Coach Cliff Tolley said he was proud of the team. "It was a great result for our first point-based event. Everyone did really well, had fun, rode safely, and gave it their all. I keep hearing people say that they didn't realise we had a motocross team. Well, I guess they know now. We are definitely looking forward to more events."
A small but dedicated group of girls competed in the Bay of Plenty secondary schools gymsport championships. Naomi Looker took second place in the Level 5 women's artistic division, with Georgia Reynard third and Leah Madden sixth in level 4. The women's artistic novice division competitors gained a third placing in the teams competition against Tauranga Girls' and John Paul College. In the rhythmic division, Chelsea Matheson was third in club B with Sunny Lee bravely competing in the open C division on her own to take out the gold medal.
Our First XI boys played Aquinas and, while playing the better football, fell behind to an early goal in the second half. Eike Stryker saved a penalty and then Thomas Jamieson scored the equaliser. Pressing to get a second goal Aquinas scored against the run of play to take the lead 2-1. In quick reply Sebastian Geisler scored the equaliser with captain Vaughan Wilson the outstanding player of the day.
The girls' First XI played against an experienced Tauranga Girls' team and competed well.
Another Good Neighbours basketball camp was hosted last weekend. These are proving very popular with local youngsters. First night of basketball this week which our seven teams are looking forward to. Past pupil Derone Ruakawa is one of only four NZ basketballers chosen for a fully funded FIBA/NBA camp in Tokyo in June, an amazing achievement.
Netball has started off really well with 16 teams entered. Our first games last weekend showed more wins than loses. Congratulations to Abi May who has been selected into the Bay of Plenty under-19 representative team. Our Premier One team had a great start to the season with a good win over the Mount 37-23. The Prem Two team also beat the Mount 27-17 and junior A beat Te Puke 48-18.
The rugby season is now under way with the under-14s having two big wins from two games, including 103-5 against Bethlehem. The 2nd XV had a narrow loss to Aquinas 23-20 and the first XV played a non-competition fixture against Mount Maunganui College and narrowly lost 19-20.
Katikati College
The First XI girls travelled to Trident on Saturday. After an early start the girls were keen for a good game. Both teams were holding possession well but Trident was lucky and scored in the middle of the first half.
The second half was the same, with the Kati strikers unlucky not to get one in the back of the net. Trident scored again late in the second half, but Kati kept their heads up to finish the game with a 2-0 loss. Well done to Lauren Morton Hay and Briar Kennedy for their great goalkeeping.
The boys' first XI played Tauranga Boys' College. We got off to a bad start with two quick goals from Tauranga BC, however we hung in there to come away with a 4-2 loss. Ben Tavae scored both goals.
Intermediate mixed hockey team had their opening tournament last Friday night. They played five games and won four, with wins over Te Puke, Te Puna and Otumoetai. This team is a mix of experience and first time players so it is exciting to see them do so well this early in the season.
We had two students compete at the Bay of Plenty secondary schools gymsport competition last Friday. Lauren Sobye won the WAG Level 5, Shanae Richardson was second in the WAG 2 division and the C grade trampoline competition, with Toni Richardson placing third in the WAG Div 2.
Tauranga Girls' CollegeOnce again it was a busy weekend . The netball season started on Friday night, with our senior League One team winning their game against Bethlehem College 28-19. Tauranga Girls' junior A team were also victorious in their game against Bethlehem College junior A, narrowly winning 25-24.
Girls playing football did well too, with the first XI winning their game against Otumoetai College first XI impressively 10-0. The second XI had a very good game against Whakatane High first XI, coming out with a 1-1 draw.
- Bria Wollaston.
Tauranga Boys' College
With a ton of sporting spectacles last weekend it was hard not to get a little excited.
In rugby, Tauranga Boys' First XV beat St Paul's Collegiate First XI 39-12. Other results were Tauranga Boys' Second XV 3 Gisborne Boys' High 15, Tauranga Boys' Third XV 42 Tauranga Boys' under-16 0, Tauranga Boys' Fourth XV 5 Tauranga Boys' College under-15 A 39, Tauranga Boys' under-15 B 62 Kawerau College under-15 5, Tauranga Boys' under-14 A 76 Katikati College under-15 7, Tauranga Boys' under-14 B 0 Te Wharekura O Mauao under-14 75, Tauranga Boys' under-14 C 5 Mount College under-14 71.
Last Wednesday under sunny blue skies the annual school crosscountry was held in Welcome Bay. In stark contrast to a year ago when the event was cancelled because of poor weather, a record number of boys bussed their way to Waipuna Park for the first event of term two.
Aaron Fredheim and Andrew Robinson had their sights on becoming junior school champion and cleared away early in the 3km race. Justin Mitchell, the first of the Year 9s in third place overall, couldn't quite bridge the gap.
At the front of the field Aaron pulled a 5m lead over Andrew and that was how it stayed to the finish. The Halberg junior team proved too strong, winning the junior event.
In intermediate boys, Daniel Hintz was keen to add the trophy to his collection following a victory in the junior race in 2011. However new up-and-comer Luke Bradshaw wasn't going to let Hintz win without having to work for it. Hintz, Bradshaw and Scott Croasdale made their way to the front of the pack, with Croasdale falling off the pace as it came down to a final 100m sprint. Hintz, fresh from the track season and with plenty of speed, was too strong for Bradshaw and pulled out a two second gap to claim the victory. In the house event it was Ngata's time to shine.
The senior boys' 6km race was an opportunity for Michael Sutton to get an early race under his belt before the season proper. A determined run saw him push himself at the front to record a very impressive time of 19:53. Tim Longley was unchallenged for second with Ben Grindrod in third. In the senior house competition it was a clear victory for Halberg with four athletes in the top eight.
When house points were collated it was the great performance of the Halberg juniors and seniors that secured the overall win for Halberg, with Hillary second, Ngarimu and Freyberg third equal and Ngata and Rutherford tied for fifth.
In motocross, 17 boys attended the Hauraki Plains College invitation event at Huntly. It was a massive day.
The day didn't start well when Mitchell Bond took a fall in practice and was run over, breaking an arm. The day improved with Reed van de Laar going 1-1-2 to be first in the intermediate 250cc class. Brother Todd was 5-2-7 for fifth.
Sebastian Still was again a standout rider. Seb has been riding for a year and has consistently secured fifth overall all season so far and at Huntly he was circulating three seconds faster than anyone else in the 125cc class but a few small incidents didn't see Seb place higher than third. Zac McNicol-Carr, in his first race, was seventh in the 125cc beginners class. Overall Tauranga Boys' College placed fourth, missing out on third by just one point.
In the canoe slalom, at the Bay Of Plenty Championships on the Tarawera River last weekend Cole O'Connor-Stratton was second in the under-18 K1, Callum Gilbert won the under-16 K1 and C1 ahead of Alex Hawthorne in both events. Theo Pepper was third in the under-16 K1 and Daniel Munro was third in the under-16 C1.
Daniel teamed up with Luke Robinson to take the under-16 C2 event. Jack Wilson was second in the under-14 K1 with Olivah Hughes-Lindley third.
Tauranga Boys' hockey have now played at least one match. The First XI, after a convincing first up victory against the Second XI, played well against Tauranga Old Boys Red, winning 3-0. The Second XI took on Otumoetai College First XI but the large number of new players and lack of training meant they lost 5-0.
Tauranga Boys' First XI football took on Waikato University and won 1-0. Both teams sitting close on the table meant that whoever won would leapfrog up on the table. It was 0-0 at the break, with Ben Pamment pulling off some vital saves. Late in the second half a magical ball from Connor Probert set up Jack Chaney to have a strike from inside the 18-yard box. Although the shot was missing, it hit old boy Nick Jens and deflected into the net.
Mt Maunganui College
Netball passed off on Friday and Saturday with Mt Maunganui College fielding 14 teams.
There were six wins and eight losses. The teams will be back in action this week with MMC1 playing Te Puke on Friday night at 7.15pm.
Our rugby teams had a good weekend with the first XV having a friendly against Otumoetai College and scraping to a 20-19 win. It was good for the teams to get a game as both teams had their competition games rescheduled. The Second XV had another solid win, 35-5 against Aquinas, and the under-15s lost 20-18 to Aquinas but still lead their pool from Tauranga Boys' under-15 B.
Mount under-14s scored 71 points against Tauranga Boys under-14 C and lead their pool. The First XV are the only home game this weekend under the watchful eye of coach Paul Tietjens, taking on Taupo Nui a Tia at midday.
Basketball started last night with an opening night blitz tournament to allow for grading before the true competition starts next week.
Three Mount College football teams all have home games this weekend kicking off at 9.15am, with the First XI taking on Whakatane, First XI boys at midday against Otumoetai and 10.30 the girls' Second XI play BC Galaxy.
Good luck to all the teams for the weekend and for the students trialling for the New Zealand boys' under-17 volleyball team.
Bethlehem College The winter sports season started with fierce competition in all codes. The boys' hockey First XI lost in a close game with Otumoetai Blues men's 1-0. Hamish Dallas was player of the day with some fine saves on the goal line. The Second XI hockey boys lost to Tauranga Colts in another close game, going down 1-0. Our Third XI hockey boys had a narrow victory with a 1-0 win against Aquinas Second XI, with a great goal by Josh Nicholson making the difference. Several new players had their first game.
In netball, the Open B girls had a good start to this season winning 34-16 against Tauranga Girls' College's league three team. Junior A had a close loss to Tauranga Girls' Junior A 24-25. Junior B girls won over Tauranga Girls' Year 9 A 18-16. The Year 9 Red team had a big win over Tauranga Girls' College. Our Open A girls are fifth after a rusty start.
The Second XI girls' soccer won 4-0 against Aquinas. Special thanks to Hannah McDonald and Ella Bernard for volunteering to play in goal. The boys' First XI had a narrow loss to Trident 3-2. In rugby our teams had hard games but went down to their opposition.
- Kelsey Randrup, sports captain.