The college was well represented in the BOP teams competing in the Hawkes Bay Open Tournament in Hastings. There were some very good individual results. Michael Lewis was runner-up in the final of the under-17s singles plate competition and Phillip Cho reached the semifinal of the under-15 doubles competition. The under-13 team of Jackie Joe and Cooper Robinson came a creditable third for BOP, while the under-15 team of Phillip Cho, Mackenzie Lines and Luke Wallbridge also came in third.
The BOP team won the under-17s tournament with Clare Murray playing at No4 for the girls and Michael Lewis playing at No1 for the boys. In an exciting game against Hawkes Bay, Michael beat the top-ranked boy in a close three set game to win his tie and helped his team win the match 10-6.
All the above players will be going to Palmerston North during the July holidays for the North Island National Championships.
Finally, in his first tournament Jacky Joe in Year 7 reached the final of the under-13 boys' singles plate and just lost 27-31, winning a silver medal for his efforts.
Te Puke High
Squash:
Despite a number of our key players being otherwise engaged with the annual exchange to Singapore, Te Puke High School still managed to send a strong group of players along to the BOPSS Individual Squash Champs.
Our boys were significantly impacted on by illness and the exchange and had a couple of wins and a couple of losses. The girls stole the show however and put on some impressive displays. Courtney Bragg battled on bravely despite an ongoing injury and made it through to the Girls Div 1 Finals. Courtney started out slowly and lost the first two games causing some anxiety among the supporters. However she changed her game plan and after some long and tense points, came back to win the final 3-2.
Amy Horscroft also stepped up on the day and came through the draw beating a number of higher seeded players to make it through to the Girls Div 2 Finals. Amy started the day in the middle of the large field and again took a game to get into her stride. Having lost the first game she listened carefully to the coach's advice, changed her game and came back to win the final 2-1.
Basketball:
Our junior A played against Aquinas Blue last Wednesday night in a very exciting game. The boys were slow to react in the first quarter, finding themselves trailing by 14 point. After some wise words from coach Lance Talstra the boys came back firing and were only down by 3 points with 6 seconds remaining on the clock.
A timeout was called and the 3 pointer was planned, although the boys were just unable to execute the perfect comeback, final score 32-35. The senior boys played Aquinas B in their first game of competition play. Excellent defence paid off as the boys shot off to a perfect start with Glen Egot displaying his all-round skills.
Final score 97-13.
Rugby:
The 1st XV played away against Rotorua Boys 3rd XV which was always going to be a tough game. Exceptional discipline was the highlight of the game and it was obvious that the boys had come to play as their line speed was phenomenal. The forward pack did everything that was asked of them enabling the backs some clean, quick, front foot ball to attack from. Defensively this was the best the boys have played all season, coming up in a line and communicating effectively amongst themselves.
Standout players were Josh Roberts and Nesta Kitiseni, but all players worked collectively to achieve the desired result. The 2nd XV played Mount Maunganui College 2nd XV away, winning 19-10. The under-15's played Trident High School, narrowly going down 10-17. This week sees the 1st XV take on Rotorua Lakes High School 1st XV on our top field at 12pm, the 2nd XV play Trident away at 12pm and the under-15's play Taupo Nui A Tia at Litt Park, 10.30am. Come down and support our teams.
Netball:
Junior white lost to Otumoetai 9 Development 8-25, Junior Blue drew with Mt College 9 Kowhai 22-22, Senior A girls lost to TGC League 1 27-36, Senior B lost to Otumoetai Prem 2 12-52, Junior A lost to TGC Junior A 28-35, Junior B lost to TGC 10B 13-32, Senior White lost to BC Reserve B 15-33.
The TPHS Junior A played in the KB Visuals 2013 Bay Wide Under-15 Secondary School Competition on Sunday. After losing their opening game, they were dropped into division 2 and played some fabulous netball managing to take out the entire division and win some silverware. Congratulations to Parekura Whareaorere, Sapphire Tapsell, Lisa Tuise and Dinesty Patuawa on making the WBOP rep teams.
Football:
Saturday saw TPHS Junior A come up against Otumoetai Reds in the last of our grading matches. Te Puke started strong with two quick goals, but a lapse in our defence saw Otumoetai score a goal midway through the half.
The boys recovered well from this and fought back to score again just before half-time. Heading into the second half with the score 3-1 to Te Puke the boys dominated the second half with some really good ball control and composure.
Recovering well when possession was lost we ended the match 11-1. Congratulations to Mitchell Keyte on scoring his hat-trick.
The 1st XI Girls maintained their unbeaten record with another impressive win over Katikati Colleges' 2nd XI. Strong defence from Georgia Rawstron, Caitlin Barton and Claire Roderick helped to keep Katikati scoreless. A hat trick by Tegan Ashton, Muna Limbu and Cathy Campbell (2), and 1 each from Rachel Schultz, Ella Litchfield-Harrison, Jessie McIndoe, Georgia Clark. Tegan Ashton and Claire Roderick sharing player of the day. This week the Junior A play TBC Denmark at Litt Park, 9am.
The Junior B play TBC France at Pemberton Park 1, 10.30am, the boys 1st XI play Otumoetai College City at Litt Park, 12.00pm, and the girls 1st XI play Mt College 2nd XI at Litt Park, 10.15am.
Hockey:
The 1st XI girls played Bethlehem College 1st XI last week.
The girls did very well to contest against a very sharp BC side but had very little possession and territory throughout the match.
The first half saw a lot of shots on goal, some great work from goalie Samantha Rowe to deny the opposition a number of great strikes, especially from penalty corners.
Final score 8-0 to Bethlehem College. Monday night games this week were cancelled due to the long weekend.
Otumoetai Intermediate
Netball:
Saturday saw some great results, with our Year 7 and Year 8 Prem 1 teams all winning. Y7 Prem 1 had a 15-12 win against Te Matai Tuakana, Y7 Prem 2 won 17-11 against Te Whare Kura Toka, Y7 Prem 3 won 16-6 against Otumoetai Intermediate and our Y7 Prem 4 and Y8 Prem 1 combined team had a fantastic 39-14 win over Tauranga Intermediate B. The friendly games are over now and competition games begin. Congratulations to all our girls for their great results.
Sports academy:
Our sports academy is well under way now with intense training in the students' perspective sports. This camp will require all-round talent, so students are competing in different team codes each day, which means a lot of hard training. The fitness training is going well with some excellent results in the latest beep test.
Well done everyone, keep up the good work. Special thanks goes to Mr Paul Braddock and the elite students that come from Otumoetai College on a Friday afternoon to help with the training. Thanks also to the parents that have come forward to help with the transportation and to volunteer their time at the camp for the week.
Gymnastics:
Students are practising hard on their routines and are ready to compete in the gym competition that will be held at Argos Gym on Tuesday June 18.
This competition is of a very high standard and students are practising after school on Thursday, Monday and Tuesday afternoons.
Mountain Biking Champs:
The three teams have now been put together for the Mountain Biking Champs which will be held at the Craters of the Moon in Taupo on Friday June 14. We are limited to only being able to put forward three teams of five students from 21 students wanting to take part. Next year the Year 7 students that did not get in this year will have their turn.
Cross-country Cross-country practice will take place at Waipuna Park on Friday where a number of our students will be competing for their place in the AIMS Games in September.
Otumoetai College
Netball:
Congratulations to Olivia Young who has been selected into the WBOP Representative U15 Prem 1 and Abbey Grainger who has been picked for the U15 Prem 2. Our Prem 1 team had a good win over Katikati last Friday 38-18. The Junior A team did really well at the BOP U15 Champs held in Whakatane last Sunday.
They made it into first division (top eight) but lost on Sunday to Mount Maunganui 30-22 and Aquinas College 33-30. The girls gave it all they had and played extremely well. Standout players were Tashan Kapene, who displayed excellent shooting in both games and Searn Tahere for her outstanding defence.
Our captain Gabby Henare also played very well in both games. The girls won three of four games the week prior which got them into the top eight. They ended up 7th overall out of 16 teams. A great effort for a young team. The Junior Two team also competed in the Baywide competition.
They improved on their performances from Opotiki to win three from three games. More court time together helped cement combinations. Solid efforts by our defence and hard work by our midcourt players enabled Tia Tarau and Kerryn Friel to convert valuable goals. It was a great team effort. Well done girls.
Multi-sport:
Jessica Gadsbey competed in a 25km multi-sport event in Rotorua over the weekend. She was a clear winner in the Under-16 grade and also beat all the Under-19 female competitors. The race covered three events - 5km kayak, 15km bike and a 5km run. A great achievement for this young athlete.
Rugby:
Our 1st XV had a real test playing Opotiki in Opotiki and were expecting a tough encounter. While the game was frustrating, captain Sam Redmayne was pleased with the discipline within his team and the boys eventually came out victorious 10-3. Troy Webber and Matt Ensor were the try scorers.
Tauranga Boys'
Cross-country:
Last Sunday the cross-country team headed to Palmerston North for the annual Super 8 champs. In the Year 9 boys race, Korban Eades once again was the first TBC athlete in. A big improvement from Bryn Fredheim saw him come in as the second TBC athlete with Dane Adrian rounding out the three-man team event.
In the junior boys' event, Aaron Fredheim, Jacob West and Mitchell Fergusson were significantly more spread out than they had been in the previous two events where they had finished within seconds of each other. This gave Cullen Browne the opportunity to earn a place in the three-man team and he consistently made his way through the field.
Overall the TBC junior team finished third. In the senior boys' race it was the first time our Year 11 runners were competing over the 6000m distance in preparation for the national champs. Luke Bradshaw led the TBC team with Daniel Hintz not far off and Haydn Reardon making up the three-man team. In the closing stages of the race, Hintz started closing in on Bradshaw which made for an exciting final 100m - in the end Bradshaw finished an inch in front of Hintz.
Overall the TBC team was off the pace in terms of gaining back the Super 8 shield but can take pride in the fact that based on six-man team scores they were right up there.
Rugby:
Second XV vs Western Heights High School, won 41-12.
WHHS kicked off and immediately TBC played for more than 10 phases with Junior Mewett carrying the ball four times. This sweeping movement went for 80m and was finished off in the corner by Ryan Carroll. TBC showed their intent was to hold on to the ball at all costs. They ran the ball from everywhere but 20 minutes in, WHHS had fought back well for a try.
Still, TBC dominated both territory and possession. At halftime TBC were leading 20-5 and in the second half, they really wore down their opposition. Luke Robinson was prominent in the loose, Matt Barnett ran in two tries from long range and Jarred Taylor proved very difficult to put down. Although Western Heights fought bravely, TBC deserved their 41-12 win. Callum Burrell was named man of the match through a strong performance on defence and for laying a strong platform with his scrummaging.
Football:
First XI vs St Paul's First XI, won 1-0.
Our third and final national qualifier in our primary pool was against St Paul's Collegiate. Fortunately for us, we had played a few of the boys a week prior when we played the St Paul's Old Boys team, and knew some of the quality the team possessed. TBC were quick to capitalise on a few lapses in concentration, coming close a couple of times in the first half, hitting the bar and shots dragging wide.
We defended well, kept the opposition in their half for a lot of the period and closed their agile midfielders down quickly. In the second half we anticipated an intense 10 minutes from the restart. More errors from St Paul's went unpunished, until a handball in the box by them in the 75th minute put us up 1-0 from a well struck penalty by Dylan Bull. We were able to hold them off and the score stayed 1-0 to TBC. We now cross over with the top two teams of the Waikato pool, along with St Paul's. We bring over the three points we claimed against St Paul's, giving us some leeway going into the next stage of pool play.
Tauranga Girls'
Hockey:
In near frozen conditions our 1st XI took on Aquinas 1st XI at Bethlehem College last Wednesday night in the local competition. The girls won 9-1, with Katie Horan playing a solid game scoring a hat-trick for the team, with the other goals being shared among the rest of the girls.
Slow getting back on defence at times saw the team's goalie, Sophia Ellington, saving numerous shots at goal. All in all the girls had a good game, with much more improvement to come. Our 2nd XI girls played Otumoetai 2nd XI and unfortunately, in a very close game, lost 2-1. Due to the long weekend, our 3rd XI and Junior teams were unable to play on Monday night.
Netball:
On Friday night the League 1 played Te Puke Senior A in what was a tough game. Te Puke's feeding into the circle was spot on and their defensive players worked really well together. Our girls also had the difficulty of having their last year's coach coaching the Te Puke girls, making the game even more challenging. Fortunately our girls came out with a win of 36-27, moving them into second place behind Trident on the grading board.
Our League 2 also played on Friday night and completed their game against Bethlehem with a 51-9 win. All the girls in the team had a good game and the new team is working well together, definitely on the right track for a strong season.
Basketball:
The Senior Prem Girls had a bye on Friday night so unfortunately didn't get to play, however many of the girls from the team were still busy with basketball over the weekend. The Tauranga City Under-17 basketball team played this weekend in a tournament. This team has five of our Senior Prem girls in it - Marika Wereta, Hemoata Hill, Kaatia Watene, Rebecca Hughes and Sydney Webster-Paki - and is also coached by our two school team coaches Mel and Tane Bennet. On Saturday the girls beat Waikato 59-53, lost to Rotorua 51-44 and lost to Waikato 66-48. On Monday the girls played Rotorua again and won 64-51. Congratulations to these girls on a huge effort.