College Sport: secondary schools crosscountry

Tauranga Girls'
The basketball senior A team competed in a tournament on Saturday in Counties Manukau, playing three games although the last game was not full length.
The team faced St Kentigern first, having a great game and beating them convincingly 91-11. They then went on to play the Counties-Manukau under-17 rep team, winning 64-52. Their next game was not a full game and they lost 32-18 against the Waikato under-17 rep team.
The team had a great tournament overall and a bonus was Rebecca Hughes, a Year 9 member of the team, being named player of the tournament.
Weekly sport went off without any hitches last week with fine weather and not much wind. At the netball courts on Friday night the 9A team had a great win against Mount junior B 47-6. Junior A played Mount junior A, winning convincingly with a score of 55-16. Then League 1 managed to have a great game and beat Otumoetai College Premier 48-29.
League 2, playing on the court behind, had a draw against Aquinas College 37-all.
Tauranga Girls College had some awesome finishes at the Bay of Plenty/Mid Island secondary schools crosscountry. Junior girls saw Emily McCarthy finish second, Jessica Bitcheno third, Tayla Forward fifth, Naomi Stewart sixth, Kirsty Burrows seventh, Sarah Robinson 18th and Rose Barker 19th. Tauranga Girls also won the three and six-person race.
Intermediate Girls had Isabella Kirk first, Stella Marshall fourth, Amy Robinson fifth, Christine Sutton sixth, Megan Becker 11th, Sita Clark 22nd, Freya O'Sullivan 37th and Hannah Gates 38th. Intermediate girls also won the three and six-person race. Senior girls included Casey Blackwell in first with a great finish and Simone Rockliffe third.
Three players from Tauranga Girls College have been named in the Bay of Plenty under-15 Premier netball team, which is a good achievement. They are Moana Whare, Marika Williams and Ariana Moffat. Zoe Wieringa
Tauranga Boys'

The Tauranga Boys' first XV travelled to take on Opotiki College last weekend. We played some steady rugby throughout the game and managed to score six well constructed tries, keeping Opotiki to only a single try, with the final score 41-7.
Our second XI played hockey against TOB Reds last week. A good display all round lead to a well deserved first win in this grade for the rapidly improving 2nd XI. The final score was 4-2.
Tauranga Boys were well represented at the Bay of Plenty crosscountry champs Wednesday last week. In the junior boys, Daniel Hintz placed first with Andrew Robinson finishing third. The intermediate boys race saw Scott Croasdale cross the line in second with Javahn Kennedy in third. In the senior boys' race, Julian Oakley placed first with Michael Sutton close behind in second.
We also competed in the Super 8 crosscountry last Monday. Places included Daniel Hintz coming third in the Year 9 race, Julian Oakley finishing second and Michael Sutton third in the senior boys' event. Overall Tauranga Boys won the Super 8 shield convincingly thanks to some strong running all round.
In the first round of the national soccer qualifiers, Tauranga Boys played St Paul's. The boys had a great win 5-1 ensuring an early three points on the board for national qualifying.
Congratulations to Marshall Gibson who was selected for the New Zealand secondary schools wrestling team.
Bethlehem College

The Bay of Plenty and Mid crosscountry championship was held recently. Bethlehem College sent a number of students to represent our school.
This competition is tough and making the top 20 is a good achievement. In the junior boys race, Michael Jones came 13th followed by Andrew Fraser-Mackenzie 20th.
In the junior girls' race, Alice McCafferty came in eighth. In the intermediate division, we had four students finish the race in the top 20. In the boys' race, Dylan Ramohitaj came 17th and in the girls' race Morgan Ball came in 15th, Courtney Rennie 17th and Kelly Furmage 18th.
In the competitive senior races, Matt Smalberger came eighth, Ollie Lines Smith 10th and Eremia Tapsell 20th.
Our rugby first XV travelled to Katikati and had a convincing win 43-19. Ben McBride and Corey Seator both had excellent games and both scored good tries.
Our senior A netball girls also played Katikati on Friday night and had a good win 53-23. Sally Davenport, Ashleigh Frew and Stephanie Davies dominated the shooting circle and played exceptionally well.
Bethlehem's first XI girls' and boys' teams both played great football games over the weekend. The boys drew 3-3 against Katikati with Tom Bernard strong on the left wing. The goals were scored by Mitchell Evans, Raoni Artiaga and Matthew Connolly.
The girls played against Mount College first XI. Jamie Filmer was player of the match and the team also had two junior girls, Eden Kleiman and Marie Joy Hay, join them for the game. Hannah Walker and Laura Neureuter scored to make it 2-0 to BC.
On Wednesday last week our first XI hockey boys played Otumoetai men. In an even first half, BC scored through Tiaan John off a penalty corner to lead 1-0.
The second half was competitive and the men's team fought back strongly, winning 4-1.
In the girls' game, the first XI played Otumoetai United women and won convincingly 8-0. The highlight was Anae Dixon saving an excellent reverse stick shot, ensuring the opposition remained scoreless. Hannah Marshall and Matt Smalberger, sport captains.
Otumoetai College

The first XV played Mount Maunganui, winning 17-0 with two ties to Jay Michalik and a try to Tukurora Ngawhika-MacMillan.
The second XV had a great win over Mount Maunganui 77-0 with Marek Church scoring four tries, three to Kurt Christophersen amd two tries to Tony York. Daniel Rodriguez, a new player to the team, had a great start with the player of the day award.
Our under-15s suffered a narrow defeat to Mount Maunganui 17-19, with three tries scored by our young team. The under-14s continue to find their level within this competition and are looking forward to their games at a corrected level.
We had a large field of 16 golfers attend the annual Manihera secondary schools tournament in Kawerau last week. Our No4 team were best performers with Kane Davis, Hayden Henderson, Kurt McKinnon and Brooke Polley taking third in the nett competition. Brooke won the girls' gross competition with an 87 points while Kane was the best boy, gaining second in the nett.
At the Bay of Plenty crosscountry event at Waipuna Park last week Isaiah Duncanson was our best junior boys' runner in ninth. Jessica Gadsbey was placed fourth in the junior girls. Sam Roy was our best runner in the intermediate boys with Emily McCormick best in intermediate girls. Jeremey Burns continues his good running performances with a ninth placing in the senior boys and Emma Jackson a commendable fifth in senior girls.
This week saw our first XI football team play last season's nemesis Trident in Whakatane, breaking the drought with a 4-0 victory. It took a while for the team to settle into their game but fortunately Trident did not capitalise on the opportunities during this phase.
Charlie Clague controlled the midfield well with great support from Nick Schmitz. Luke Wakley also put in a solid performance and scored an impressive long range goal in the second half. Rodrigo Mariante scored another hat-trick, bringing his season's goal count to 12 - a fantastic effort this early in the season.
The basketball senior boys' team continued their great buildup with a competitive win in the local adult league on Tuesday. Combining this with play on the Wednesdays sees this team steadily improving. Our junior boys and girls are playing with dominance in their round and yet to have a competitive game, beating teams by large margins.
The Prem One netball team are continuing to find their rhythm and had a loss against Tauranga League One 48-29. The Prem Two team had a 39-31 win against Tauranga League 3, who were just behind us on the top of the table. Congratulations to the girls who made the Netball Bay of Plenty rep teams - Talia Connal and Alex Gardner (under-19), Julia Hartley (development 17s) and Abi May (premier 17s).
The Year 9 hockey girls have had a major boost to their confidence with a win over Katikati's first XI 2-1.
The following athletes have been selected into the North Island boys' volleyball team to compete in the transtasman competition in Sydney - captain Andrew Bray, Marek Church, Charles Clague, James Gilling and Liam Matheson.
Te Puke High
A team of 14 Te Puke High students travelled to Welcome Bay's Waipuna Park last Wednesday to compete in the Bay of Plenty secondary schools crosscountry championships.
The outstanding performers for our school were Summer Church in the under-16 girls, running the 3km course in 12min 53sec for 7th place, and Melissa Beeler, who ran a gutsy race to finish second in the senior girls' 4km in 16min 46sec.
Te Puke Fusion first XI hockey girls played Bethlehem's girls' second XI team at Blake Park on Tuesday. The score was 0-0 at halftime with the Te Puke team having many opportunities to score throughout the first half.
In the second half Georgia Nichols scored to put us one up. Bethlehem came back and scored, and then with some great runs from strike forwards Thea Fauvel, Jade Beaver and Georgia we were able to penetrate the attacking circle a number of times. Often these runs began back in the defensive half and it was through this that Georgia capitalised with two more goals. Final score 3-1 to Te Puke. Player of the match was Georgia Nichols.
Te Puke High's girls' hockey second XI played Mount Maunganui College's 2nd XI on Monday, turning in another winning performance. Nicole Pislor's skilful work resulted in a goal from the top of the circle, with further goals scored by Kerry Fraser and Patrea Ter Steege. The team remains undefeated in their college grade competition and are yet to concede a goal.
Our first XI hosted Tauranga Boys College's second XI at Litt Park on Saturday for their Baywide premier youth league soccer fixture. The depth of the Te Puke side's playing squad was always going to be tested in this match, with key players away on educational assignments in Singapore and Melbourne.
With Masa Ishikawa making his debut appearance at left-back, the side settled into their passing game quickly, with Richard Ireland opening the scoring for Te Puke. Despite the home side's defensive strengths, the Tauranga side were able to make a number of strikes on goal, resulting in a number of resounding blows to the posts and crossbar but only one goal.
The sides went into halftime one-all with the home side having enjoyed some luck. In the second half, Brendon Taylor rounded off an impressive all-round performance for Te Puke with a fiercely-struck goal from the edge of the six-yard box after bearing in on goal from a defensive position. The Te Puke team held this scoreboard advantage until 10 minutes from full-time when a flurry of activity saw Tauranga scoring two quick goals. Final score: Te Puke High 2 Tauranga Boys 3.
Katikati College

Our girls' first XI football team played Te Puke second XI on Saturday, starting off a bit shaky in the first half due to unusually rough defence from Te Puke but still managing to be up 6-0 at halftime. Katikati picked up during the second half after a stern talking to and were able to dominate both possession and play to win 12-0. Ana Morris was highest scoring with four goals.
Katikati College's intermediate basketball team had their first loss on Monday night with a 38-18 defeat to TKK Kaha.
Our Development 2 netball team had a good game last weekend and won 27-5 against Otumoetai College, hopefully allowing us to go up a grade as we have had all wins.
Our Year 7 girls' hockey team had an outstanding game, despite losing 4-0 to Tauranga Intermediate.
Our under-14 boys rugby played Tauranga Boys College. They tried valiantly but mental lapses let us down, losing 31-21.
Aquinas College
This year our inter-school team was somewhat understrength at the Bay of Plenty/Mid Island crosscountry due to a couple of reasons. The first was that several of our top runners had been sick and away from school and the second was that they coincided with opening night of our school production which took out three of our key runners.
As usual, the races were held over the very challenging Waipuna Park course in Welcome Bay. Nevertheless, in true Aquinas spirit, we competed extremely well and had several outstanding results. Most notable was Lili Crombie who won the under-14 title and Charlotte Skelton, third in the under-16 race.
It was in the team's competition however where we really came to the fore. The senior girls three-person team (Kathryn Stewart, Adele Dromgool and Kaitlin Wood) ran superbly to win this event, with all three runners finishing in the top 10. Penny Coleman ran home strongly to finish 10th.
Other teams to perform admirably were:
U14 boys: 3-person 3rd.
U14 girls: 3-person 2nd, 6-person 3rd.
U16 boys: 3 person 3rd, 6 person 2nd.
U16 girls: 3 person 2nd.
U19 boys: 3 person 2nd, 6 person 2nd
U19 girls: 3 person 1st.Overall it was an outstanding day and one where all runners representing Aquinas College could hold their heads up with great pride.
Our Aquinas crosscountry was held after three weeks of intensive aerobic fitness work in the junior PE classes which had primed many athletes for a top performance. The day was beautifully fine and clear which made for great running conditions. As usual, the final stages of each race (up the twisting gully at the back of the school) proved to be the deciding factor in many of the races.
There were a couple of outstanding individuals on show who completely dominated their age group rivals, none more so than Anneke Grogan (U16 girls), Lili Crombie (U14 girls) and James Sharp (U14 boys)
As usual the inter-house competition was fiercely contended for, with many battles amongst friends to glean an advantage over someone from another house. At the end of the day the consistent Browne house proved to be too strong and took out the title.
Individual champions and placegetters:
Y7 boys: 1 Lachie Meehan, 2 Sean Dykes, 3 Luke Brown. Girls: 1 Phoebe MacIntyre, 2 Lucy Houghton, 3 Emma Abbot.
Y8 boys: 1 Victor Bibi, 2 Patrick Imrie, 3 Morgan Brocklesby. Girls: 1 Hannah Skelton, 2 Dana Welton, 3 Kimberley D'Mello.
U14 boys: 1 James Sharp, 2 Cayne Dew, 3 Tom Carter. Girls: 1 Lili Crombie, 2 Portia Thompson, 3 Grace Eglinton.
U16 boys: 1 David Randrup, 2 Rob Stringfellow, 3 William Moore. Girls: 1 Anneke Grogan, 2 Alice McFall, 3 Charlotte Skelton.
U19 boys: 1 Sam Brebner, 2 Matt Braid, 3 James Cooper. Girls: 1 Olivia Burn, 2 Kathryn Stewart, 3 Adele Dromgool.
Mount College

Golfers John Campbell and Jordan Golding have been selected in the Bay of Plenty under-19 development squad to attend various coaching days in a view to provincial representative play. Tawera Williams was chosen in the Bay of Plenty under-16 golf academy team to play in a tournament in Wellington.
Golding was awarded first nett at the Manihera secondary schools competition, shooting a round of 71. The team of Campbell, Golding, Tawera Williams and JD Pollard finished fifth, with only one shot separating the second to fifth. Tauhara were the winning team.
Congratulations to Sam Smith and Sherelle Piwari who have been selected in the U17 boys and girls Tauranga Rep Basketball team as well as Caleb Mattison-Smith and Ethan Smith in the U19 team. The teams are competing over Queen's Birthday in the age-group nationals.
Congratulations to Leah Marumaru-Flynn and Tayla Blanchard, who have been selected in the Bay of Plenty under-19 netball teams to compete at age-group nationals in Nelson in July. Hannah Scown gained selection in the Bay of Plenty under-17 team competing at nationals in Christchurch. The final trial for the under-15 squad was held this week with the team yet to be announced.
MCC 1 netball girls have a top of the table clash against Tauranga Girls tomorrow night, with both teams sitting on four wins from four games.
The Mauao under-15 boys' rugby team had a close game against Otumoetai under-15s last weekend with the final score 19-17 to Mount. The game was a hard contest up front in the forward packs with some fine running rugby displays from both backlines. Mount ran in three tries to Otumoetai's two, with a sideline conversion from Bill Carter sealing the match. The team play Tauranga Boys' College's under-14 elite team on Saturday.