KEY POINTS:
As the only competitive golfer at Tangaroa College, Patsy Fata has to go it alone - but that did not stop her flying the flag at the national secondary school girls' championships at the Hutt golf course.
The 13-year-old 16-handicapper, the youngest player at the tournament, turned in the third-best net score after a useful 86 in her third, and final, round.
Samoan-born Fata was some way behind tournament winner Ji Soo Oh (Spotswood College) who shot 222 for three rounds, but the 269 she scored was an encouraging effort for the South Auckland student.
Big for her age, Fata hits the ball a long way and has sufficiently impressed those in high places to earn selection in the 20-strong Auckland girls' development squad.
"She has heaps of potential," said Auckland Golf development manager Caroline Malone. "It's like watching a man hit the ball. I don't think she will be on 16 for long."
Fata, who plays at the Grange club in Papatoetoe, has her sights set on getting her handicap down.
"I want to get to singles figures soon. When I was in Australia I got down to 12," said Fata who started playing in Australia as a 7-year-old but has lived in Auckland for the past two years. "My first handicap when I joined the Grange [as a 12-year-old] was 20-something."
Encouraged by her father, Fata is the only family member to play golf after her younger brother was the first to take an interest in the sport only to give it away "because he was too lazy to walk the course".
Tangaroa principal Ngaire Ashmore is happy to support Fata even to the extent of having the school pay her costs - and for her aunty (also Patsy Fata and an art teacher at the school) to accompany her - to Wellington for the championships.
"Patsy is the only one here who plays to that level," said Ashmore. "We are a sporting school but most of our pupils - 82 per cent Polynesian and 12 per cent Maori in a role of 1100 split 50-50 boys and girls - prefer team sports.
"We accept sport means a financial struggle for many of them so the school is happy to help out. They would miss out otherwise."
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CYCLING
In keeping their best until last, the Auckland Grammar junior team posted the only record of the season in winning the seventh round of the Avanti time trial series on the Auckland waterfront on Sunday morning.
The 22m 9.50s clocked by their four-man team edged them under the 22m 10.8s St Kentigern posted in 2004.
The AGS juniors took the series - and retained their title - by six points from Westlake Boys with St Kentigern a point back third.
Not to be outdone, the AGS senior team, led by Aaron Strong who was second overall in the national individual championships a week earlier, regained the title they last won in 2003. Again, it was close.
AGS went into the last round equal on points with WBHS but with Westlake a well-beaten fourth, AGS took season honours by two points with Westlake able to drop that ride as their worst result to finish second.
The Diocesan senior girls, continuing to ride the legacy left by their patron Sarah Ulmer, scored their ninth win in 10 years (and sixth straight) in finishing the season with a perfect record.
To cap a double-double, Diocesan retained their junior girls' title, also with a perfect six points.
The series remains a labour of love for the 100 volunteers, including the hardy band of five who roll up at 4am and use blowers to clear the road of glass and other debris, who turn up on race day
The popularity of the sport was further underlined when 1000 people descended on St Kentigern College for the post-race, season-ending prizegiving.
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RUGBY
A week after Gisborne Boys beat Mt Albert Grammar in the national secondary schools top-four final in Rotorua, Tamaki College restored Auckland pride with victory in the NZ Barbarians-hosted national co-educational schools 1st XV championship in Wellington.
First-up against a smaller but totally committed Waimea College team, representing the southern region, Tamaki were soon on the back-foot as Waimea took a 5-0 lead.
The Aucklanders hit back quickly with centre George Moala scoring under the posts. Afa Pakalani added the extras. The same double act quickly repeated the effort for a 14-5 halftime lead.
Incredibly, the same two players repeated their effort in the second half as Tamaki ran out 21-10 winners.
In the final against Mana College (representing the Hurricanes region) two days later and with the wind at their backs in the first half, Tamaki raced to 17-0 as wing Kaho Valikoula and fullback Pakalani scored tries with the latter converting both and adding a penalty.
A second half try - unconverted - to hooker Jonathan Pongi stretched the lead to 22-7 with 15 minutes to play.
Mana rallied and got to 22-15 with a try and a penalty but could not get any closer as Tamaki held on to take the inaugural title.
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SKIING
While many of his mates from the Bays head to the water for their sporting weekends, Rangitoto College 18-year-old Tom Johanson opts for the snow.
At Turoa this week, his dedication and the boredom of those long drives south to the mountain were rewarded when he won the giant slalom title at the North Island Secondary Schools Championships at Turoa.
Still recovering from a shoulder injury which sidelined him for many months after surgery, Johanson, who races for Team Turoa, won by an impressive 2s at the championships which are regarded as the single largest skiing competition in the Southern Hemisphere.
"I'm a Bays boy but I grew up in the snow," said Johanson yesterday as he prepared to fly south for further competition after competing at Coronet Peak last week in the national championships, where he was fourth junior in the giant slalom after crashing in the slalom.
His victory ended a long wait.
"Last year I crashed, the year before the championship was cancelled and the year before that I finished third."
In his last year at Rangitoto College, Johanson will again spend much of his summer in the US skiing at Sun Valley in Idaho before returning to New Zealand with the aim of studying engineering at Canterbury University.
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SOCCER
The Jimmy Hogg-coached, Ian Hogg-captained Auckland Grammar first X1 finished their season on a high in taking two of school football's three big prizes from arch-rivals Mt Albert Grammar.
After winning the Auckland senior A1 title, Kevin Fallon and his MAGS team set their sights on the Lotto Sports national premier crown and then their defence of the Auckland Knockout Cup. In both they went head-to-head with AGS. In both, Ash Solly-led MAGS came up short.
And in winning, AGS twice did it the hard way in coming back from a goal down to win by one goal. They won the Napier tournament 2-1 and then, in the KO Cup final at Bill McKinlay Park, 3-2 in extra time.
Mark Withers gave MAGS the lead after 17 minutes - an advantage they held until the 43rd minute when Jacob Mathews volleyed home.
With full time (in this case 80 minutes) beckoning, Otis Madison hammered a classic goal into the top left corner of the MAGS goal for a 2-1 lead.
Well into stoppage time, MAGS won a freekick which Pomare Te Anau floated goalwards where it was met by Solly who headed home.
Five minutes into extra time Hogg, in his last game for the school, slammed a freekick into the MAGS goal for a 3-2 victory and their second trophy within six days - inflicting the only two losses of the season on their long-time rivals.
