KEY POINTS:
Canterbury found few terrors in the Kings College pitch as they posted 212/5 from their 50 overs in their annual one-day game against the Auckland Secondary Schools on Sunday.
The visitors boasted a strong line-up including all-rounder Corey Anderson, 16, who has played for New Zealand under-19 and Canterbury in their last two matches of the just-completed State Championship, including the final.
Anderson was not a factor however as Canterbury slumped to 25/3. The innings was turned around by Bill Walsh and Josh Reeves, who added 100 runs for the fourth wicket with some superb running between the wickets as Auckland used their three-pronged leg-spin attack in an attempt to unsettle them.
Bruce Warren, 2-33 from nine overs, and captain Victor Davies, 1-26 from 10, kept a tight rein on the visiting batsmen but could not take the wickets needed to put them under real pressure.
In reply, only Tony Manning (24) in the middle and Davies (28) lower in the order offered much as the visitors won by 105 runs.
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In Waikato competition, in a game which quickly became a farce, Hillcrest High won the term one 1st XI title from an under-strength St Peter's side.
With their first-choice players involved in the traditional two-day fixture with Wellington's Scots College, a match the Waikato side won by seven wickets, and with Hillcrest reluctant to agree to rescheduling the final, St Peters put out an invitation team of players from their second and third XIs and a couple of players from their golf academy.
Sent in by Hillcrest captain Bryce Reed, St Peters were quickly in trouble at 13/4 and were eventually dismissed in the 39th over for a paltry 97 with seven of the eight Hillcrest bowlers sharing the wickets.
In reply, Hillcrest, led by openers Chris Jamieson and Ollie Leydon-Davis and backed up by a hard-hit 33 not out from Bryce Reed, reached 98/2 in the 16th over to win by eight wickets.
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ATHLETICS
Among the host of records broken at the North Island SS championships at Mt Smart were the senior girl's shot put and discus marks.
Te Rina Keenan, already qualified for the world youth championships, took the discus record to 46.06m while Vanessa Hurley reached 12.99m in the shot.
James Doyle broke the intermediate shot put record with his 15.81m effort.
The open girl's hammer produced the best contest on the large field events programme. Defending champion and record-holder Millie McNie (Manawatu) with her record 40.08m went head-to-head with North Harbour's Ayla Gill. The lead, and record, see-sawed throughout the competition before Gill's winning 43.80m with McNie second with a 42.54m best.
Jaedena Ward (Kristin School) broke her own national W16 pole vault record with a 3.55m clearance to add 4cm to her previous best.
In winning the intermediate girl's high jump with 1.75m, Elizabeth Lamb (Auckland) again went under the standard needed to qualify for the world youth championships. She will be joined in the Czech Republic by Auckland's Kelsi Patterson, who ran 4m 31.76s in finishing second to Waikato's Camille Buscomb in the senior 1500. Buscomb had already qualified for the youth championships in both the 1500m and 3000m.
Yarride Rosario (Campion College, Gisborne), took the junior boys sprint double with records in both. He won the 100m in 11.18s and the 200m in 23.09s after running 23.42s in the heats in another record run.
Other records fell to Sarah McSweeney (Waikato-BoP) with her 6m 59.16s in the open girl's 2000m steeplechase, Jason Verburg (Auckland) 13.60m in the intermediate triple jump and Brad Mathas (Wanganui) with his 4m 10.47s junior 1500m.
Competing by invitation in the open girl's 4x400m relay, the Bays Cougars team of Becki West, Sophie Healey, Bianca Lawrie and Elena Hewett ran 3m 53.72s to clip 0.50s from the record set by an Auckland quartet last year.
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GOLF
Samuel Shin won the much-anticipated clash at the top of the order but his Wentworth College teammates could not match his effort as Orewa College went on to win the premier final at Huapai on Monday.
Shin beat Todd Baek 10 1/2-7 1/2 under the modified match-play format to give Wentworth some hope in the all-North Harbour final.
Christina Shin led the Orewa fightback at No 2 beating Micah Dickinson 10-8 with Brian Hoffman edging Kanal Singh by the same margin.
Michael Campbell continued Orewa's good run with his 9 1/2-8 1/2 win over Tremaine Jonas in the battle of the No 4s to ensure a 37-35 win.
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VOLLEYBALL
McAuley HS overcame the odds and stern local opposition to win the national secondary schools girl's title in Tauranga.
The Hollice Palelei/Bridget Houghton-coached team were unfazed in winning through to the semifinals where they beat defending champions Otumoetai College.
In the final, McAuley, led by tournament MVP Pogai Falemai, beat Bethlehem College in straight sets.
Tauranga BC took the boy's title after beating Penrose HS in the semifinals.
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WAKA AMA
Paddlers from Gisborne stole the honours after three days of intense racing at the NZ SS sprint championships in Rotorua.
The introduction of the WT12 mixed racing was one of the highlights of the event. Gisborne Girls High narrowly edged out Gisborne Boys High for overall honours while Onehunga High School took the participation trophy.
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WATER POLO
After surviving a scare in the semifinals, taken to extra time before getting home 8-5 over Diocesan, Westlake GHS bounced back to beat old rivals Rangitoto 6-1 in the final of the Auckland SS premier championship.
The win continued Westlake's season-long unbeaten run which will now be challenged at the national championships in the Hutt Valley during the school holidays.
Rangitoto also came up short in the boy's final, going down to Auckland GS 6-2 after trailing 4-1 at the break.
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Coming up
Saturday: Triathlon, NZSS championships, Lake Karapiro, from 8am (year 8 boys) to 12.15pm/12.20pm (under-19 boys/girls). Teams from 1.45pm-4.05pm.
April 12-15: Water polo, NZ SS senior boys championships, Hutt Valley.
April 14-15: Mountain-biking, NZ SS individual championships, Levin.
April 15-19: Water polo, NZ SS senior boys satellite tournament, Hamilton.
April 15-21: Yachting, NZ SS teams racing, New Plymouth.
April 17-20: Tennis, NZ SS finals, Christchurch.
April 19-22: Water polo, NZ SS senior girls satellite tournament, Hamilton.
April 20-21: Equestrian, North Is SS horse trial team championships, Waikato.
Orienteering, North Is SS championships, New Plymouth.
April 21-24: Water polo, NZ SS senior girls championships, Hutt Valley.
April 24: Badminton, North Harbour SS competition begins.
