College sport: St Kents upset top tennis seeds

By TERRY MADDAFORD

By the barest possible margin, second seeds St Kentigern College upset top seeds St Cuthberts to win the national secondary schoolgirls championship at the North Harbour Tennis Centre.

Shona Lee beat Melissa O'Keeffe in straight sets to give St Cuthberts a vital early point.

But in the end, with the singles shared 2-2 and the doubles 1-1, the title was decided on a countback of sets.

St Kentigern's Savia Diaz lost 4-6, 7-5, 5-7 to Felicity Johnston in the battle of the No 4 players, but the set she won proved vital.

Any hopes St Kentigern might have entertained of completing the double were dashed when their boys' team (seeded fourth) were thrashed 5-0 by top seeds Kings College, who won four singles and the one doubles without dropping a set.

James Pilbro, playing No 1 for Kings, bounced back from an earlier (and only) loss to Auckland Grammar's Rade Radanovich to beat St Kentigern's Sam Gould 6-3, 6-0.

Top seeds St Peters (Cambridge) prevented a clean sweep for Auckland schools with their decisive 5-1 win over second seeds Kristin to take the mixed title.

Ahead 4-0 after winning all the singles, St Peters won one of the doubles to ensure a comfortable victory.

Kristin No 1 Daniel Moser, unbeaten in all previous matches, almost continued that run in taking Matthew Stark to three sets before losing 3-6 in the third.

SOCCER

On paper, the one-win, two-draws, five-loss record of the New Zealand Secondary Schools team on their 22-day European campaign might not make happy reading, but coach Jacques Vercauteran rightly pointed to the quality of the opposition and the satisfaction of a first win over the English schoolboys.

Vercauteran conceded that his team, who return home today, faced sides who were superior in their technical ability and organisation, but felt there were benefits for his players in being exposed to the differing football cultures.

The team will now be re-selected for a two-test Transtasman Trophy series to be played in Christchurch in September.

Before that, all players will play at national trials and, in late August, the annual national schools tournaments.

EQUESTRIAN

A strong showing in dressage paved the way for an eventual 10-point win for Diocesan 2 over St Cuthberts in the two-day NRM North Island Horse Trials at the Waikato Equestrian Centre.

As expected, schools from outside Auckland turned in strong performances, with Whangarei 2 finishing second in dressage ahead of Kerikeri, and third overall ahead of Pukekohe and Rotorua Girls High.

Whangarei 1 took the Pickmere Trophy for team spirit and presentation.

GENERAL

The winter sports season hits top gear in forthcoming days with the premier basketball championship for boys and girls tipping off on Friday night.

Avondale College, defending their girls title, meet Epsom Girls Grammar in the 6pm curtainraiser before their boys play Mt Albert Grammar at 7.30pm.

Takapuna Grammar, runners-up in both championships last year, also have a double-header, with the boys playing defending champions Kelston at 6pm and the girls meeting Penrose High at 7.30pm.

In other match-ups (with home teams first), Auckland Grammar meet Rangitoto College and Westlake clash with Rutherford at 7.30pm. In girls action, Manurewa play Diocesan at Auckland Grammar and Westlake are at home to Rosehill, both at 6pm.


North Harbour and Counties Manukau kick off their rugby championships on Saturday.

Rosmini College begin the defence of their North Harbour premier title with an away game against Glenfield College.

In a major change, Wesley College will have their first XV playing in the schools championship this year after seasons in the Counties club competition. Wesley 2 won the title last season.

Girls rugby starts on Monday.

Diocesan will begin the defence of their national title at the secondary schools water polo championships in Lower Hutt tomorrow, with the the final scheduled for 4pm on Sunday.

Other northern schools in action at the 16-team championships are Avondale, Epsom Girls, Rangitoto, St Cuthberts, Westlake GHS and Carmel College.

There will be plenty of interest in the annual Auckland and North Harbour golf teams tournament to be played at the Aviation Country Club and Muriwai respectively on Monday.