Otumoetai
Athletics: Our school athletics day was held at the Tauranga Domain this year.
More than 200 students enjoyed the fabulous facility, with the following students excelling:
Junior boys: 1st Wojtek Michalik, 2nd Patrick Ryan, 3rd Eben Macklow.
Junior girls: 1st Roebi Bidios, 2nd Anna Tingey, 3rd Jessica Gadsbey.
Inter boys: 1st Isaiah Duncanson, 2nd Luke Roguski, 3rd David Irwin.
Inter girls: 1st Deborah Paine, 2nd Katie Horan, 3rd Hannah Dearsley.
Senior boys: 1st Daryl Lewis, 2nd Keegan Long, 3rd= Ryan Taylor and Lucas Fairweather.
Surf lifesaving: The Eastern Region Surf Life Saving Competition was held in Ohope on February 5/6.
Jessica Gadsbey competed in all 10 events, becoming first overall Under-14 girls' champion. Ryan Patrick was placed 2nd overall and Mathew Kriel 3rd overall in their Under-14 boys' age group.
Ryan Patrick and Jessica Gadsbey were selected for the Under-14 BOP team to compete in the Surf League Championship. This competition was held on February 9/10 at Mount Maunganui. Their team placed second overall. Katie Wilson was selected for the Under-16 BOP team in the same competition. Her team placed 1st overall. Jessica Lacy was selected for the Under-16 Otago team and placed 2nd in her specialist sprint event. Katie Wilson also qualified for the Open women's Sonic Race Series. This consisted of three qualifying races held in New Plymouth, Ruakaka and Whangamata. The grand final was held at Mount Maunganui. Katie placed 3rd in this event. The two competitors who placed 1st and 2nd were NZ representatives.
The Oceans 12 Surf Life Saving National Champs were held at Mt Maunganui from February 23 to 26 with 700 athletes from 41 clubs throughout NZ competing. The following Otumoetai College students won medals: Jessica Gadsbey - gold medal in Board Rescue, partnered with Libby Moore, silver medal in Cameron Relay, silver medal in Board Relay; Georgia Hacker - gold medal in Grand Champion Relay, bronze medal in Tube Rescue, partnered with Libby Bradley; Ryan Patrick - gold medal in Grand Champion Relay; Mathew Kriel - silver medal in 2km Beach Relay.
The Special Olympics swimming team did well. Our relay team came 3rd and standout swimmers were Paige Lanigan, Luke Moulds, Stephanie Martinelli and Shanaya Schuster - all of whom gained first or second placings in their events.
Two students gained fair play certificates for good sportsmanship: Caleb McGregor and Paige Lanigan. Congratulations.
Soccer: Congratulations to Cameron Lee, Scott Wilson, Harris Eldin and Mathew Chew, all Year 10s from Otumoetai College playing in the Otumoetai Federation Under-15s Football team who won the Northern Conference final for the NIKE Cup held on Saturday in Auckland.
This is an elimination process for the Manchester United Premier Cup finals to be held in the UK.
The team is now off to Melbourne for the Pacific Regional Final on March 23-25.
Bethlehem
With the senior cricket team through to the next round of the Gillette Cup, it was the turn of the intermediate cricket side to play in the regional round of the Milo Cup 20/20 competition, where they achieved a win and a loss. Against Te Puke, we fielded in wet and difficult conditions. A target of 114 proved just beyond us and although Josh Shakes and Jacob Logan made useful contributions, the BC run chase failed to reach the target by 16 runs.
Game 2 was a much improved effort as we bowled Taupo out for 50, with Sam Averill picking up 4 wickets for 3 runs and Jonny McLeay 2 wickets for 6 runs. The target was reached for the loss of only one wicket, with Derryn Boddington the standout with a patient 17 runs.
The school football season has not yet got under way, but already Nathaniel Glenn has been involved in lots of football. Nat, as well as playing for BC, has played representative football as a defensive midfielder for the federation through the Otumoetai Club, which has been competing in the U15, Nike, Manchester United, Premiership Cup. In February, Nat's team won the right to represent the Bay of Plenty and Waikato in the Northern Federation Finals. Played last weekend, the finals were held in Auckland between Onehunga, Forest Hill and Otumoetai. After a series of close matches, it all came down to the final game with Otumoetai needing only a draw to win the tournament. However, Otumoetai dominated the final game and won 1-0 and will now represent New Zealand in the Pacific Finals against four Australian State Championship sides this month. Well done, Nathaniel and your team!
- Bethany Garland and Hannah McDonald, BC Sport Council
Te Puke
BOPSS Athletics Day: Congratulations to Melissa Beeler who earned herself two placings. She won the 1500m senior girls' race and finished in 2nd place in the open 3000m race. A huge victory for Steven Turney who finished in 1st place in the senior boys' discus and Rauora Takuira-Mita, who finished 2nd. Our champion javelin thrower Tufa Tavita finished 2nd in the intermediate boys' field event while Pania Lawrence came 4th in both the senior girls' discus and shotput. Summer Church finished up 4th in the intermediate girls' triple jump while Naya Torlesse came 5th in the intermediate boys' finals. A huge pat on the back to Declan Barnett, Cody Bury, Linus Paetzold and Micah Rauhala for making the top 6 in their field events.
Our athletes with disabilities (AWD) also had a great day! They made a few placings with the most impressive being Daniel Tango winning the discus. Champion!
Volleyball: It was a big weekend for volleyball. Our girls' team fought hard to finish at the top of their draw. Out of their four games this weekend they came away with three wins landing them second in our pool. The Senior Boys' A team fought hard over the weekend but have a few improvements to make before they give it another go this Friday. Our Senior Boys' B & C teams had a great run. The Boys' B won all their games finishing at the top of their pool and our C team won 1 game, and lost one game, finishing second. Come and support our teams on Friday at the TECT arena!
Cricket: The boys have moved up a grade and are now playing in the senior competition. Sadly their game last weekend was rained off but hopefully with the good weather lasting they will get to play it sometime this week. Our girls' team played in the NZCT Secondary Schools competition in Rotorua yesterday. They lost their first game against Rotorua Girls' but they picked it up in the second game and won. Well done girls!
Waterpolo: Our junior girls' team are on a roll. They have won all their games so far. They will be playing at 7 tonight against the Mount. If you are in the area, head down to Baywave to check it out.
Katikati
We have had a particularly busy few weeks here at Katikati with athletics championships, swimming championships and interschool swimming champs as well.
Some of our younger students competed in the National Junior Surf Lifesaving competition held at the Mount. Libby Bradley, Tessa Bradley, Tyler Davidson, Lucy Scown and Shanae Ricardson all competed with, Libby winning 1 individual gold and 3 team golds, Tessa winning 1 team gold and Tyler winning silver in their respective events.
Swimming Sports: These were held two weeks ago and it was a great day. On the day we had 5 students breaking school records. Libby Bradley broke school records in all 5 events, Gaia Pin, Toby Hendy, Liam Cossey and Stacey Muir all broke a record each as well. These students then went on to compete at the Thames Valley Champs held in Matamata, with all the students having placings with Libby breaking a Thames Valley record. These students all go on to the Waikato championships.
Cricket: Some mixed results for Katikati's first XI over the past two weeks starting with an amazing tied game with highly fancied Otumoetai College. Katikati batted first and a great opening partnership between David Lancaster and Basant Singh was built on in style by Jacob Morton who scored 66. The team total of 171 fpr 9 fell short of what could have been a total of over 200 with some bad shot selections by the middle-order batsmen. In the field the Katikati bowlers applied constant pressure and had Otumoetai reeling at 98-9, with Nick Taylor and Braden Brewer taking the majority of the wickets. A great last-wicket partnership ensued, with Otumoetai never giving up. It came down to the last over of the game when Nick Taylor was thrown the ball with the senior bowlers already having bowled their maximum-over spells. Otumoetai needed just 4 runs to win from Nick's over. They started with a two from the first ball. The next four balls they were unable to score from, with Katikati putting huge pressure on the batsmen and so it came down to the last ball, with Oats needing two for a win. It came to a tie.
This game was followed with a great result, with Katikati comprehensively beating Tauranga Boys' College number one team, who boasted a heavy representative line-up. Katikati batted first for the second week in a row and a great opening partnership between Basant Singh and David Lancaster set up the innings for the rest of the team. At 62 for none, a score of over 200 looked possible but a batting collapse saw Katikati in trouble at 92-4. Brody Gilroy and Jack Gentil steadied the ship and with a late cameo from Mark Telford, Katikati managed a respectable 163-8. A 50-run opening partnership for Tauranga Boys' College had Katikati having to think hard about how to break into the TBC batting line-up but once they did there was no turning back - with the Tauranga lads going from 56-0 to all out for 93. A great team effort, with Jacob Morton taking 5 wickets and Mark Telford 3.
Gillette Cup: After a great start to the season in the Baywide competition, hopes were high for a great result in the mid-week Gillette Cup. Being a knockout competition and also a 20/20 format, there is no room for error! Our first game was against Otumoetai again and we once again batted first with a shuffled 20/20 batting order. Unfortunately it did not come off and it was up to David Lancaster to salvage our innings, scoring an unbeaten 98. Otumoetai were cruising to victory when Brody Gilroy ripped out their first four batsmen in the space of 11 balls. This was backed up by Nick Taylor taking the next three - including a superb catch from Max Morton who then ran out the next batsman with a direct hit. The game had certainly turned in our favour but once again the Otumoetai tailenders became a nightmare for the Katikati team, ending with a great win for Otumoetai.
Mt Maunganui
The athletics stars were out in force at the BOP Secondary school athletics champs at Tauranga Domain this week.
MMC had a team of 35 athletes attending and we produced some winning performances in the senior boys' javelin, with Danny Kayes taking 1st, alongside Simone Couvee, who won the senior girls' javelin, and Eva Gibson, who won the junior girls' javelin. Danny was also 2nd in the senior boys' shotput. Emma Marumaru-Flyyn was on fire, winning the junior girls shotput, 2nd in long jump and 3rd in 200m. Sophia Millar got two firsts in the senior girls' 200m and 400m and 2nd in the 100m. Also qualifying to compete now in the Waikato/ BOP athletics champs in Hamilton on March 17 were Maia Bryant (2nd 800m), Malia Josephson (3rd javelin), William Collins (3rd javelin), Fred Toetoe (3rd 100m), Caitlyn Lyttle (3rd shotput), Ivan Bosch (3rd hurdles).
Our school athletic champs have been finalised, with Sophia Millar and Danny Kayes taking the senior girls' and boys' titles, Eden Craig and Dean Julian the intermediate titles and Emma Marumaru-Flynn and Kauri Thomson the junior titles.
The volleyball teams are still battling it out to get the highest seedings to go into nationals, which are March 25 to March 30, and our touch rugby team is competing this Sunday at Otumoaetai College, trying to qualify for the Zonal Touch Rugby competition.
Girls' College
Congratulations to Jamie Carpenter, who was selected by Taekwondo New Zealand to represent the country at the Junior World Championships held in Egypt at the end of March.
The volleyball girls have done well, with three teams in the top 15 pool, competing for a place at nationals. TGC A is currently sitting in 2nd place, with TGC B in 5th, TGC D in 13th, and TGC C has topped the development grade. This Friday will be the first grading round. We wish them well.
We had strong representation at the Mighty River Power Junior Regatta at Lake Karapiro on February 25 and 26. In the A Finals, a 2nd place was gained in the U15 Quad by Aimee Muir, Shireen Harper, Huia Ackerman, Maxie Robb and Charlotte Humphries (cox). Aimee Muir and Huia Ackerman also came 2nd in the U15 Double, and in the U15 Eight, 3rd place was taken out by Aimee Muir, Shireen Harper, Maxie Robb, Sophie Parkin, Chloe Fettes, Alana Rowe, Charlotte Humphries, Amy Mills and Eva Wilson (cox). Ala Lockett, Sam Fredheim, Lisa Allen, Hannah Doelle and Laura Perry (cox) gained 5th place in the U16 Quad, and in the U16 Eight, Huia Ackerman, Maddy Fryer, Maxie Robb, Shireen Harper, Charlotte Humphries, Alana Rowe, Hannah Doelle, Lisa Allen and Laura Perry (cox) came 5th. In the U17 grade, 4th place in the Quad was taken out by Laura Perry, Lydia Milne, Anna Cullum, Ellen Crane and Sam Fredheim (cox) , and also Ellen Crane, Lydia Milne, Anna Cullum, Laura Perry, Belinda Ketel, Ala Lockett, Fiona Bennett, Sam Fredheim and Charlotte Humphries (cox) came 6th in the Eight. In the B Finals, Maddy Fryer came 4th in the U16 Single, Belinda Ketel and Fiona Bennet came 6th in the U17 Double, 7th place in the U15 Quad was gained by Amy Mills, Chloe Fettes, MacKenzie Forrest, Eva Wilson and Brooke Christiansen (cox), and Lisa Allen and Hannah Doelle came 7th in the U16 Double.
At the Bay of Plenty Secondary School Athletics on Tuesday, we had many successes. In the junior girls' division, Amelia Forrest came 2nd in high jump, Pauline Taavilli came 2nd in the discus, Erin Conway came 4th in the 800m and 3rd in the 1500m, Olivia Hines came 2nd in the 1500m and 1st in the 3000m, and Tauranga Girls' won the 4x100m relay. Samantha Bitcheno also came 1st in the 200m, setting a record of 26.49. In the intermediate girls' division, Amy Robinson came 1st in the long jump, and 2nd in the 100m and 200m races. Abby Goldie gained a 2nd in the long jump, and 1st in the 100m and 200m, breaking the previous record for the 200m with a time of 25.34. Jessica Bitcheno came 1st in the 400m and 800m, setting a record of 2.18 for the 800m. Brooke Somerfield came 1st in the hurdles, and 3rd in the long jump, 100m and 200m. The Tauranga Girls' relay team also came 1st, setting a record of 51.7. In the senior girls' division, Bella Andrews came 2nd in the javelin throw and 4th in the high jump. Michelle Prendiville gained a 2nd in the long jump and 200m, Casey Blackwell came 1st in the 800m and 3rd in the 1500m, and sports captain Vivien Conway came 4th in the 800, and 1500m. Amy Robinson came 1st in the hurdles, Makayla Daysh came 1st in the shotput, and Lauren Meyer came 2nd in the discus.
Tauranga Boys'
Congratulations to ...
George Williams, Year 9, who competed at the New Zealand Junior Swimming Championships in Hamilton on February 18 and 19. George won four national medals - three silver (200 free, 200 IM, 100 back), and a bronze (200 back). He also competed in the NZ U14 Surf Life Saving Champs and captured the gold medal in the U13 4x100 relay, silver in the U13 Run Swim Run and bronze in the U13 Diamond Race.
Jonathan Hodges-Ginns, who has been selected for the New Zealand Judo team and will compete at the Oceania games on April 26 in Cairns, Australia.
In first XI cricket, Fergusson Park hosted two rounds of the Baywide Twenty20 competition on Saturday. We played Central CC in a top of the table clash and had to win to stay in the hunt for the final. Our bowling was tight throughout the innings and the Central innings never got going. They eventually reached 99 all out with one ball remaining.
Runs were difficult to come by with a slow pitch and long boundaries, so what looked like a modest total proved to be a real challenge. Wickets were lost at regular intervals and it set up a nervous finish. Grant Bedford-Rolleston produced a couple of lusty blows to ease the pressure. Mr Orchard and Myles Timoti required three runs off the last over for a comfortable win. However, Myles was dismissed with two runs required off four balls. Mr Orchard got a single off the next ball, leaving James Boyd with one run to score off two balls with two wickets left. The approach was clearly to hit and run regardless of where the ball went. James stroked a beautiful off-drive straight to mid-off, leaving him little time to make his ground, but fortunately the Central fielder missed from close range and we won with a ball to spare.
As current holders of the Super 8 Volleyball shield for the last eight years we ventured down to Napier knowing that this year would provide the toughest competition over the last decade. First up on Monday morning was Napier Boys' High School B team, whom we beat 3-0. The next game was against Palmerston North Boys' High School, which we also won 3-0. The last round of pool play was against Hamilton Boys' High School and we kept our record intact with another 3-0 win. The stand-out player of day one was Nathan Rona, with some fantastic attacks down the line.
The semifinal was against Hastings Boys' High School, a team who beat us in pool play in 2011. All their players had returned this year and it was going to be a test of our skill level. Our team stepped up and continued the run of 3-0 wins and in doing so displayed the skills, the positive attitude and the desire to win that is expected from a TBC volleyball team. Brad Fullerton played an absolute blinder of a game and captain Joel Draffin showed positive encouragement and asked the boys to play with their hearts. We met Palmerston Boys' High School in the final who had surprised all of us with a 5-set victory over Napier Boys'. It was business as usual for our team as we beat Palmerston North 3-0.
The school athletic sports were held last Tuesday. Congratulations to the overall champions: Junior: 1st Steven Masters, 2nd Aaron Fredheim, 3rd Lucky Walker. Intermediate: 1st Caleb Aperahama, 2nd Daniel Hintz, 3rd Burton McAdam, Hamish McGeorge and Connor Fifita. Senior: 1st Alex Colvin, 2nd Michael Sutton, 3rd Simon Malu.