Zoe McBride won three gold medals and one silver medal at the event. The 15-year-old obviously possesses significant talent as well as great stamina and determination to succeed and may be destined for higher honours.
Zoe and talented partner Hannah Duggan won gold in both the under-16 doubles and under-18 lightweight doubles. Zoe also won gold in the under-16 singles and silver in the under-17 singles.
Jack O'Leary finished third in the B final of the under-16 singles. Hannah finished seventh in the A final of the under-16 singles.
Kavanagh College came second in the sculling points contest and seventh overall out of 120 schools in the regatta.
Shauna Pali, Sam Bremer and George Woodhouse all recently competed in the national athletics championship in Dunedin. Head girl Shauna competed in the under-19s, where she placed fourth in the 1500m. Sam (year 11) raced in the 3km and 1500m boys' race where he beat his personal best time, and George (year 11) represented Otago in the 100m and long jump.
Cromwell College
Caitlin Walker competed in the under-14 individual section of the New Zealand secondary schools' triathlon championships at Jacks Point recently.
Caitlin placed 15th and was the second South Island female to finish. Emma Patton (swim) and Elsa Mannering (run) joined Caitlin (cycle) in the under-14 team event. The girls finished fourth with a great sprint finish by Elsa.
Cromwell College took a team of 13 pupils to the Otago athletics championships. Kate Guildford placed first in the under-14 triple jump and Equaline Rorovanua won the under-16 javelin and was third in the 100m. Josh Thompson sprinted well to finish second in the under-16 100m, while Luke Pyper was third in the under-15 discus.
At the following Otago-Southland event, Equaline won the javelin, Josh was third in the 100m and Jess Offen fifth in the 200m.
Five boys travelled to Lake Karapiro to compete in the Maadi Cup. Brad Thompson and Jared MacLachlan were first in the under 17 pairs B final, in their best time of 6min 45sec. They also helped win the under-18 four, but had no competition as all the other teams pulled out to race their chosen event.
Otago Boys' water polo
Otago Boys' High School water polo is on the crest of a wave with the top team winning gold at the recent South Island schools tournament in Invercargill.
Captain Thomas Wardhaugh showed superb leadership and gained the most valuable player award at the event.
The school has been fortunate to engage the services of Tim Chambers, the national under-15 women's coach. Tim is studying in Dunedin and has made an immediate impact as coach of the Otago Boys' team.
The goal for the team for 2012 will be to compete in the division one final in Wellington with similar success.
Otago touch
Thirty-two pupils from various schools represented Otago when it competed at the national under-15 and under-17 touch tournament for the first time in Palmerston North recently.
Coached by Damian Burden and Toni Pelasio, Otago under-17 went to the tournament with high expectations and won eight of its nine mixed round robin matches, including over heavyweights Auckland, Counties and North Harbour.
The team was first after the round robin and played Southland in the final. The two teams traded touchdowns and the score was 4-4 at halftime. Southland forged ahead late in the second half to win the match 8-5.
Players deservedly gaining New Zealand selection were Tyrone Pelasio (King's), Scott Turner (Kaikorai Valley), Jayden Dovey (King's), Mackenzie Haugh (King's), Nicole McCutcheon (Kaikorai Valley), Sam Hollows (most valuable girl, South Otago) and Olivia Hickman (St Hilda's).
Black Ferns back Kelly Brazier and Grant Milne coached the Otago under-15 mixed team. The team also took the scalps of the three Auckland teams, including an amazing 7-2 demolition of Counties-Manakau. Olivia Wilson (St Hilda's) and Thomas Johnson (Kaikorai Valley) led this team to the final with a wonderful win over Central Force in the semifinal.
The final was a rematch with the towering athletes from Counties, which had assessed Otago's superior defence and changed its attack to combat it.
After nine minutes, Counties led 4-2 and Otago appeared to be struggling in the white-hot atmosphere of the finals. But youngsters Rory van Vugt (South Otago) and Taylor Haugh (King's) came to the party, setting up two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the first half.
The second half was a very even affair and Otago rounded it out with one of the touchdowns of the tournament from an Olivia Wilson (Columba) scoop, leaving two giant boys in her wake and eventually finding co-captain Thomas Johnson with a wonderful long pass. The fulltime hooter saw the scores locked at 8-8.
In touch finals a result is found by a drop-off, where a player from each team is sent from the field every two minutes until a winner is found.
Otago scored in its first possession of extra time and Counties replied immediately. With both sides down to four, Counties scored and kept Otago out to a 10-9 win.
Five players were named in the 14-strong New Zealand under-15 mixed team to tour Australia later this year: Thomas Johnson (Kaikorai Valley), Brayden Wilson (South Otago), Hanlin Johnstone (John McGlashan), Mikayla Latta (South Otago), and Laura McKenzie (St Hilda's).
Columba sport
A group of 21 athletes attended the South Island secondary schools athletics championships in Timaru recently. Columba won three relay titles while breaking two South Island records.
The 4x400 team of Renaye Flockton, Laura Carruthers, Sian English and Sophie Napper recorded a time of 4min 5.21sec.
The under-16 4x100m team of Katie Mulholland, Laura Saville, Sian English and Christie Wood broke a record with 53.43sec. The senior 4x100m team of Renaye Flockton, Sophie Napper, Samara Dalziel and Melissa Austen won the senior girls' title in 50.47sec.
The under-14 team of Phoebe Pegg, Annalise Cowie, Hanna English and Laura Napper ran a great race with excellent baton changes to finish third.
Laura Carruthers won the open 1500m steeplechase and was third in the 1500m. Renaye Flockton was second in the senior 400m, Sophie Napper claimed two second placings in the senior 100m and 200m, Laura Saville was second in the under-15 80m hurdles and third in the 100m, and Bailey Saville was second in the under-14 javelin.
The Columba senior A water polo team won the girls' section of the secondary schools championships in Invercargill late last month. The team also won the southern schoolgirls tournament contested by Otago and Southland schools.
Columba College sent a team of 20 girls to the national schools triathlon at Jacks Point in Queenstown, with pupils competing in individual and team events.
The highlight was a bronze medal in the under-19 girls' team category. The team of Olivia Stevens (swim), Shannon Edgar (cycle) and Laura Carruthers (run) gave an outstanding performance.
Olivia was only 1sec behind the leading swimmer (despite swimming up an age group). Shannon gave a strong performance in the cycle against stiff competition from the Auckland schools to set Columba in strong medal contention after the cycle leg.
Laura recorded the fastest time (21min 23sec) in the hilly 5km run leg, gaining time against the second-placed team of St Cuthbert's College to narrowly miss out on silver.
Calendar
April 16: South Island orienteering, Roxburgh.
April 18-20: SGA golf coaching and tournament, Chisholm/Taieri.
April 20: Otago junior golf open, Balmacewen.
• These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association Inc (OSSSA) which is proudly sponsored by Perpetual. Contacts: Des Smith, Otago regional sports director, PO Box 6303, Dunedin. Phone: (03) 470-1337 Email:des@osssa.org.nz Website:www.osssa.org.nz
