College sport: Westlake triumph over the odds

By JENNI RUTHERFORD

Winning the coveted Springbok Shield at the New Zealand secondary schools rowing regatta was never going to be an easy task, even for a fully fit crew.

But the Westlake Boys High School under-19 fours crew overcame sickness and a repechage battle to force their way into the final to claim victory at Lake Ruataniwha, near Twizel.

The crew were dealt a cruel blow on arriving in the South Island, with stroke Darren Mead falling ill with a stomach bug. The crew finished last in their heat and were forced into the repechage, but managed to battle back into contention.

Faced with a strong head wind and choppy conditions in the final, the crew of Mead (who sat in the bow for the final), Daniel McSweeny, Robert Holmes, Steven Kirk-Burnnand and coxswain Cameron Robinson kept a cool head to beat the fancied crews of Christ's College (Christchurch) and St Paul's Collegiate, Hamilton.

The five then combined with Brad Barnes, Dion Shepherd, Andrew Jensen and Trent Morris to finish a credible third in the Maadi Cup for the under-19 eight.

That crew were also plagued by illness. Morris and Jensen suffered the same stomach bug as Mead, and Barnes injured his toe on the first day of the regatta.

Co-coach Anna McNaughton could only watch and hope that misfortune would not mean the training sessions had been in vain.

"I thought, 11 months of training and hard work and here we are," said McNaughton, as she recalled taking one of the boys to the doctor two days into the regatta.

But fortune favours the brave and Westlake returned to the North Shore with the shield for the first time in nine years.

Westlake Girls High School rounded off a successful under-19 fours double for the North Harbour colleges, winning the girls' Dawn Cup. Auckland Diocesan finished third behind Marlborough Girls College.

Claiming A final titles were Takapuna Grammar's boys under-19 lightweight fours, Auckland Diocesan's under-16 quadruple sculls and Auckland Grammar's Andrew Le Grice and Adam Alexander for the under-19 boy's pair.

SOFTBALL

It has been a long time coming, but Onehunga High School finally won their first New Zealand secondary schools premier teams title.

The closest they had come before was as runners-up at last year's national soccer championships.

The Dale Gerrick-coached side were in unfamiliar territory making the final of the national schools softball championship and were forced into extra time before beating Wellington's Tawa College 6-5.

Auckland Girls Grammar made it an Auckland double, winning the girls title.

ATHLETICS

Just four records were broken at the North Island secondary schools track and field championships at Mt Smart Stadium.

April Brough, of King's College, rewrote two of them in breaking the senior girls 100m and 200m marks.

Manawatu's Lucy Cant ran a record-breaking 5m 5.09s in the open girls 1500m steeplechase and Waikato's Sefo Savea threw 16m to set a new senior boys' shot put record.

Auckland's Simon Bucknell was another standout performer, winning two intermediate boys titles. He won the 800m in a smart time of 1m 59.65s and the 1500m in 4m 11.12s.

VOLLEYBALL

Last year, The Hillary College senior boys team won the New Zealand secondary schools volleyball championships.

This year, they returned to the national tournament as the Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate Otara Senior School and won again.

What made Hillary's victory even sweeter was that the side was coached and captained by Massey Satiu.

He not only steered his young charges to victory but was also named as most valuable player for the second year in a row.

The team beat Otago's John McGlashin College in a tough five-setter in the final. Kelston and Westlake Boys High finished tied for third.

Auckland champions Avondale College were third equal in the girl's division one. Otumoetai College successfully defended their title.

SOCCER

The New Zealand schoolboys soccer team left for their tour of Europe yesterday.

The squad will play school teams in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Wales and England before travelling to France and Spain where they will meet youth club teams.

St Peter's College pair Kaz Townsend and Jeremy Cooper withdrew from the touring side because of injuries.

Mt Albert Grammar's Prince Quansah has returned from a month training at English premier league club Bolton.

Quansah, Wellington's Wayne Rooker and Christchurch's Jack Pelter were selected to train with the club's under-17 and under-19 squads to experience high-level football. A highlight for Quansah was playing in a training match.

THIS WEEK

* Today:

Northland: Northland secondary schools open tennis championships.

Bay of Plenty: bowls.

* Tomorrow:

End of term one.

* Monday:

New Zealand secondary schools surfing championships, Dunedin, April 1-6.