Te Puke High
Rugby
In the middle weekend of the holidays, a squad of 30 students from Josho Keiko Gakuen High School, Japan arrived at Te Puke High School. This is the seventh consecutive year that the school has played Te Puke, forming a very close relationship between players and coaching staff alike. The Keiko players were billeted out to host families of our 1st and 2nd XV players for two nights and played two games on the Saturday.
Carrying a few injuries from their previous battle against Wellington College, a few Te Puke players donned the Royal Blue Keiko jersey and played hard against their own team mates. The variation of intensity was the most noticeable factor separating the two teams, with Te Puke forced into a very fast paced game. Both teams had their even share of territory and possession but Keiko was able to capitalise with two of the loan Te Puke players scoring for Keiko to give them the win against the Te Puke 2nd XV 19-12.
The second game against our 1st XV was very similar to the first and was again played with high intensity. Keiko's technical training was evident in their set piece with a very handy touring coach in former All Black Hika Reid to pass on some valuable advice. Keiko managed to secure a 19-7 win in the second game.
Parents and coaching staff helped to organise a fabulous after-match function with special mention to Dave McNearney and his wife for organising the spit roast meat and also to all parents who helped out with the catering. Later on that evening both teams went to the Mount hot pools to soak their aching bodies and have a laugh with their billets.
Football
Congratulations to Daniel Bowler who was selected for the BOP Under-13 representative football team and Jonas Eyskens who played in the Under-19 BOP team that placed runners up at the National Futsal Tournament over the holidays.
Shooting
Further congratulations to Tony Beaver who won the BOP individual Small Bore title and also teamed up with Max Hale and Braedon Bowater to place second in the team event.
Hockey
On Monday night Te Puke High School boys' hockey team played Mount Maunganui College First XI in the final of the Rob Leslie Cup.
The game was intense from the start with both sides desperate to win.
The Mount team was focused on defence, crowding out the goal circle, making any attempts at goal by Te Puke very difficult. Te Puke had multiple chances in the half, with touches either just going wide of the goal or great saves being made by the goal keeper. There was no score at half time. At the start of the second half, Damian Clark caught the Mount team napping with a quick break away and a shot on goal that was on target.
There were more opportunities for Te Puke with Ben Williams being denied a goal just as the whistle went for a penalty corner. Great commitment by both sides. Final score 1-0 to Te Puke. The Second XI Girls went down to a skilled TGC Third XI 2-5.
Tauranga Girls'
Synchronised swimming
Eva Morris and Janaya Worthington have been busy competing in the interschools events and also the North Island Championships. In the interschools event, Eva and Janaya swam a duet for the first time together and placed second.
Janaya then backed this performance up with a solo where she placed third. Both girls will compete in the National Secondary Schools competition in Auckland in October for these events. In the North Island champs Eva had an outstanding competition where she gained two first places in duets, and also a second in her solo, and third in Junior figures.
In the team combination event, both girls helped their team to first place. Netball Congratulations to the four girls from our school who have gained places in the two Western Bay of Plenty teams. Payton Silvester has been named in the Under-15 team, and Ariana Moffatt, Shevanna Sullivan and Marika Williams have all been selected into the Under-17 team.
Hockey
The 3rd XI played Te Puke 2nd XI on Monday night, in the first game back this term. The girls played an amazing game, setting up numerous shots on goal and ended up winning the game 5-2.
Over the holidays girls from our school have continued to play hockey in representative teams. Katie Horan, Isabella Kirk, Stephanie Chapman and Sh'vaughn Ririnui were all in the Tauranga Under-18 team that played in the National Hockey Association Tournament in Palmerston North.
These girls did amazingly, and ended up taking out the tournament in a game against Canterbury, which they won 4-0. Amy Robinson travelled to Hamilton with the Under-18 Midlands team. The team finished 6th overall in this tournament and Amy was selected in the New Zealand Under-18 Hockey squad.
Football
Sophie Stewart-Hobbs and Emma Caute have both been selected in the New Zealand Under-17 Women's team competing in Australia in August. This is the build up to the World Cup in March 2014.
Athletics
Over a month ago Abby Goldie set off to Ukraine where she represented New Zealand at the World Youth Champs as a member of the New Zealand medley relay team. She was the runner of the first leg and despite her nerves managed to help the team place fifth in their heat, 10th overall, which meant they narrowly missed out on the final as they needed to place in the top 8.
Kayaking
Haylee Dangen has been overseas representing New Zealand in the Junior World Cup. In the first week of her trip the team travelled to Solkan, Slovenia, and competed in a Junior World Cup race. It was at least 30C on the days of racing and Haylee won a bronze medal for her efforts.
The team then moved on to train on a course called Tacen where the World Cup is being held in August. Some of the boats were broken there, including Haylee's, but the team thoroughly enjoyed the experience. In Poland the team competed in another Junior World Cup race, but the night before racing there was a massive thunderstorm and the course was flooded.
On the second day of racing, a few members of the team fell sick, but Haylee won a silver medal. The team then moved onto Slovakia for the rest of their time in Europe. The competition was tough and Haylee ended up in 40th. She now looks forward to the Under-23 World Championships in Australia in 2014.
Otumoetai Intermediate
Basketball
OIS Nuggets played another great game on Monday with a 59-18 win against Papamoa A team. Cody Orr, Tane Petro and Sam Shipton were on top form with some outstanding defence and rebound work. Well done to Olivia Kennedy who attended the Basketball Jamboree held over three days at the QEYC.
Swimming
Dannika Worthington entered the North Island Champs Synchronised Swimming at Baywave achieving some fantastic results. Dannika was 3rd overall in Intermediate Solo, and came second in Routines for 15 and under, Duets/Trio for 12 and under, Solos 12 and under and Figures for 12 and under.
Georgia Rattray entered the Rotorua winter short meet and won the 100 Backstroke, 200 Back, 50 Back, 200 Free; came 2nd in the 200IM, 50 Breaststroke, and came 3rd in the 100 IM and 50 Fly. Abbie Mortimer achieved six personal bests winning a silver medal. A winter meet was also held at Baywave. Selby Filipo and Sarah Ensor achieved five personal bests and qualified for AIMS Games. Caelan Potts was 2nd in the U13 Boys for 50M Backstroke, Harry Low 3rd in 50M Breaststroke while Tom Hacker achieved 2nd and 3rd at the Winter Champs held in Hamilton.
Cross country
BOP/Waikato champs at Waipuna Park saw Arleah Tippins gain a 1st place in the U14 and Josh Tisch also a 1st in the U12.
Duathlon
Nick Freeman entered the Tauriko Duathlon which was a 1.6k run, 2k bike and a 3.1k run and he won with a great performance.
Indoor bowls
Rhys Pearson attended a indoor bowls competition at Blake Park and came away with a third place.
Tauranga Intermediate
Table tennis:
The Table Tennis School champs were held the last week of term 2 where students were given the opportunity to enter and compete in the championship draw. The boys' competition attracted a large draw of more than 80 keen competitors. They played a knock-out competition, the best of three sets to 11, until semifinals and finals where they played the best of five sets.
The final was a great battle with Ethan Larsen beating Scott Ellerington in a tight match 11/4, 11/7, 8/11, 11/7. Anthony Ouellet defeated Ollie Valentine 11/7, 11/9, 11/8 for third place.
The girls' competition followed with a similar format. Congratulations to Kalais Going who beat Shaythony Smith-Whaiapu 11/6, 11/4, 11/1 in the final. Sophia Lawrence placed third by defeating Eloise Sharpe 11/9, 11/3 12/10.
Trophies and medals will be awarded at the sports prize-giving in December.
Bethlehem College
Cross country
At the Bay of Plenty Interschool Cross Country, the college achieved some great individual results. Logan Tanner came in 3rd for the Year 7 Boys and Mia Pugh came 3rd for the Year 8 girls. However, the highlight was Sam Tanner who ran a great race to win the Year 8 boys and claim the gold medal. He finished over 30sec in front of his nearest rival.
Football
Bethlehem First XI boys' played their latest match against Tauranga Boys' and almost immediately found themselves a goal down when they allowed the opposition to score with an unchallenged header. However, shortly afterwards, Matt Connelly pounced on a fumble by the TBC goalkeeper to equalise. BC then took control with Luke Bryenton scoring with a rocket shot from 30 metres. Dylan Ramohitaj then followed up and won a scramble in front of the goal after a corner kick to give BC a comfortable 3-1 lead at halftime.
With only five minutes gone in the second half, Luke Bryenton got his second goal from a free kick. Further goals followed with Christian Mair crossing to Stauss Boom who scored with a header. Christian himself then slotted goal number six direct from a free kick 25m out and again scored with a header for the final goal giving a very satisfactory 7-1 victory to BC.
Congratulations to Christian Mair who was selected for the BOP Under-19 Futsal Indoor football team for the BOP.
Netball
The Open A continued their winning form in their last outing, with a convincing win. They beat the Mount College development team 33-19. The calm combination of Courtney Rennie (C), and Lauren Anning (WA) provided consistent feeding to Ann Kate Smith (GA) and Hattie Young (GS), who moved well in the circle and shot with confidence. Lauren played very well in defence earning her the Player of the Day.
Rugby
At the end of last term, the 1st XV had a close encounter with top of the table Otumoetai College. OC are deservedly winning the competition, but we pushed them very hard and the result was in the balance right up to the final whistle.
In the end we ended up losing 15-10. Our two junior teams both had good wins. Under-14s convincingly beat second place Trident 59-0, while the Under-15 team edged out Edgecumbe 22-21 in a thriller.
This was a great effort by the team as in all previous encounters Edgecumbe had prevailed usually by a wide margin.
Aquinas College
Cross country:
Anneke Grogan is one of 12 girls in the New Zealand Secondary School Cross-Country team travelling to the Australian champs in Tasmania at the end of August. Anneke had a good run at the North Island Cross-Country champs recently coming third in the under-18 girls' division. Our Year 7/8 runners also had success at the BOP Cross-Country champs held in Opotiki with Lizzy Skelton third in Year 7 girls while, in Year 8 boys, Jack McManaway finished first and Sam O'Connor second.
Rugby:
Four Aquinas students were selected for the Tauranga West rugby team which competed in the Tai Mitchell tournament held in Tauranga during the first week of the school holidays. The West team was the eventual winners of the tournament beating Rotorua Maroon in a close-fought final. Well done to Louis Grindrod, Jack Broadley-Ryan, Jack McManaway and Louis Schuler for representing the college well.
Louis Grindrod has been selected to trial for the BOP Roller Mills team following on from his good performances at the Tai Mitchell tournament.
Hockey:
Continuing on with representative news, these Aquinas College hockey players have been named in their respective Tauranga Hockey Association age group teams. Isaac Amaru (GK), Blair O'Connor, Liam Burn and Zeb Barry (reserve) made the Under-15 Premier Boys while Nikki Anderson is in the Under-15 Premier Girls. All players are members of our 1st XI boys' and girls' teams who are preparing for their respective secondary school tournaments coming up later this term.