College sport: Unbeaten run gives hint of greater things to come

By JULIE ASH

If the New Zealand Warriors ever need recruits, St Pauls College could be worth a visit after their unbeaten run at the national secondary school championships at Hopuhopu.

St Pauls thrashed Kelston Boys High School 58-0 in the final after beating Wainuomata College 40-18, Waikato champions Rakaumanga 62-0 and Christchurch's Aranui High School 18-8 in their section play.

Kelston beat Waiopehu College 20-10, Bay of Islands College 48-6 and one of the rugby league championship favourites, Nelson College, 18-8, in their section play.

For St Pauls, captain Eddie Leuluai, fullback Logan Wright and halfback Marvin France were stand-out players in the tournament.

SOCCER

Revenge was sweet for Epsom Girls Grammar in the New Zealand secondary girls championships in Nelson.

Epsom beat Avondale College 3-2 to retain their national title after Avondale beat them in the Auckland competition.

Epsom's teacher in charge, Simon Murray, said the team was rapt with the win.

"One of the hardest things to do is hold on to a title," he said.

It was also payback time for Mt Albert Grammar in the national secondary boys championships in Wanganui.

Mt Albert beat local rivals Auckland Grammar 2-1 in the final, reversing the score of the Auckland championships, which Auckland Grammar won 2-1.

The win also secured for Mt Albert the Alex Harvey Cup, previously held by Auckland Grammar.

Mt Albert and Grammar now square off next Wednesday at 3 pm at Kiwitea St for the Auckland knockout cup.

Mt Albert coach Kevin Fallon said the team, who also reached the last 16 in the Chatham Cup, were having a great season.

Numerous players had made names for themselves this season, he said.

Craig Wylie and Jason Rowley were national under-17 soccer representatives, Ross McKenzie and Chad Coombes made the New Zealand secondary school side, George Suri and Jerry Sam were Solomon under-20 representatives, and Lance Eeson was the top goal scorer at the nationals.

"We have a great mix of players," Fallon said.

In other soccer results, Auckland's St Peters College finished third and Westlake fourth in the New Zealand secondary school championships.

In the Rex Dawkins Cup, Long Bay College beat Kings College 1-0. Takapuna Grammar school finished third and Northcote College fourth.

In the Jim Wishart Cup, held in Wellington, St Kentigern College repeated their success of last year by retaining the trophy when they beat Onehunga High School 3-0 in the final.

NETBALL

Auckland Grammar and Avondale College have qualified for the New Zealand secondary school championships which will be held in Blenheim from October 2 to 5.

Avondale College beat Hillcrest High School in the final of the upper North Island championships and former Silver Fern Anna Rowberry coached Auckland Grammar to third.

BASKETBALL

In the national secondary boys competition, Westlake Boys were the best-placed team in the Auckland region, finishing fourth behind Hutt Valley, Church College and Wellington College.

HOCKEY

The Rangitoto College girls first XI were second in the Federation Cup, losing 1-3 to Kamo in the final.

Epsom Girls finished eighth and Diocesan School 12th.

In the boys Rankin Cup, Auckland Grammar and Kings College finished mid table.

SQUASH

In Auckland's premier squash competition, Westlake Boys High School successfully defended their title by beating Kings College 10-4.

THIS WEEK

Today: Inter-regional under-16 basketball championships.

Tomorrow: Open inter-regional basketball championships.

Friday: Auckland premier basketball semifinals, and squash semifinals.

Sunday: Auckland mountain bike relay.