These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association which is proudly sponsored by Perpetual Guardian.
Kaikorai Valley College
James Loan, Hanna Ingram and Jade Duffy-Maxwell attended the TUNZ South Island Championships hosted by Green Island Taekwondo Club in May. James had two fights and won gold medals in both. He also won a bronze medal in individual poomsae (patterns). Hanna had two fights (against NZ representatives) and won both her fights, earning gold. She also won gold in individual and pairs poomsae. Jade won a gold medal for winning the poomsae in her grade and a bronze for her fight.
KVC had 17 competitors across the age grades at the Otago Cross-Country Championships. Nic Cruden, Jazmine McKenzie and Conor Henderson were our best-placed runners in their grades.
Over the past month Kasib Murdoch (year 12) has spent a week in Auckland at an elite boxing camp. He then attended the second Road to Buenos Aires training camp in Apia, Samoa, with one other New Zealand fighter and two from each of the competing Pacific countries.While there, Kasib met up with youth fighters from throughout Oceania to compete in the Oceania Youth Championships in which he won the silver medal.
Seven of our pupils represented Otago at the South Island Team Table Tennis Tournament in Timaru at Queen's Birthday weekend.
The standout performance was from Jessica Power, who (combined with teammate Babet Doherty) won the under-13 teams event. Jessica also placed second in the under-13 girls singles at South Canterbury Open. Emma Dingley-Crawford won the under-21 girls singles. Jeremy Meldrum-Harris captained the under-18 boys team which placed third in the South Island.
Paige Patrick was in the under-15 girls B team which placed third in the teams event.
Alice Barrett and Zoe Holgate placed fourth in the under-13 girls teams event.
Hunter Moreton played in the under-13 boys Otago team and placed fifth.
Dunstan High School
The school's senior A netball team, along with the 9A and 10A teams, recently competed in the Otago Secondary Schools' Netball Champs, finishing in ninth, fourth and 11th respectively. It was a good chance for the teams to experience tournament play before the South Island Champs.
A team of four recently competed in the Otago/Southland Cross-Country Relays, doing well to finish in second place in the junior mixed grade. A team of three also competed in the Otago Cross-Country, gaining a first place in the under-14 boys and 11th and 12th in the under-14 girls.
The school's girls' rugby team has just started its 15-a-side games after spending the first three weeks of the season playing sevens. The team has been playing some entertaining rugby with a good mix of experienced and new players.
The boys' first XV got off to good start with a few wins, but has lost its last two games. The team will be keen to recapture its form of the earlier rounds. There have been some good results from teams in other grades.
The school's basketball and hockey teams continue to compete and the football teams are starting to develop for tournament later in the year.
East Otago High School
The year 7/8 Kiwi Hoops competition has been a great success. The players are really getting involved in all parts of the games, with scoring, time keeping and refereeing.
This is developing skills and knowledge of the game. The senior netball team played in the Otago secondary tournament and gained valuable experience in preparation for the South Island tournament later in the year.
Congratulations to William Clare who has kicked off his gymnastic season with a first in pommel and second in rings. William puts a huge amount of training and dedication into his chosen sport. Josh Walker is 13 years of age and is competing in hip-hop, and his group Vision Crew won gold in the national competition. Year 9 pupil Jenna Clearwater is an up and coming motocross rider who has been up on the podium. For a small country school there are so many pupils achieving success in many different sporting codes.
John McGlashan College
Twenty-five Summer Blues were awarded in 11 different codes at a special assembly recently. The annual sports exchange with St Andrew's College was a close affair, with two codes and the overall exchange drawn. McGlashan retained the Trust Bank Cup for New Zealand XVs when it drew its match with St Andrew's nil-all.
The emphasis McGlashan places on cross-country was vindicated, with some pleasing results in the Otago Cross-Country Championships. College teams placed first and second in the under-14 grade and first in the under-15 and -16 grades. Matheson Colquhoun placed second in the under-14 race. Josh Hou was pushed hard by Josh Potter before finishing first in the under-15 race and Will Turner and Will Morshuis finished second and third in the under-16 grade.
Alex Byres and Josh Stoddard have been named in the Otago under-19 basketball team.
John McGlashan wants to acknowledge two pupil volunteers; year 9 pupil Michael Buttery has been outstanding as a touch umpire and rugby referee. Max Gomez, after suffering a season-ending ankle injury, has been busy coaching rugby and basketball teams.
King's High School
The busy term two continues sporting wise, and our 10-member cross-country team travelled to Taupo to compete in the NZSS Cross-Country Champs, which were held at the SPA Park course last weekend. George Bates was the best placed senior runner in 53rd place and Ollie Brown in 68th was the best-placed junior runner.
The school recently visited Shirley Boys' High for our annual exchange, scoring wins in 1st XV rugby, junior basketball, and a 2-2 overall result.
Well done to Will Patu and Ewan Stewart who represented Otago under-20 at the National Volleyball Age Group Champs and Spencer Campbell, Randall Levy and Gregor Clarkson who also represented Otago under-17 at the same event, held over Queen's Birthday weekend.
Finn Ward, a year 13 pupil, has been selected into the High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) 2018/2019 Pathway to Podium (P-P) Hockey programme.
Oscar Cameron, a year 9 pupil, was selected in the national under-14 boys basketball squad that played a tournament in Melbourne this month.
Oscar made this team from the national under-14 talent camp held in Rotorua in April.
Logan Park High School
In the Otago Secondary School Swimming Championships, Timo Schaefer was first in the men's over-15 200m backstroke and third in the 200m freestyle. The team of Schaefer, Maggie Franks, Shima Jack and Sersha Forde placed third in the mixed 200m freestyle relay.
In the OSSSA Cross-Country Series there was a strong team, with all runners making top 10 placings. Louis Freeman was sixth in senior boys and Joe McKee seventh in the same event. Rebecca and Viviane Dalphin were also in the top 10.
Our best result of the cross-country series came in the Otago Southland Relay Race, with Louis Freeman, Declan Parsons, Rebecca and Viviane Dalphin gaining second place in the senior mixed race. Our junior boys team of Liam Black, Nicolas Alvarez, Nick James-Pirie and Alex Cameron ran well in a strong field, finishing in the top 10.
In netball, Grace Jones has been selected for the Otago under-14 development programme.
The junior girls gold and senior development team attended the Otago Secondary School Netball Champs this month. Both teams found the experience challenging and positive.
Preparations are under way for the co-education winter sports tournament at the end of June.
Ziggi Kaitai Martin is competing in Sydney in a parkour competition and we look forward to hearing his results after his impressive record at the New Zealand championships recently.
Otago Girls' High School
Amelie Henderson in year 11 has been chosen in the Dunedin synchronised ice skating team to travel to Australia.
Recently the OGHS Senior A, year 10A and year 9A played in the Otago secondary schools netball tournament. The Senior A team was third, the 10A team was fourth and 9A team was ninth.
Jenna Thorne is at present in Vietnam with the New Zealand under-19 volleyball team.
Talei Pelasio has been chosen in the Dunedin Netball Centre under-17A team, Dana Ballantyne in the under-17 B team and Taylor Thorne is one of three secondary school pupils to be chosen in the Dunedin Netball Centre under-19 team.
Roxburgh Area School
The A team competed in the Otago Secondary School Netball Tournament held at the Edgar Centre recently. After losing to Queen's High School in the first game, it won the next three games to re-meet Queen's High School in the final.
Having reviewed its game the previous day it was successful in beating Queen's High School 29-15 in the final and winning the Otago Secondary School Netball Cup for B grade. Some of the team members are now preparing to attend the New Zealand Area School Tournament in Christchurch in the July holidays, and the team will return to Dunedin in the winter tournament week to play in the SISS tournament.
After competing at the Southern Area School Tournament the following pupils are preparing to attend the New Zealand Secondary School Tournament in a variety of sports: Tiaan McKinnel, Vicki Booth-Elliot, Shanae Forbes, Daniel Arnesen, Jesse Orchard, Josh Reid, Caitlyn Johnston, Steve Black, Dion Muir, Ethan Kitto and McKenzie Prew.
The following girls are members of the Central Otago under-17 netball team: Shanae Forbes, Caitlyn Johnston and Mackenzie Prew.
Sarah Gunn was placed sixth and Kieran Marsh 21st in the Otago Cross-Country Championships.
Haidyn Pringle was placed third in the 100m butterfly at the Otago Secondary School swimming championships held recently.
St Hilda's Collegiate
Jessica Scott has been selected for the New Zealand team to compete at the 2018 State Teams Age Group Swimming Championships at the Australian Sports Institute in Canberra in October.
Olivia O'Neill has also been selected for the NZ under-18 girls touch team to compete in the Youth World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August, and been named as a co-captain of the team.
A big day for St Hilda's at the recent Otago Secondary School netball champs, with all three St Hilda's teams placing in the top three of their respective divisions. The Senior As put in a dominant performance with a 33-20 win over Columba College to win the senior division for the fourth consecutive year. The year 9A team pushed a very good Tairei team in the final, going down 20-15 and claiming second place.
The St Hilda's 10A team was involved in a hotly contested intermediate division, coming away with a very commendable third place. Well done to all coaches, managers and girls involved.
The finals of the Secondary Schools sevens competition was played last week, with the Senior A team finishing second in its grade. The Senior B team also placed second in its grade, with the Junior A team coming in third - congratulations to all involved.
The Otago Cross-Country Series has been going for the last four weeks, with a steady contingent of St Hilda's girls competing in different events. Some stand-out results: the Snr A team's second in the Otago-Southland Relay Champs, Cecilia Crooks' first and Georgia Mitchell's third in the Otago Cross-Country Under-19 Champs, and Annabel Bilkey's fourth in the under-15 girls race.
Taieri College
Taieri College has had some great success on the sports field in the last couple of weeks. At the recent cross-country series Gabby Kakahi led the way, winning the Logan Park road race junior girls section and the under-14 girls section at the Otago Champs. Gabby represented Taieri College at the National Secondary Schools Cross-Country Champs in Taupo on June 16-17.
Laura Bungard also had a successful cross-country series, finishing third in the senior girls race at Logan Park and second in the under-19 girls section at the Otago Champs. In the team's event held at Milton, the senior mixed team placed first and the juniors third.
The school held the annual winter interchange with South Otago recently, contesting rugby, netball, hockey, football, basketball, badminton and theatresports. Taieri won the interchange 11-7.
At the Otago Netball Championships, the netball teams had a strong tournament. The 9A netball team won the junior grade, the year 10A team placed second in the intermediate grade and the Senior A team finished 4th. The two junior teams will head to Christchurch in the school holidays to contest the South Island Junior Tournament.
Haylee Budd jointly won the 2018 Female School Rower of the Year Award at the Otago Rowing Association prizegiving last month, and Trey Russell has been asked to attend the NZ Touch Camp in October, joining fellow pupil Paige Flett.
