College sport: Avondale star shows size is no barrier

Madoka Matsuzawa

From a frightened wee mouse who failed to make the cut a year earlier, Japanese student Madoka Matsuzawa emerged as one of the stars in the rampant Avondale College basketball team this year.

The sixth-former, who joined the school last year, not only made the 10-strong squad this time but developed into one of their stars.

"She was not strong enough last year, either with her skills or technique," Avondale's director of sport Tania Karauria said. "She went back to Japan over last summer and worked really hard and came back a much better player.

"She has become a very accomplished ball-carrying point guard ... We are glad she will be back next year."

As will third-former Georgina Solomon, who has shown out as a very strong athlete.

The team, who make up for their lack of height with their skills and determination, are coached by Tyler Wilkinson, with Noeline Wihongi as her assistant, and successfully defended their national title with an unbeaten run at the New Zealand Secondary Schools championships in Hawkes Bay.

It was their second national title and followed earlier successes this year in winning the Auckland title for the sixth straight time and the Northern Regional qualifying tournament in Whangarei.

Wilkinson took the reins at the school two years ago after time at Church College and will be back next year with much the same team, as only captain Chatzi Niha, Chelsea Terei and Grace Rasmussen are leaving at the end of this year. Avondale College squad: Niha, Terei, Rasmussen, Eda Te Rore, Lani O'Brien, Candace Samu, Ann Helen Rasmussen, Vernice Hettig, Solomon, Matsuzawa.

Results at national championships: section play, bt Napier GHS 95-15, bt Nayland College 89-38, bt Rosehill College 77-40, bt Rangitoto College 86-51, bt Rangi Ruru GHS 66-56; quarter-finals, bt Church College 70-54; semifinals, bt Sacred Heart (New Plymouth) 70-60; final, bt Rangi Ruru GHS 78-49.

Athletics

The roar of the V8 supercars will be missing but there should still be plenty of close racing when the Auckland SS Road Race Championships are contested on the same track at Pukekohe today.

The races, postponed once, have attracted good fields, with up to 20 runners per grade per school allowed to enter. As well as the individual medals, three and six-person teams will chase team honours.

The six races in junior, intermediate and senior divisions (boys and girls) will be run from 5.40pm. The last race, the senior boys over 6km, will start at 7pm.

Cricket

While Auckland's premier players' opening day of the new season was washed out, their Waikato counterparts made merry, if a little warily, on sodden outfields, as the season got under way.

Led by stand-in captain Anton Kivell, St Peters School made a strong start with a convincing 108-run win over St Pauls Collegiate.

The defending Dave Hoskin Trophy holders overcame a tentative start after winning the toss but recovered strongly with Kivell scoring 83 as he and Peter Vorster added 128 runs for the third wicket.

In reply, St Pauls too lost early wickets, recovered to reach 57 for two before they collapsed to be all out for 81 with Kivell bagging four for 17.

In a nail-biter, Hamilton BHS lost by one wicket to St Johns College.

Sent in, Hamilton were skittled for 78. They hit only two boundaries in struggling to the 39th over.

In reply, St Pauls found it no easier and needed 16 runs from the last pair to get home. Trent Te Wharau, batting at eight, scored 19, which included two sixes.

It was similar story as Matamata College, also after winning the toss and electing to field, got up to beat Morrinsville by one wicket.

Again, the slow outfield contributed to the low scores. Darren Smith managed a half-century which proved a match-winner.

Chasing 129, Matamata found it no easier. At 114 for nine, they were up against it, but with Andrew Rampi riding his luck, and aided by some wayward bowling, Matamata got home with just one ball to spare.

Hillcrest High followed the trend when batting second against Cambridge High. They got up but without the same tension, as Angus Bruce hit an unbeaten 67 to get his side home by eight wickets.

In a real low-scoring affair, Te Awamutu College, on the back of Kurt Williams' five-wicket haul, romped home by nine wickets over Fraser High who failed to reach 50.


Tennis

Big wins over Kings College in the semifinals have given St Kentigern College the chance to win both the senior boys and girls titles on finals day at Vodafone Park on October 29.

The St Kentigern boys beat Kings 7-2 in one semifinal while, in a much closer affair, Westlake BHS edged Auckland Grammar 5-4.

Boosted by Shona Lee's return from Australia on Friday, St Cuthberts won their semifinal against Diocesan 9-0, even without regular No 2 Abigail Guthrie, who is expected to play the final.

The St Kentigern girls emulated their boys in beating Kings 7-2 in the other semifinal but face a tough ask in the final against the strong St Cuthberts team, who also saw their intermediate and junior teams win through to their finals after also beating Diocesan in the semifinals.

Yachting

Two New Zealand teams, named appropriately NZL1 and NZL2, contested the World Open Team Racing Championship at Newport, Rhode Island, with encouraging results.

Despite having to switch from 420s to the slightly larger Vanguard 15s, the two teams (each of three two-person crews) were competitive throughout, making the gold fleet who contested the final.

A change of rules allowed two, rather than one, team from each country to sail in the gold fleet with the Americans making the most of local knowledge to finish one-two.

NZL1, with their team of Greg and Charlie Webster, Laurie Jury and Annemarie Waugh (New Plymouth GHS), and Logan Sutherland (Auckland Grammar) and Georgina Hill (St Cuthberts) finished eighth and NZL2, who had beaten Australia's Hutchins School in the interdominion contest in Tasmania, 11th.

The NZL2 team were Rueben Corbett and Kevin Hooper (Kerikeri HS), Olivia Powrie (St Cuthberts) and Bradley Farrand (Kerikeri HS) and Blair Tuke (AGS) and Joe Foster (Kerikeri HS).

*Results

CRICKET

WAIKATO

Division one: St Peters 189 (A. Kivell 83, P. Vorster 46; A. Steed 3-21, J. Sherson 3-23) bt St Pauls 81 (T. Nabbs 32; Kivell 4-17) by 108 runs.

Hamilton BHS 78 (P. O'Hallaran 3-14) lost to St Johns 79/9 (B. Nielsen 4-22) by one wicket.

Cambridge HS 109 (R. Singlewood 35; M. Heron 3-8) lost to Hillcrest HS 112/2 (A. Bruce 67no) by eight wickets.

Morrinsville College 129 (D. Smith 54; A. Tiddy 3-12) lost to Matamata College 130/9 (Tiddy 31; S. Lawrence 4-22) by one wicket.

Fraser HS 49 (K. Williams 5-7) lost to Te Awamutu College 50/1 by nine wickets.

* * *

TENNIS

SENIOR A1

Boys semifinals: Westlake BHS 5 Auckland Grammar 4, St Kentigern 7 Kings 2.

Girls semifinals: St Cuthberts 9 Diocesan 0, St Kentigern 7 Kings 2.

* Coming up

Today: Auckland SS Football Association annual meeting, Central United clubrooms, Kiwitea St, 1.30pm.

Athletics: Auckland SS road race championships, Pukekohe Raceway, junior girls (3km) 5.40pm, junior boys (3km) 5.55pm, intermediate girls (4km) 6.10pm, intermediate boys (5km) 6.25pm, senior girls (5km) 6.40pm, senior boys (6km) 7pm.