St Hildas takes on the resort town teams
Last Friday, three teams of keen young snow shredders and speedsters entered the Otago-Southland Secondary Schools Ski and Snowboard Championships at the Cardrona Ski Resort.
Competing for St Hildas, the girls came out on top of the table. Two ski teams were entered in a GS (giant slalom), time trials for a ski cross, and for the fastest eight triallists - a fast and rough ski cross elimination with four racers on the course at once.
Frances Newbold showed great form, taking second place in both ski cross and the giant slalom. She gained the highest individual overall score for female competitors.
The St Hildas A team of Newbold, Sigourney Kelly, Abbey James and Georgia Brown took the competition to the ultimate level, racing in GS suits (thanks to the loan from the Kelly family) and speed waxing their skis between runs (thanks to the expertise of Derek Brown).
The team finished first equal with Mount Aspiring College - quite a feat for the town school considering it was competing in Mt Aspiring's backyard. The St Hildas B team of Giordyn Garrick, Sophie Brown, Claudia Grave and Lisa Roessla finished in third place.
The other team that represented St Hildas was a somewhat nervous trio of snowboarders. Its event was a gravity cross time trial and judged half pipe session. Having never ridden pipe before, let alone competed in the gravity cross event, the girls were somewhat reluctant to enter.
They were gently coerced into signing up after being assured that no-one is into snowboarding any more, so they would be a certainty for a medal. This turned out to be true, with only two teams entered. The girls made the runs and finished in second place.
Overall, St Hildas gained three team placings and two individual medals.
Swimming - Future legend of the month award.
Bayfield High School's Lil Clearwater has been awarded the Sport Otago Future Legend of the Month for her outstanding achievements in swimming.
She recently broke five Otago short course backstroke records, three in the 14-15 year age group and two in the women's 100m and 200m events.
This has capped a most successful season for Lil who has been recognised as having the potential to compete at international level.
Football dreams
Shay Kerry, from Taieri College, will soon have the opportunity to take the first steps in fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming a professional football player.
Shay will take part in the Australasian and Pacific Football Academy run by Everton Football Club at Lincoln College in Christchurch at the end of September. He will take part in training sessions, games and other activities running from 7am to 10.30pm daily.
Shay got this opportunity through being scouted by various people while playing Federation football. Participation at the academy could see him offered a half or full scholarship for a year. This will see him relocate to Lincoln College for next year.
When based in Lincoln, Shay will travel to England at least once and attend various overseas tournaments. In year 13, if selected, he will go to either England or America to further his football aspirations.
Ice hockey
The midweek ice hockey competition has reached its climax with finals in all three sections being played tonight. Following the withdrawal of St Hildas, the section C final will see Queens and Otago Girls compete in what should be an even contest.
In the section B final, last season's champion, Bayfield, will take on the combined Intermediate team (Balmacewen and Tahuna Intermediates) in a near repeat of last season's final in which Balmacewen was the beaten finalist.
The A grade final will see a repeat of last season with defending champion Kings High School taking on Otago Boys.
After receiving a drubbing in the annual interschool match, Kings will be looking to its experienced players to reverse the result and reinforce its position having finished top of the table in the regular season.
Games start today at the Dunedin Ice Stadium at 4pm.
Boys' football
The boys' schools competition also concludes today with the premier grade final between Otago Boys and Kavanagh College being played at the Caledonian Ground. In last week's semifinals, John McGlashan College pushed the defending champion, Otago Boys, to the wire.
After a goal-less first half, John McGlashan enjoyed parity across the park and eventually took the lead 10 minutes into the second half. Otago Boys continued playing a structured passing game but did little to threaten the McGlashan goal.
However, a regulation free kick just outside the left hand corner of the penalty box had Curtis Day hit a speculator that saw the McGlashan keeper, with one eye on the ball and the other on the striker, direct the ball into the roof of his own net.
With 12 minutes to go, a scramble in the McGlashan penalty box saw keeper Skeggs caught well out of position and a simple headed goal took Otago Boys to a 2-1 lead which it held comfortably until the final whistle.
The other match on Bayfield 2 pitted Kavanagh and Kaikorai Valley Colleges against each other for the third time this season. A lot was expected of the Knockout Cup champion Kaikorai Valley side, but it disappointed coach Neil MacKenzie with a lacklustre display that saw Kavanagh prevail 2-0. Today's final kicks off at 3.45pm at the Caledonian.
The junior grade concluded two weeks ago with the highly fancied Otago Boys Blue team finishing its season unbeaten with a 4-0 win over John McGlashan in the final. The Kings HS year 9 team finished top of the second section in the junior grade following a 2-1 win over Otago Boys White.
Curling
Dunstan High School's Michael Smith and Lucy Lane were named in the Under-21 men's and women's New Zealand Curling Teams at the conclusion of the Under-21 NZ Curling Championships held in Naseby at the weekend. The teams will compete in the 2010 Pacific Curling Championships in Japan early next year.
School visit
South Otago High School recently hosted 32 students and four staff members from Edgbaston Girls High School, in England, to compete in netball and hockey matches.
The girls were billeted for two nights and enjoyed the rural experience, as Edgbaston is situated in Birmingham, the second-largest city in England.
Following a visit to Telford Rural Polytechnic and the surrounding countryside, the girls came back to SOHS to play two hockey and two netball games.
Edgbaston has a strong background in hockey and its sides defeated the home side's A team 6-3 and the B team 6-2. These games were 8-a-side and played on the smaller artificial turf. It was great for the spectators to see the teams in action as SOHS normally plays in Dunedin on Monday nights.
The first game of netball was very evenly matched with SOHS taking the win 14-12 and the second game 22-7.
The English style of netball was a little different, with players using long one-armed passes and moving the ball at times quickly through midcourt.
The SOHS players soon came to grips with this and took advantage with some good intercepts and accurate shooting. The visit finished with some friendly games of indoor cricket with the girls from both schools mixing in the teams.
CALENDAR
• Weekly basketball, hockey, football and ice hockey competitions all conclude.
• Winter Tournament week August 31-September 4.
• SISS Ice hockey.
• Hockey - Rankin Cup.
• NZSS Girls' football.
• NZSS Junior basketball (boys' and girls') - all Dunedin.
• NZSS Girls' hockey - Cromwell.
• NZSS Mixed hockey - Oamaru.
- 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
