Eighty-five pupils competed in the school mountain biking championships on Wanaka's Deans Bank track.
Paul Wright showed his class in beating a strong field of male riders, and Phoebe Young was the first girl home. She gained the 12th-best overall time, an outstanding effort for a year 9 girl.
The sailing team (Rick Sanders, Oliver Jarvie, Nicola Sanders, Sean Dickey, Laura Erichsen, Amber Makeham, Breagha Rennie and Dougal Stalker) attended the secondary schools 420 regatta at Algies Bay, north of Auckland. The team sailed 11 races over the week, nine of which were won convincingly. Overall, the team placed fifth in the bronze fleet.
Four school teams competed in the Futsal South tournament in Dunedin. The senior girls, senior boys and junior boys all came home with second-place trophies.
The orienteering team (Philipp Dieckmann, Cameron Metherell, Harrison Brown, Campbell Russell, Finn Bilous, Luke Wright, Magdalena Fassl and Bella Fraser) competed in the Southland schools championships in Invercargill. Cameron, Magdalena, Philip and Bella all finished first in their events.
Kavanagh College
Late in term one, 110 Kavanagh pupils travelled to Gore to participate in the annual southern Catholic schools tournament. This is a two-day tournament involving Verdon, St Peter's, Kavanagh, St Kevin's and Roncalli. About 450 pupils competed in hockey, netball, basketball, rugby and football.
The First XI boys football team excelled, beating all teams convincingly and winning the trophy for its competition. The Kavanagh senior girls basketball team also excelled, finishing as joint winner of its competition.
Pupils have enjoyed a very successful season of orienteering. Kavanagh won the senior boys trophy and the intermediate boys trophy in the February-March school series.
Tadhg Kelly was selected in the New Zealand train-on squad for kayaking. This is a national training squad of 12 males and 12 females from around New Zealand looking at developing younger athletes in preparation for the 2015 and 2016 junior world championships. Tadhg is the only Otago member in this squad.
Otago Boys' High School
Kerry Cameron has been racing in the national under-19 mountain bike series. His results were 17th in round two and 14th in the series final. He travelled to the Oceania championships and finished 16th, again riding in the under-19 category.
Other notable performances this year include third in the junior elite category at the Motatapu event, recording 2hr 11min for the 47km cross-country event. This followed last year's second to professional cyclist Anton Cooper.
Last weekend, Kerry won the junior section of the long course as part of the Otago Peninsula Challenge. His time of 2hr 46min placed him 17th overall and was despite puncturing and having to insert a tube to repair his normally tubeless set-up.
Kerry's best performance came at the recent national single-speed event raced on the familiar tracks of Dunedin. He was first in the junior section.
Ewan Syme finished first in the junior section of the Otago Peninsula Challenge short-course mountain bike. This was a remarkable effort given he had won the 10km hill climb, a junior event run in conjunction with Cycling Otago's Palmerston to Mt Cargill race, less than 24 hours before.
Ewan has had a successful season on the road bike. He was Otago under-15 road cycling champion, placed sixth in the under-15 500m time trial at the national track championships, and raced in the R & R Sport Tour in B grade, staying with the peleton until the final sprint against much stronger adult riders.
Queen's High School
There has been a significant increase in winter sports team numbers, from 21 last year to 31 this winter. This does not include cross-country runners, the group having underwater hockey lessons in anticipation of an interschool competition, girls participating in gymsports, or those smallbore or trap shooting.
Queen's involvement in the Sport in Education project has raised awareness of the importance of regular exercise, has helped increase self-confidence, and is having a positive influence on attendance figures, as well as our team numbers.
Many teams and individuals have had a successful start to the season. The most successful runner has been Ella Scott, who was second in the under-15 Logan Park road race. Six girls (Lucy Elliott, Kerry Remon, Sian Remon, Riley Haugh, Grace McIntyre and Alannah Taggart) are well on their way to qualifying for the national gymsports championships in Auckland. Shani Ayson (year 10) was second in the women's under-20 South Island surfing championships at Aramoana during Easter.
Bayfield High School
Bayfield has introduced some new sports this year with the inclusion of ice hockey and curling in the mix, as well as experiencing growth in the more traditional sports such as netball (going from six teams in 2013 to nine teams in 2014). The Bayfield rugby enthusiasts are also being catered for, joining forces with Kaikorai Valley College to field competitive teams in both the senior and under-15 grades.
Four Bayfield futsal teams competed in the recent Otago secondary schools tournament at the Edgar Centre. The future of futsal and football at Bayfield is looking bright after the junior girls futsal team won its division, beating Logan Park High School Rangers 2-0 in the final.
Columba College
Three pupils have gained New Zealand honours. Holly Barclay has been selected to compete at the world triathlon championships in Canada. Megan Guest will represent New Zealand in synchronised swimming and Emma Winders in rowing - both will compete in Australia.
A strong team represented Columba at the recent Otago swimming championships. Caitlin Deans (under-14) was first in 50m freestyle, second in 50m butterfly and third in 50m breaststroke. In the same grade, Devon Familton was first in 50m butterfly and backstroke, and second in 50m breaststroke. The A freestyle relay of Devon, Caitlin, Gabrielle Trotter and Teigan Tarapi was second. The same girls gained a second placing in the medley relay.
Caitlin also won five New Zealand medals at the national championships: gold in the 800m freestyle, silvers in the 200m and 400m freestyle and 400 individual medley, and a bronze in the 100m freestyle.
A strong athletics team represented the college at the recent South Island event. Many athletes made finals, achieved personal bests and excelled. Highlights included. -Senior: Charlotte Cahill, first 1500m and 2000m steeplechase; Maddy Spence, first 300m hurdles; Hanna English, second 3000m; 4x100m relay (Analise Cowie, Lily Cunningham, Ruby Coers, Maddy Spence), second.
Under-16: Lily Cunningham, third 400m.
Under-14: 4x100m relay (Chenoa Metua, Ellie Duncan, McKayler Moore, Meg Breen), first; Ellie Duncan, second 100m and 200m; Chenoa Metua, second 80m hurdles.
• These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association which is proudly sponsored by Perpetual Trust.
