College sport: Visitors have talent to burn

Raw talent and some advice from a former England player have made Whangarei Girls High the school to beat in lacrosse.

Whangarei were invited to compete in the Auckland secondary schools tournament last week at Parrs Park where they won the first and second divisions.

They were unbeaten in the first division. Their toughest match was against Avondale College where they escaped with a one-goal win.

But Whangarei, the national champions, could not claim the Auckland titles because they were invited to the tournament and are outside the area.

As a result Auckland Girls Grammar took the honours in the first division ahead of Avondale College and Mt Albert Grammar.

Whangaparaoa College won the second division ahead of Westlake Girls and Pinehurst College.

New Zealand under-19 coach Jess Evans said Whangarei had plenty of natural talent and the advantage of being able to call on former England player Sharon Cole, who is a relief teacher at the school, for advice.

"Whangarei are incredible athletes. A lot of the girls that play lacrosse play other sports at representative level."

Four players from the school are also member of Evans' national age group team.

Evans said lacrosse was slowly growing in New Zealand with a senior league recently established in Christchurch.

"We are hoping to get into some schools down there then hopefully the national competition will be more of a competition than just Whangarei and the Auckland schools."

Curling

Long Bay College teams drew first blood in the sudden-death quarter-finals of the Auckland curling championships played at Avondale.

Pool A winners the Long Bay Gliders squared off against Pool B runners-up Birkenhead College Team Cranswick.

Long Bay got off to a good start taking a deuce on the first end. Birkenhead came back with 2 on the 2nd and a steal of 2 on the 3rd to lead 4-2.

But Long Bay came back with 3 on the 4th end, a steal of 1 on the 5th and 6th to win 7-4.

Pool B winners the Long Bay Nuggets played Pool A runner-up Kelston Boys Team Ford.

A five in the opening end set Long Bay up to take the match.

Kelston fought back blanking the second end and getting a point on the 3rd end and steals of one on the 4th and 5th. Long Bay took a single on the 6th and Kelston replied with a single on the 7th. Final score: Long Bay 6 Kelston Boys 4. The other two quarter-finals are played tomorrow.

Cycling

Sunday marks the final round of the Auckland time trials series. For the first time the last race of the series is being combined with a finals day.

St Kentigern A lead the senior boys championships with a five-point lead over Auckland Grammar School A.

Diocesan A lead the senior girls competition, also with a five point lead, over St Cuthberts A.

The junior boys competition is close with Auckland Grammar A three points ahead of Westlake A. Diocesan A lead the junior girls competition and are seven points ahead of Westlake A.

In the handicap sections, Westlake A lead the senior boys, Epsom Girls Grammar the senior girls, Macleans 1 the junior boys and Westlake A the junior girls.

Rugby

Christchurch Boys High have the country's best rugby side after they edged out Auckland Grammar 18-14 to win the first XV national final in Palmerston North.

Playing into a strong wind in the first half, Grammar were the first to score with openside flanker Dan Pryor touching down and Ash Moeke converting.

Christchurch Boys replied with an unconverted try.

Grammar's second try came from continual pressure on the Christchurch backline leading to a dropped ball in the tackle. Blindside flanker Jack Turley dribbled the ball over to score. Moeke converted the try.

Christchurch kicked a penalty just before halftime to make it 14-8.

Christchurch had most of the ball in the second half and although Grammar defended well, couldn't stop the Southerners scoring 10 minutes into the half.

Christchurch kept their foot on the throttle and were rewarded with a try 10 minutes from time. Auckland Grammar attacked for the remainder of the match but were not able to score.

Meanwhile, Onehunga High are celebrating one of their best seasons in the Auckland competition.

The school were in four finals and won them all.

The second XV won the 2B competition, beating St Peters 13-12. Their win came after Robert Schuster scored a late conversion from the sideline.

The under-15s won the B division, beating Mt Roskill 21-0, and the school's 4th grade team won the C division, edging out Sancta Maria 24-19. The girls beat Manurewa 12-8.

Weightlifting

Sixty athletes will compete in the national school and age group competition at Te Kauwhata College on Saturday.

In the boys section Te Kauwhata, Auckland Grammar and Macleans College are expected to battle it out for the team's title.

In the girls competition Lucina May from Middleton Grange School, Christchurch, is expected to be among the front runners.

May is coached by her father Graham, a former Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

Other lifters looking to make their mark are Te Kauwhata College students Cody Cole and Justin Lamb, who both defeated their Australian counterparts in the Australian age group championships in April.