KEY POINTS:
The chance to join world champions such as Sarah Ulmer, Valerie Vili, Beatrice Faumuina, Sheryl Scanlan, Phillis Meti and Emily Drumm and other top sporting talent as winner of the ASB College Young Sportsperson of the Year has again attracted a huge list of hopefuls.
More than 160 names have gone forward to the judges, who will select their overall winner to join many other names on the trophy which was first presented in 1991.
While most interest will again be in the overall winners, there promises to be some battles within the battle as the individual categories find their best.
Both the boys' and girls' hockey contests will be close.
Three players named in the just-released Junior Black Sticks squad, Marcus Child and Peter Dillon (King's) and Shay Neal (AGS) will chase the boys' award while former Northlanders Ella Gunson and Samantha Harrison (Diocesan) and Stacey Michelson (St Cuthbert's ) - also members of national squads - are in line for the girls' award.
The trio named for the boys' cycling award, Tom David and Myron Simpson (St Kentigern) and Alex Cull (Macleans) all have strong claims, as do badminton hopes Luke Charlesworth (Massey), Kevin Dennerly-Minturn (AGS) and Ethan Haggo (WBHS).
Alice Hickey (Baradene) andAroha Savage (Manurewa HS) are finalists for the girl's all-rounder award with Savage also in line for rugby honours.
Manurewa's Logan Cassin and Jourdan Harvey (King's) are the top two in the boys' all-rounder category with Harvey also among the orienteering hopefuls.
The winners will be announced at the awards dinner at Eden Park on November 15
CRICKET
WAIKATO
Centuries to Daniel Frischknecht (Te Aroha College) and Fraser Kilgour of St Peter's provided the highlights as runs continued to flow in fourth-round play in the Waikato first XI division one championship.
Whereas Kilgour's effort in scoring 132 was a match-winner as St Peter's swamped Morrinsville College by 165 runs after posting an incredible 329/4, Frischknecht's effort in scoring 119 was in vainas Fraser High stormed to victoryby six wickets in posting 260/4in reply to Te Aroha's 255/8.
Sandeep Singh produced a solid double for Fraser in taking 4-26 and then scoring a timely 40 as they got home with eight overs to spare.
Kilgour, with great support from Jarrod Mongston (94), played the major role in an opening partnership of 184 for St Peter's. Kilgour needed just 75 balls to post his century. He was eventually dismissed in the 30th over after belting 23 fours and three sixes. A second wicket partnership between Mongston and Robbie Smith produced another bonanza as they added 128 en route to a massive 329/4.
Morrinsville replied with a gutsy 164 but were still 165 runs short of getting anything from the game.
The day's best bowling came from Matt Kennedy of St John's who bagged a career-best 7-20 as Cambridge were dismissed for 140 as they chased the 275/9 posted by St John's.
St Peter's lead pool B from HBHS Development XI while Hillcrest 1 and St Johns share top spot in pool A.
CURLING
Six schools were represented in the finals of the Auckland SS championships with North Shore schools snaring two of the three titles.
As expected after a long season, there was little between the finalists.
The only suggestion of a blow-out came in the mixed final when the Long Bay College team of Nic Lambert, Katie Bauer, Heather Brown and Christine Bridle scored five on the fourth end after scores had been tied at 2-2 after three to take a winning 7-2 advantage over Henderson High's Brittany Taylor, Cory Mills, Tony Hill and Kyle Calder.
The boys' final produced the closest battle before Massey High Frosties (Keswick Pearson, Will Armitage and Sam Brady) came from behind to beat Kelston BHS 6-4.
The KBHS combination of Matt Clement, Arnold Mataika and Nathan Mahoney started well with singles on the opening two ends. Massey hit back with a single on third and a stolen single on the next to tie it up 2-2.
Two for KBHS on the next swung the advantage back their way but they dropped three on the sixth to trail 4-5 which became 4-6 when Massey closed it out with a steal of one on the seventh to take the honours.
Birkenhead's Hyeo-Eun Jung, Elizabeth Shin and Hisato Motogami were always in control in the girls' final. They scored singles on thefirst, third and fourth endswith the second blanked tolead 3-0 over Epsom GGS.
Two on the fourth end got the EGGS team of Lisa Ku, Courtney Kay, Vanessa Bradley and Alton Wall back in it at 2-3. Birkenhead replied with a single for 4-2 and then got two stones in the house and blocked the front to hold on and win 6-2.
SOCCER
Moves to increase the senior A1 championship from eight to 10 teams got the thumbs down at the annual meeting of the Auckland SS Football Association.
Schools instead voted to add a fourth division - senior A4 - to make it a 32-team competition.
The final composition of the four grades will not be known until after play-off matches in May. The decision to can all play on Queen's Birthday weekend will mean the last of the 14 rounds in each division will now have to be played after the annual winter tournament week.
The first round of the senior Knockout Cup will be played on May 10 with teams involved in league play-offs having to play their first KO Cup games in the first week of term two.
A Junior Knockout Cup, for players under 15 years of age on January 1, 2008, has been instigated. No player will be allowed to play in both knockout competitions.
TENNIS
St Cuthbert's made no race of it. Their 9-0 win over Rangitoto in the senior A1 girls' final at Scarbro Tennis Park completed an outstanding season.
The team of Abigail Guthrie, Sarah McDermott, Sarah Henderson, Kataraina Hunia, Hannah Bowering and Lillee Reid-Hunt wound up their season unbeaten in regional and national competition.
To underline their strength, the St Cuthbert's junior team of Emily Fry, Claudia and Samantha Williams, Neeshah Dahya, Gabriella Crozier, Paige Paterson and Kate Stevens took the junior title by beating Baradene. There was some success for Baradene, however, as they beat Diocesan 7-2 to claim the intermediate A1 crown.
The senior boys' final was a hard-fought affair before St Kentigern prevailed 6-3 over AGS. The third-fourth play-off was even closer with last year's winner WBHS pushed hard by the improving MAGS side before winning 5-4.
St Kentigern, who also won the national title for four-person teams earlier in the year, hit the court running with solid efforts from Sam Gould, Victor Klintchaeov, Trent O'Keeffe and Ari Davis.
King's showed they will be the team to watch in future as their intermediate and junior teams beat WBHS and St Kentigern respectively.
King's did not have it all their own way in the intermediate final.
Hamish Duff and Chester Espie at the top of the Westlake order were in great form, taking out the singles and doubles over Tom Brickland and Nick Sissons in tense battles.
King's strength from positions three to six proved decisive in deciding the tie with Paam Yanaranop, at No 6, beating Scott Vines in the deciding singles for a 5-4 win.
COMING UP
FRIDAY: Volleyball, junior, premier boys (from 4pm), play-offs 1st-3rd, De La Salle, Long Bay, KBHS, at Long Bay. 4th-6th, Otahuhu, Avondale, MAGS, at Otahuhu College. 7th-9th, Rangitoto, AGS, Onehunga, at Rangitoto.
SATURDAY: Cricket (home team first, 11am, 1st day of 2), 1A, MAGS v AGS, Rosmini v WBHS, St Kentigern v WBHS. North Harbour premier boys (home team first, 8.30am), Long Bay v WBHS 4th XI, WBHS 5th XI v TGS 3rd XI, Glenfield v Birkenhead. Waikato 1st XI, division one (home team first, 10.30am), round five, Hillcrest 1 v St Johns, Te Aroha v Cambridge, HBHS Emerging v Fraser, St Peter's v HBHS Development, Matamata v Hillcrest 2, St Pauls v Morrinsville.
Volleyball, junior, premier girls (from 9am), play-offs, 1st-3rd, Avondale, Otahuhu, Manurewa, at Avondale. 4th-6th, MAGS, Aorere, Mangere, at MAGS. 7th-9th, Green Bay, Marcellin, McAuley, at Green Bay.
* ON THE WEB: asbcollegesport.co.nz
