Bethlehem
Cricket: Bethlehem College moved into the final of the Bay Schools cricket competition with a convincing win in the semifinals against Otumoetai. Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Bethlehem made a steady start before Matthew Cole and Bede Murray took control. Matthew completed his second century of the season and ended up with 124 off just 68 balls, while Bede Murray notched 83 off 78. A rapid contribution from Chase Raleigh saw Bethlehem complete their 45 overs with a total of 339-9.
Early wickets made Otumoetai's job even harder, but they eventually battled through to 229. Bethlehem College play Trident in the final this Saturday at Bethlehem College.
Volleyball: The Junior volleyball teams made a strong showing at the recent Junior Championships in Wellington. The 10A Girls team came third in Division 1, the 9A girls 15th in Division 2. The 10A Boys came 15th in Division 1 and 9A Boys 10th in Division 2.
Congratulations to Sophie Te Whaiti and Emily Johnston who were selected for the tournament team and Jasmine Hindson who won the top referee award. Alex Campbell-Smith and Te Whaiti were invited to be part of the BOP U15 representative team at the IPC Championships in Hamilton in December.
Athletics: At the recent BOP Zone Schools Year 7/8 athletic championships, Bethlehem College were placed second in the team standings. The following student athletes achieved placings in their events. Mia Pugh won the 1500m and was third in the 800m. Rachel Stratton won the long jump. Millie Bernard came third in the discus. Cameron Riley came second in the 1500m, long jump and high jump. Rory McGillivray came second in the 100m. McKenzie Ball won the 800m and 1500m, and was third in the 300m. Olivia Gray was second in the shot put, Emma Waddell third in the 1500m, Laura Wyatt third in the discus, Luke Hardy was second in the shot put and discus. Daniel Price won the discus event, Tim Sickler was second in the 300m and Harrison Still was third in the long jump.
Otumoetai
Volleyball: A triumphant week for the Junior volleyball programme in Wellington with two teams bringing home medals. The North Island tournament had over 80 teams competing. Congratulations to our Junior A Girls who played Tauranga Girls' in a thrilling final. Both teams showed great skills with a good standard of play at this younger level.
Captained by Jessica Gadsbey, the gold medal match was won 25-19, 25-22. Jasmine Tawa was named Most Valuable Player of the Tournament with Roebi Bidois and Kahla Tyson joining her in the tournament team selection.
Junior A Boys captained by Jack May progressed to the Top 8 and competed well. Meeting Western Heights in their quarter-final, they played well against the eventual winners.
The Girls 10B team co-captained by Mackenzy Suttie and Iona Gordon was the best B team in the North Island securing a spot in the Div One 16 team competition. The team finished 12th in Div One. The Girls 9A team had a solid build up to this tournament and continued their good play narrowly missing the cut for Div One on a countback. Co-captained by McKenna Armstrong and Chelsea Healey, the team continued to play well in Div Two and surprised other A teams with their structured game and ability. The team had a great win in their semifinal against Long Bay College 25-16,15-25,15-11. This saw the team in the final against Westlake A, who proved too strong but secured them the silver medal in Div Two.
Our 9A boys finished their tournament with a game against the visiting Australian team Upwey. They lost a tight match 25-27, 22-25 but all enjoyed the opportunities this week had bought for them all. They finished 12th in Div Two.
Te Puke
Volleyball: We took two teams down to the NZSSC Volleyball Nationals in Wellington last week, with great results. The junior boys team finished at the top of their pool on day one, which assured them a position in division one. The next day the team also topped their pool assuring themselves a spot in the top eight and this took them through to the quarter-finals. Unfortunately the boys lost to Westlake in a really close game and ended up playing off for fifth and sixth position.
The junior girls team finished second in their pool on day one which assured them a spot in division one.
The team came second in their next pool which took them through to the quarter-finals and gained them a definite spot in the top eight.
Our girls just missed out on their quarter-final game losing to Bethlehem College. They also ended up playing off for fifth and sixth spot and eventually both our teams finished in sixth place. This was a fine effort for our teams. Our girls moved up 24 places from last year.
We would like to thank all our coaches and managers and parents..