Squash: Northland proving worth on national stage

Northland's squash players have been enjoying plenty of success in recent times. Photo / Getty Images

Northland picked up 12 top-10 finishes at the National Junior Age Groups tournament in Christchurch.

Hayley Rhodes was the top ranked Northland junior, finishing second overall in the girls under-11 division, while Riley-Jack Vette-Blomquist picked up a bronze medal in the under-15 boys.

Rhodes played some great squash to make the final of the under-11 girls where she faced Central's Anabel Romero-Gemmell who was too strong on the day but a great effort from the Northland up-and-comer.

There were also two other top-five finishes with Zoe Dykzeul (fourth in the under-19 girls) and Freddie Jameson (fourth in the under-13 boys) both coming up with good performances.

Other top-10 finishes included Montana Vette-Blomquist (eighth in under-11 girls), Tane Trail (eighth in under-11 boys), Campbell Griffin (seventh in under-13 boys), Chelsea Trail (sixth in under-13 girls), Olivia Rhodes (eighth in under-13 girls), Anna Moselen (ninth in under-15 girls), Annmarie Holst (seventh in under-17 girls) and Iyra Stewart (seventh in under-19 girls).

Meanwhile Northland picked up two top-five positions during the Junior Nationals teams events.

The girls team came third while the boys side ended fifth at the Inter-District teams event held at Burnside Squash Club in Christchurch after the individual event over the weekend.

The girls team of Zoe Dykzeul, MacKenzie Johnson, Iyra Stewart, Annmarie Holst and Anna Moselen were seeded third and did extremely well to hold on to their seeding with some very tight contests.

They had good wins against Auckland and Bay of Plenty before losing by only one game to second seeds Waikato. The girls then played Canterbury for third place with the result going right to the wire with Northland winning by two points.

It was also a great effort from the boys team (made up of Anthony Lepper, Shayden Toka, Riley-Jack Vette-Blomquist, Devlin Gurr and Freddie Jameson) who were seeded ninth and ended up in a credible fifth place.

Starting with two losses against the strong Auckland and Bay of Plenty teams they then went on to win their last three matches against Eastern, Central and Wellington with the Wellington game also ending up a countback with Northland taking the win on games.

Ruby Collins, 15, won the women's D grade National Champion of Champions title last weekend at the national finals at Ohakune Squash Club.

Collins played Central's Darnell Watling in the final, playing some great squash and coming out the winner after a tough five sets.

The Whangarei ladies C grade team took out the national title at the C grade SuperChamps finals at the Royal Oak Squash Club.

It is the first SuperChamps title for the Whangarei Squash Club.

The ladies were top seed and lived up to their seeding, playing Bay of Plenty club Taneatua in the final and winning 4-1.

The team was Kate Wauchop, Delwyn Houlihan, Vicki Ferguson, Sharon McDonald, Pippa Saunders and Shea Ferguson with Annie Greene the coach and Megan Turner the manager.