KEY POINTS:
Cricket is alive and well across the bridge with Westlake BHS continuing to draw the line in the sand.
Hard on the heels of the success of the school's 1st XI in taking the 1A two-day championship, their Year 9 team beat Kelston BHS to take that title and win through to the national finals of the NZCT Cup in Taupo in March.
Both the 1st XI and the Year 9 team, captained by Max O'Dowd - son of former Auckland captain Alex O'Dowd - are coached by Johan Kirstein.
The 1st XI, led by Tony Manning, will play in next week's Gillette Cup finals in Palmerston North. WBHS have won the Auckland 1A championship in four of the past five seasons.
Manning was selected in the Auckland under-17 tournament team in a year in which he scored four centuries (to equal the school record). He backed his batting prowess by taking four wickets in the final against Sacred Heart. His efforts were then acknowledged last month when he was named ASB College Sport cricketer of the year.
In a year in which the school team played in the UK and the Netherlands, their 2nd XI won the 1B championship, their 3rd XI was third in their debut 1B2 season and their Colts 2 team won the North Harbour Junior Premier Trophy.
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Manoj Daji will step into the chief executive role at ASB College Sport in February.
He replaces Nick Jordan who had less than a year in the role before moving on to assist with preparations/planning for next year's Fifa Under-17 World Championships.
Daji, a former accountant, has had various roles at Avondale College, Senior College of NZ and, most recently, was head of school at the Onehunga Business School.
His sporting background includes playing premier club cricket at Cornwall and representing Auckland, Wellington and North Harbour at hockey. More recently he has coached hockey teams in North Harbour and Auckland and this week is in Malaysia at the Champions Trophy as part of his Sparc Prime Minister's Coaching Scholarship.
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KILIKITI
De La Salle's golden sporting year continued with their junior A grade boys capping a hard day's work with a six-run win over KBHS in a closely-contested final at the Auckland Domain.
It was not all plain sailing for De La Salle who had prepared meticulously for the end-of-year tournament. After comfortable wins over Lynfield and Otahuhu, De La Salle lost to KBHS but won through to the semifinals on run rate.
De La Salle then beat Aorere by one run in a thriller to book a rematch with KBHS in the final.
With Pale Mataia and Kafoa Hala continuing their day-long good form, De La Salle, led by Donald Tony, got home to take the title and continue coach Ben Swann's successful sporting year following the wins scored by the school's Intermediate and 2nd XV B rugby teams he also coached.
Kelston did have some success, however, with the KGHS team taking the girls A grade final from neighbours Avondale College.
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NETBALL
Netball New Zealand has named 20 trialists to attend the secondary schools selection camp in Palmerston North from April 21-24. Other players may be added to the NZSS trials based on performances in the NZ Talent Development Programme early next year. After the camp, 12 players will be named in the 2008 NZ Secondary Schools Team to travel to Adelaide from May 24-30 to compete against Australia and other invited teams.
Trialists.-
Attackers
A. Bellringer, Sacred Heart Girls College (Western), K. Cullen, Auckland Girls Grammar School (Auckland Waitakere), S. Francois, Motueka High School (Tasman), E. Halpenny, Villa Maria College (Canterbury), D. Leota, Mt Albert Grammar School (Auckland Waitakere), T. Selby-Rickit, Te Wharekura o Te Rito (Western), L. Vaitohi, MAGS (Auckland Waitakere).
Mid Court
S. Bignall, TCS Tu Toa (Western), K Griffin, MAGS (Auckland Waitakere), A. Hickey, Baradene College (Auckland Waitakere), S. Martin, Mahurangi College (North), L. Rooney-Cribb, TCS Tu Toa (Western), A. Savage, Tauranga Girls High School (Bay of Plenty), K. Watene, Saint Kentigern College (Counties Manukau).
Defence
J. Beaumont, Cambridge High School, P. Dean, Villa Maria College (Canterbury); S. Tone Fitzpatrick, Saint Cuthbert's College (Auckland Waitakere); K. McMinn, Verdon College (Southland), M. Nicholas, Auckland Girls' Grammar School (Auckland Waitakere, E. Shadrock, Western Heights High School (Bay of Plenty).
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TOUCH AUCKLAND JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Papakura's unbeaten run came to an end when beaten 2-1 by Manurewa HS in a hard-fought girls' final.
Attempting to retain the title they won last year, Papakura remained on course until the all-South Auckland final. There was some consolation for Papakura in having Jonsal Tautari named the MVP.
Unbeaten Wesley had too many guns for Otahuhu in the boys' final winning 3-1, with Paris Oti named the most valuable player. Last year's winners Macleans did not make it through to this year's tournament.
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BENTLEY CUP
The Ranfurly Shield-like challenges for the Bentley Cup are over for the year with the sought-after trophy set to spend the summer at Orewa College.
The initiative by Touch North Harbour to boost the sport's profile has been a tremendous success with the huge trophy - 1cm larger than rugby's Bledisloe Cup - changing hands four times during the year.
After holding the cup for two weeks, WBHS fell at the last hurdle in a closely-fought game that was within seconds of going to sudden-death extra time, when Orewa scored to take the honours 6-5.
Attention now turns to the national SS championships in Rotorua.
While the Bentley Cup has been tagged a resounding success, no decision has been made on which grade will play for the trophy next year.
Organisers will assess the zonal tournament in April before making a decision on which grade will compete for the cup.
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WATER POLO
Fresh from their successes in the North Island Championships, Rangitoto (girls) and WBHS added the Auckland junior A grade titles to their haul.
Making their first appearance in the Auckland final, Rangitoto were too good for Massey winning 5-2. In a minor surprise, an out-of-sorts Diocesan went down to WGHS 6-3 in the bronze play-off.
WBHS, led by a big game from Sam Power, found MAGS, also playing in their first final, a tougher-than-expected proposition eventually sneaking home 5-4. AGS emerged from the pack to beat Rangitoto by the same score to snatch bronze.
