College Sport

Aquinas

Aquinas' ace golfer David Feeney has just returned from representing the Bay of Plenty senior men's team at the SBS Interprovincial strokeplay championships in Invercargill.
His team returned from a weekend of golf with a credible fifth placing out of 15 teams. The result has been noted as being especially pleasing given the young ages of those in Feeney's team.
The team of five are from Tauranga and Rotorua, with three aged 17 or under and the other two only 19 and 20. Feeney is 17 and a Year 13 student at Aquinas.
Last year he was also one of 10 players selected by New Zealand Golf to attend two three-day camps at Gulf Harbour. This was for talented young players in the Northern Region Academy, which spans from Hawke's Bay to Northland regions.
Feeney also played for the Bay of Plenty under-19 representative team in two tournaments and finished second in the Bay under-19 championship in November last year.
Tauranga Boys'

Tauranga Boys' College's cricketers travelled to St Kent's College last week for a two-match series.
The first match was 45 overs and St Kent's won the toss and batted on a good surface. Tommy Clout continued his fine form with the ball and took early wickets, finishing with figures of 4-45. St Kent's were able to post a competitive score of 213 despite some restrictive bowling by James Boyd on debut and Cameron Neal.
In reply, TBC started strongly with an opening stand of 31 runs. However at 112-5 and less than half the overs remaining, the visitors looked in trouble. Shaun McCarthy and Alex Oakley showed a good understanding of the situation and took advantage of the St Kent's bowlers.
The hero on the day was certainly Clout, who performed with bat and ball. He made 22 runs and hit a crucial six to win the match with two wickets in hand.
The second match, 40 overs, was under way at 9am the next day. Tauranga Boys' won the toss and elected to bat as there was still a lot of dew on the outfield which hindered the St Kent's bowling attack. Cameron Neal made the most of his fortune to score a solid 71 but was dismissed with eight overs to go. Tauranga Boys' were all out for 173 after batting 37 overs.
Unfortunately, that was the difference between the sides as St Kent's had a good middle order which ensured they sneaked home with four wickets and three balls to spare.
A nasty collision between Elliott Timoti and Clout left both players smarting. Clout was able to still take the catch but could not finish his remaining overs. Myles Timoti was again consistent and picked up 2-29.
Tauranga Boys' junior Gillette Cup cricket team travelled to Gisborne at the weekend and continued their quest to make the top eight. After losing the toss, TBC were sent in to bat on a slippery track but openers Ryan Balson (36) and Luke Aldersly (24) put on an opening partnership of 76 runs.
Both were dismissed in the same over, bringing captain Gareth Wallace and vice-captain Connor Fifita to the crease. The pair looked dangerous until Fifita was caught on the boundary. Wallace went on to score 77, supported by Ben Noakes and Grayson Kite, who was unbeaten on 32 as TBC hit 253/5 in 40 overs.
The opening bowlers, Thomas Wakelin and Kite, followed a fine batting display with some outstanding bowling. This, along with some great work in the field, meant the Gisborne boys struggled to 40 before the whole side was dismissed.
Standout bowling figures were Kite (3-7 off 6 overs) and Wakelin (3-13 off 5 overs).
The boys play the Waikato Valley winners next week and, if they win, go through to the top 8 tournament in Taupo.
Our senior B volleyball team had a loss to Otumoetai A 3-1 and a loss to TBC A 3-0. They defeated Otumoetai B 3-2 and easily beat Trident 3-0. The player of the weekend was Justin Sergent-Clarke.
Bethlehem

Last Friday, our Year 7 and 8s took part in the Splash, Paddle and Dash held at Pilot Bay.
In the individuals, Hamish Miller was champion of the Year 8 boys, Sam Averill took second in the Year 7 boys' and Laura Wyatt was runner-up in her event for Year 7 girls.
Bethlehem College also fielded a number of teams who competed to a high standard. We had four Year 7 teams, two boys' and two girls'. Boys' team "Great Bullets" brought home gold, closely followed by "The Ditzy Blondes" in third. In the Year 7 girls', the "Long Legged Giraffes" were first and "Ninja Tunas" runners-up, while the Year 8 relay team placed second.
Over the past few years, Beniece Douch has been one of Bethlehem College's successful beach volleyballers and has now been selected for an array of teams at regional and national level.
Having played for the last two years in the New Zealand beach under-17 team, she has now been selected for the under-19 New Zealand beach squad. Many congratulations!
Bethlehem College's senior girls' indoor volleyball team has been competing in Bay Of Plenty preliminary competitions over the last two weekends. Senior A achieved their initial goal of securing a place in the top three by defeating Whakatane A and Trident A, but losing to Otumoetai and Tauranga Girls' senior A resulted in a third placing. They have a top-three playoff tomorrow, followed by the Bay Champs the following weekend which will determine their seeding at the national tournament starting on March 28. - Hannah Marshall and Matthew Smalberger, sports captains.
Mount College

At the Bay of Plenty secondary schools athletics at Tauranga Domain on Tuesday, Mount College's Kodi Harman (senior boys) and Trudi Greig (senior girls) took the quinella, each winning the 100m-200m sprint finals.
Kodi broke the 200m record held since 1977 by M Ormsby of 22.7 in a time of 22.12. Also having outstanding results on the track were Sophie Millar, winning the senior girls' 400m, and sister Rebekah, second in the intermediate 400m.
Emma Marumaru-Flynn was third in the junior girls' 200m. Having qualified third in the 100m sprint, she had an unfortunate DQ in the final. Jerry Robinson was fourth in a tight junior boys' 100m, with only 1.8sec separating the top four.
Vaughn Friedrich ran a great 400m senior boys' race to finish third, while our girls' relay team of Trudi, Rebekah, Sophie and Emma blitzed the senior field.
In field events, Claudia Colenso Neenee was first in intermediate javelin, throwing 32.88m, just 1.5m short of the Bay record. However, she did set a new school record. Franqui Leach finished third and Simone Couvee was fourth.
Danny Kayes broke his own school record in the senior javelin, throwing an impressive 51.50m, but it was not enough to stop Luke Davison, from Bethlehem breaking the javelin record, which had stood since 1976, with a massive effort of 56.27m.
Rochelle Newdick was second in intermediate long jump and discus, Franqui Leach was second in shotput and Emma Marumaru Flynn second in junior triple jump and shotput.
In the senior boys', Mitchell Kerr-Bell was third in the high jump, and Caleb Mattison-Smith was second in triple jump and third in long jump.
Several of our Mount college disabled students competed, with a fantastic display of athleticism shown in the events. Our team of Dallin Bishara, Ashley Lintott, Kelly Nathan, Save Kapua, Tapaita Hakaumotu, Jay Lydon, Renee Dowling, Lisa McNeight, Rose Braxton and Rebecca Mangan all had successful results against strong competition.
Congratulations to Elias Greaves Borrell, a rugby league player for the Whalers, who was been named to play in the Taupo Phoenix invitational team as the curtainraiser to the Cronulla Sharks v Warriors on April 3.
The surf lifesaving nationals are on this weekend, with more than 30 students and staff competing.
Otumoetai

Otumoetai's equestrian team won the Bay of Plenty area secondary schools showjumping competition in Te Teko. The team of six included Mary Mitchell, riding Jumping Jack Splash, Alex Coughlan, on Tullamore, Sophie Tingey, with Bay Calypso, Jessica Kerkmeester and Spot Me, Paige Harris with Pedro, and Hayley Hawkless on Burning Ember.
The team accumulated 87 points, with the second-placed team on 67 points. Finn Maloney also represented the school as a draft rider.
Our sports science class spent the weekend in Taupo observing the NZ Ironman event. It was an eye-opening learning experience about the dedication, commitment and training routines of a wide range of competitors.
The Bay volleyball competition continued, with each team playing four games at the weekend. Our A boys finished top seed and the A girls were second, with the B boys continuing their good run with fifth and the B girls seventh.
Our C boys are playing well and have secured 12th place, playing their games against A and B teams from other schools. The C and D girls continue to claw their way back up the rankings.
The Bay schools athletics were held in perfect conditions at the Domain, with 29 schools competing. With 98 athletes representing the school, our standout senior boys' performer was Joseph Reynolds, who drew a large crowd to his high-jump event. He was going for a record jump and secured a Bay record of 1.96m.
Joseph also won the triple jump (12.44m). Emma Jackson was standout senior girls' performer with a win in the 400m (1.04.06) and long jump (4.79m).
Junior standout was Roebi Bidois, who qualified for five events and made the finals of the 100m, 200m, long jump and high jump. In the 4 x 100m relay, she was second and she won the 70m hurdles.
Jessica Gadsbey won the junior girls' 300m with a two-second gap back to second. Josh Piho won the junior boys' javelin (31.03m), Jack Neale the high jump (1.53m), Vanessa Hill the senior girls' triple jump (9.93m) and Claudia Richardson the intermediate girls' high jump (1.55m).
Tauranga Girls'

Tauranga Girls College had a great weekend, with three of our competitive volleyball teams making the top 10 in the Bay of Plenty preliminary competition, a huge achievement.
The senior A volleyball team went through unbeaten, winning tough games against Trident High School A, Whakatane High School A, Otumoetai College A and Bethlehem College A. Senior B also won all their games against Kawerau A, Otumoetai College B, Rotorua Girls A and TGC Senior C.
Our senior C beat Rotorua Girls A and lost to Kawerau A, TGC B and Otumoetai College B.
On Tuesday, the Bay secondary schools athletics champs were held at the Domain. Jessica Bitcheno was a standout performer, breaking records in the junior girls' 1500m and 800m.
On the track we dominated, with the junior and intermediate relay teams winning - no surprise with our girls taking out individual firsts, seconds and third in the junior 100m.
Congratulations to junior sprinters Isabella Puchner, Brooke Somerfield and Kyla Suika.
Congratulations, too, to intermediate sprinters Abby Goldie, Amy Robinson and Frances Davies who took the top three the 100m.
Isabella also won the junior girls' long jump, while Amy won the senior long jump.
Hannah Philpot won the junior girls' high jump, Pauline Taavili the junior discus, and Chelsea McQueen the senior girls' shotput, with Mikayla Daysh winning the intermediate girls' event.
It was a great day, with the placed contestants going on to the Waikato track and field champs on March 19. - Zoe Wieringa.