from Otago and Southland. Boys and girls from several schools came together to compete for several trophies over the five-day event.
Bayfield High School yacht Flossie dominated the competition and won the Port Otago Trophy. Otago Boys won the team section, with Bayfield second and Kings third.
Other schools attending the regatta were Fiordland College, Southland Girls High School, Otago Girls High School, Logan Park High School, St Hildas Collegiate, James Hargest College, South Otago High School and Queens High School.
• Calendar
Today-Friday: Otago junior indoor tennis championships, Dunedin
April 25: Mountain biking 12hr event, Naseby
April 26: Otago age-group golf championships, Arrowtown
• 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 Email: des@osssa.org.nz Website: www.osssa.org.nz
