College sport: Close-run thrills in cross-country champs

Esther Keown ran 21s faster this year to keep her junior girls title. Picture / Greg Bowker.

Matthew Mildenhall had to battle all the way to hold off Biruk Belachew and retain his senior title at the Auckland Secondary Schools Cross-Country Championships at St Kentigern College.

The championships attracted 550 runners, with tight competition in all six races.

Mildenhall (AGS) had only 7s in hand over Belachew (MRGS) at the end of a thrilling race. Belachew, who won the intermediate title last year, took some satisfaction from spearheading the Mt Roskill Grammar team to victory over AGS in the three-person teams race.

Esther Keown (AGGS) also retained her title in the junior girls. She was 21s faster this year, heading Rangitoto's Annika Pfitzinger by almost a minute. Neither school had the back-up to figure in the team results.

The third repeat win came when Kelsi Patterson (Pakuranga) held off Annie Keown (AGGS) to take the intermediate girls' title, but she had to run 41s faster to ensure victory.

After finishing third in the intermediate boys last year, Alex Parlane was on top this time, edging out Rabah Bashir (WBHS) by 15s.

Many of the runners will now head to Tauranga for Saturday's National Secondary Schools Championship on what promises to be a good test on the Welcome Bay course.

Curling

Newcomers Auckland Girls' Grammar quickly made their mark with a 6-4 win over Baradene.

The fourth end proved crucial. AGGS got a nice wick and a favourable roll to sit in a great scoring position. In trying to remove that stone, Baradene left themselves vulnerable and AGGS cashed in by picking up four shots.

Massey Shooters shot to a 4-0 lead over EGGS Team Tiong after two ends, with a three and then one scoring stones. But that was their lot as EGGS hit back to take the next five ends, with two shots on the third and fifth ends, before winning 7-4.

In an under-21 match, Long Bay Old Boys, skipped by national junior representative Anthony Brown, over-powered Team Aaron Jackson 11-2.

Hockey

King's College secured the Auckland championship in a cliff-hanger final-round clash with rivals Auckland Grammar.

One first-half goal was scored with a deflection high into the AGS goal by Marcus Child.

AGS, led by a strong left-side game from Shay Neal, dominated the first spell but could not undo a resolute King's defence.

The second half was a reversal, with King's holding the upper hand but unable to turn that domination into goals. Both teams had chances from penalty corners, with King's goalkeeper Devon Manchester denying AGS a couple of crucial saves.

St Kentigern and Macleans, who join AGS and King's in the inter-city competition, which starts this week, rounded off their championship play with wins over AGS 2 and Howick without conceding a goal.

Tonight's match at the Crown Relocations Stadium between Massey and WBHS will decide the North Harbour championship. WBHS go into the match with a two-point lead over defending champions Massey, who dropped crucial points last week when held 0-0 by Rangitoto.

Netball

Top dogs Rangitoto 1 and Westlake GHS continue to set the pace in the North Harbour Collegiate 1 race but close games further down the table are creating real interest.

Rangitoto 2 bounced back from last week's narrow loss to edge Carmel College 1 32-30, while there was only a slightly bigger margin as Westlake GHS held off a determined Mahurangi 25-22.

Mahurangi were forced to take the court without key players Temara Hemara and Kaitlin Hogg, and coach Sandra Hawkins had to promote Sophie Kose from the school's second team to play wing defence. Mahurangi picked up a deserved bonus point.

Orewa College failed to fire and left coach Angela Greer despairing as they were handed a 40-25 hiding by the resurgent Long Bay side.

Orewa and Mahurangi lead the collegiate year 10 grade.

Rugby

With the three-sport series tied at 1-1 following Auckland Grammar's success in soccer and King's in hockey, the traditional rugby battle was the decider.

With an estimated 5000 spectators packing the sidelines at King's College, the visitors began strongly and went to the halftime break 9-5 ahead on the back of three penalty goals.

That resolute King's defence, led by front-rowers Scott Herriott, Shane Tasi and Longo Takataka, continued in the second spell.

AGS could not score a try, let alone a point, as Randall Kamea and Tasi crossed for tries that gave the home side a comfortable 17-9 victory.

After St Peters and Tamaki exchanged three penalties each, Sosefo Aholelei chased a kick through and dotted down in the corner 10 minutes from time to earn St Peters their 14-9 triumph in another tight game.

Kelston BHS came from behind to beat St Paul's 14-13 in yet another close encounter and St Kentigern edged home 11-10 over Otahuhu College.

The top five teams all have four-win, one-loss records, with King's, MAGS and AGS locked at the top, courtesy of a couple of bonus points each.

In North Harbour first-round top-eight action, Takapuna and Massey took maximum points (including a bonus point) with wins over Birkenhead and Mahurangi respectively.

Soccer

Auckland Grammar bounced back from last year's surprise loss to King's with a 3-0 away win.

Continuing their strong start to the season, AGS went ahead after just six minutes, when Kayne Vincent scored. They held that advantage to the break and pulled away in the second half to stay at the top of the table until yesterday's catch-up game, in which MAGS thrashed St Peters 8-0.

Vincent scored his second in the 68th minute, making it two weeks in a row he has scored twice. Daniel Rowe completed the scoring seven minutes from time.

Mt Albert Grammar also had a hat-trick hero in their 7-0 home win over St Kentigern. Promoted from his usual defensive role into midfield, Van Lindsay scored three, including a penalty.

MAGS, who led 5-0 at halftime, also had goals from Josh and Troy Smith, captain Michael Boxall and substitute Mark Withers to ensure their third win of the season.

*COLLEGE RESULTS

Athletics
Auckland SS cross-country champs
(St Kentigern College)

Junior boys: T. Tek (MTGS) 13m 41s 1, H. Tesfaye (MRGS) 13m 49s 2, M. Morreau (AGS) 14m 09s 3. 3-person teams: MRGS 1, AGS 2, Kings 3. 6-person teams: AGS 1, Kings 2, St Kentigern 3.

Junior girls: E. Keown (AGGS) 10m 22s 1, A. Pfitzinger (Rangitoto) 11m 19s 2, K. Burke (Mahurangi) 11m 29s 3. 3-person teams: EGGS 1, Diocesan 2, TGS 3. 6-person teams: EGGS 1, St Cuthberts 2, Pukekohe 3.

Intermediate boys: A. Parlane (Kings) 13m 04s 1, R. Bashir (WBHS) 13m 19s 2, M. Whitehead (Waiuku) 13m 31s 3. 3-person teams: Kings 1, AGS 2, WBHS 3. 6-person: AGS 1, Kings 2, WBHS 3.

Intermediate girls: K. Patterson (Pakuranga) 14m 03s 1, A. Keown (AGGS) 14m 24s 2, C. Mitchell (Pukekohe) 14m 28s 3. 3-person teams: St Cuthberts 1, Pukekohe 2, Diocesan 3. 6-person teams: St Cuthberts 1, Diocesan 2, Baradene 3.

Senior boys: M. Mildenhall (AGS) 19m 00s 1, B. Belachew (MRGS) 19m 07s 2, R. Sissons (Macleans) 20m 00s 3. 3-person teams: MRGS 1, AGS 2, St Kentigern 3. 6-person teams: AGS 1, Kings 2.

Senior girls: K. Mitchell (Rangitoto) 15m 24s 1, C. Seabrook-Davison (Kristin) 15m 41s 2, A. Fischer (EGGS) 15m 55s 3. 3-person teams: St Cuthberts 1, Diocesan 2, EGGS 3. 6-person teams: Pukekohe 1, Kings 2.

Basketball

Premier boys
WBHS 101 Dilworth 76, Rangitoto 92 KBHS 89, AGS, bye (James Cook withdrawn from competition).

Premier girls
Rosehill 60 Avondale 58, Massey 70 Manurewa 64, Rangitoto 59 AGGS 54.

Curling
Round four

AGGS 6 Baradene 4, Massey HS Rockers bt KGHS by default, EGGS Team Tiong 7 Massey Shooters 4.

Cycling
Avanti plus time trials
Round three

Senior boys: St Kentigern 20m 44.7s 1, AGS 21m 13.8s 2, Macleans 21m 44.4s 3. Handicap: Macleans C.

Senior girls: Diocesan 24m 55.0s 1, St Kentigern 25m 06.8s 2, EGGS 25m 26.2s 3. Handicap: St Kentigern A.

Junior boys: Macleans 22m 59.9s 1, AGS 23m 00.7s 2, WBHS 23m 38.9s 3. Handicap: St Kentigern J.

Junior girls: Diocesan A 25m 58.6s 1, Diocesan B 27m 05.0s 2, WGHS 27m 09.3s 3. Handicap: Baradene C.

Hockey

Auckland

Boys: Kings 1 AGS 0, MAGS 4 MRGS 2, St Kentigern 3 AGS 2 0, Macleans 8 Howick 0. Final points: Kings 21, AGS 18, St Kentigern, Macleans 13, MAGS 7, MRGS 6, AGS 2 4, Howick 0.

Girls: Diocesan 6 St Cuthberts 1, Diocesan 2 1 St Kentigern 0, Macleans 3 St Cuthberts 2 1, EGGS 3 Kings 0. Final points: Diocesan 21, St Cuthberts 18, Macleans 15, St Cuthberts 2 12, EGGS 9, Diocesan 2 6, Kings 3, St Kentigern 0.

North Harbour

Boys: WBHS 1 8 WBHS 2 0, Mahurangi 2 Kristin 0, Massey 0 Rangitoto 0, Birkenhead 2 Northcote 0. Points (one round to play): WBHS 1 18, Massey 16, Rangitoto 11, Mahurangi 9, WBHS 2 7, Kristin 6, Birkenhead 3, Northcote 0.

Girls: Carmel 3 Kristin 2, Northcote 2 WGHS 2 0, WGHS 4 Rangitoto 0, Massey 1 Mahurangi 0. Points (with one round to play): WGHS 1 18, Rangitoto 13, Massey 10, Kristin, Northcote 9, Carmel 5, Mahurangi 4, WGHS 2 1.

League

Premier 1st XIII

St Pauls B bt Waitakere by default, MAGS 50 Avondale 0, Otahuhu 50 James Cook 12, Mangere 24 Sir Edmund Hillary 10. Points, section one, St Pauls B 8, MAGS 6, St Pauls A 4, Waitakere, Avondale 2. Section two, Otahuhu 10, Sir Edmund Hillary, James Cook 4, Mangere 0.

College A, Manurewa bt Green Bay by default, Southern Cross 34 Aorere 16, Rutherford 34 Tamaki 32. Points: Southern Cross 8, Manurewa 6, Rutherford 4, Tamaki, Aorere 2, Green Bay 0.

Under-15 9-a-side

St Pauls 34 Hato Petera 10, Mangere bt Manurewa 26-22 but lost match on protest. Points: St Pauls 8, Penrose, Mangere 4, Manurewa, Hato Petera 2.

Netball

Auckland

Premier A: AGGS 38 Baradene 30, Howick 37 Onehunga 27, Pakuranga 37 St Marys 28, St Kentigern 27 EGGS 24, MAGS 40 Macleans 20, St Cuthberts 22 Diocesan 20. Points: MAGS, AGGS, Pakuranga, St Cuthberts 16, Howick 14, EGGS 13, St Kentigern 6, Diocesan 2, Baradene 1, Macleans, St Marys, Onehunga 0.

North Harbour

Collegiate 1: Northcote 42 Kaipara 9, Rangitoto 1 42 TGS 15, Long Bay 40 Orewa 25, Kristin 20 Birkenhead 13, WGHS 25 Mahurangi 22, Rangitoto 2 32 Carmel 30. Points: Rangitoto 1, WGHS 20, Northcote, Mahurangi 17, Rangitoto 2 13, Carmel 10, TGS 9, Kristin, Long Bay 8, Orewa 6, Birkenhead 1, Kaipara 0.

Rugby

Auckland 1A

Kings 17 AGS 9, St Peters 14 Tamaki 9, KBHS 14 St Pauls 13, MAGS 17 Tangaroa 0, Sacred Heart 20 De La Salle 10, St Kentigern 11 Otahuhu 10. Points: MAGS, Kings, AGS 18, Tangaroa 17, St Peters 16, De La Salle 12, KBHS 10, St Kentigern 9, Tamaki 8, St Pauls 7, Sacred Heart 5, Otahuhu 2.

North Harbour 1A

1st round top 8: TGS 29 Birkenhead 7, Massey 60 Mahurangi 3, Rosmini 7 Rangitoto 5, WBHS 22 Orewa 0. 1B: WBHS 2 41 Kaipara 3, Long Bay 14 Massey 2 3.

Counties Manukau 1A: Pukekohe 11 Papakura 0, Manurewa 78 Wesley 3rd XV 14, Waiuku 22 Rosehill 16.

Soccer

Senior A1

Kings 0 AGS 3, Macleans 1 St Peters 2, MAGS 7 St Kentigern 0, WBHS 2 Rangitoto 1, MAGS 8 St Peters 0.

1. MAGS5410213132. AGS5410175133. WBHS5401114124. Kings53018695. Macleans410317936. Rangitoto410381137. St Peters510451738. St Kentigern50051330 SENIOR A2

Avondale 4 MRGS 2, Kristin 2 Pakuranga 2, Liston 1 Howick 3, Onehunga 1 KBHS 3, Howick 4 MRGS 1. Points: KBHS 15, Howick, Avondale 13, MRGS 6, Kristin 4, Onehunga 3, Pakuranga 2, Liston 1.

Senior A3

Birkenhead 1 Massey 4, Lynfield 1 Rosmini 1, Northcote 1 Long Bay 4, Sacred Heart 0 TGS 0. Points: Sacred Heart 11, Long Bay 10, Birkenhead 9, Rosmini 8, Massey 6, TGS, Lynfield 4, Northcote 3.

Table Tennis

Auckland premier

Macleans A 4 St Kentigern B 3, AGS A 4 Macleans B 3, Avondale 5 AGS B 2, MRGS 4 MAGS 3.

Underwater Hockey

Northern Area SS Championships
Final placings

Senior open: Howick 1, Otumoetai 2, MAGS 3, Glendowie 4, Avondale 5, MAGS 2 6.

Senior girls: Tauranga GC 1, Diocesan B 2, Diocesan A 3, EGGS 4, Otumoetai 5, MAGS 6, Glendowie 7, Howick 8.

Junior open: MAGS 1, Otumoetai 2, Glendowie 3.

Junior girls: Howick 1, Otumoetai 2, Tauranga GC 3, EGGS 4, Macleans 5, MAGS 6, Glendowie 7, Northcote 8, Diocesan 9.

Auckland SS Championship

Senior open: Avondale 3 Glendowie 0, Howick 3 MAGS A 2, MAGS B 3 Northcote 0.

Senior girls: Diocesan A 5 Diocesan B 1, EGGS 5 Glendowie 0, Macleans 6 Howick 0.

Junior open: Glendowie 2 MAGS 2, Western Springs 7 Northcote 0, Glendowie 13 Avondale 0.

Junior girls: EGGS A 14 Diocesan 0, Glendowie 10 EGGS B 0, Howick 5 Macleans 1, MAGS 6 Northcote 1.

*Coming up

Today: Hockey: North Harbour boys (all Crown Relocations Stadium), Mahurangi v Northcote 6pm, Rangitoto v Kristin 6pm, WBHS 2 v Birkenhead 7pm, Massey v WBHS 1 7pm.

League: (all 4pm, home team first), premier 1st XIII, Waitakere v MAGS, Avondale v St Pauls A, James Cook v Sir Edmund Hillary, Mangere v Otahuhu. College A, Rutherford v Green Bay, Aorere v Manurewa, Tamaki v Southern Cross. Under-15 9-aside, Manurewa v Hato Petera, Green Bay v St Pauls, Penrose v Mangere.

Soccer: Girls (all 4pm), North Harbour, final, TGS v WGHS junior premiers; 3rd/4th, WGHS senior premiers v Carmel. Counties Manukau, Rosehill v Waiuku, Tuakau v Papakura, Pukekohe gold v Pukekohe red, Bledisloe Park, Manurewa v James Cook.

Waitakere, Lynfield v Avondale, St Dominics 1st v St Dominic 2nd, KGHS v Green Bay.

Tomorrow: Hockey: North Harbour girls (Crown Relocations Stadium unless stated), WGHS 1 v Kristin 7pm, Carmel v Massey 7pm, WGHS v Mahurangi 6pm, Rangitoto v Northcote, Rangitoto 6.30pm.

Saturday: Athletics: New Balance NZSS Cross-country championships, Waipuna Park, Welcome Bay, Tauranga. Year 9 girls (3km) 11.10am; year 9 boys (3km) 11.35am; junior girls (3km) noon; junior boys (4km) 1pm; senior girls (4km) 1.30pm; senior boys (6km) 2.30pm.

Netball: North Harbour (all Onewa), collegiate 1, Northcote v Rangitoto 2 9am, Rangitoto 1 v Mahurangi 9am, WGHS v TGS 9.45am, Kristin v Long Bay 10.30am, Orewa v Birkenhead 10.30, Carmel v Kaipara 10.30.

Rugby: Auckland (all 2.30pm), 1A, AGS v Sacred Heart, De La Salle v Kings, MAGS v Kings, Otahuhu v Tangaroa, St Pauls v Tamaki, St Peters v KBHS. 1B (all noon), Dilworth v Liston, Sir Edmund Hillary v Papatoetoe, Macleans v Aorere, MRGS v Edgewater, Howick v Marcellin, Mangere v Avondale, Penrose v Onehunga, Waitakere v Southern Cross.1A North Harbour (all noon) 1A, WBHS v TGS, Orewa v Rosmini, Rangitoto v Massey, Birkenhead v Mahurangi. 1B: Long Bay v WBHS 2, Kaipara v Glenfield, Northcote v Massey 2.

Soccer: A1 (all noon), AGS v WBHS, Kings v Macleans, Rangitoto v MAGS, St Peters v St Kentigern.

Monday: Girls rugby: (all 4pm), North Harbour, Orewa v Massey, Rangitoto v Mahurangi, Long Bay v WGHS, Northcote v Glenfield.