KEY POINTS:
Led by untiring efforts from the tournament's most valuable player Sasha Freebourne and top goalscorer Jasmine Myles (with 22 tournament goals), Westlake GHS capped their unbeaten run with a deserved 8-2 win over Diocesan in the girl's final at the North Island Secondary Schools water polo championships on Sunday.
The victory at the West Wave Aquatic Centre was a triumph for coach, and former pupil, Lynlee Smith who watched as her charges retained the title they won last year.
It also maintained their unbeaten record in all competitions in the past two years. In the Auckland competition they have scored 72 goals and conceded just 16 with only the match against Avondale to play.
En route to their triumph, WGHS had a 22-0 romp over Waikato Diocesan but were held to two-goal margins over Sacred Heart (Lower Hutt), Diocesan and EGGS in pool play.
In taking silver, Diocesan went one step further than last year. They had standout Simone Lewis named along with Grace Cooper (WGHS), Rangitoto's Olivia Murphy and Simone Pretscherer (St Cuthberts) as the most promising players.
Rangitoto, beaten in last year's all-North Harbour final, missed out on a medal when beaten 7-6 by Queen Margaret College in the bronze match.
There were further weekend celebrations for the Westlake girls as their under-16 eight won that title at the North Island rowing championships at Lake Karapiro.
Auckland Grammar went one better than last year with their 9-5 win over visiting Rongotai College in the boy's final. Led by MVP Richard Small, AGS were rarely under pressure in Sunday's championship finale.
Defending champions Westlake BHS struggled against long-time rivals Rangitoto in the bronze match, going down 13-5.
ARCHERY
Kings drew first blood with a narrow victory over AGS in the first of a three-match series held in warm conditions with a moderate head-wind at Nicholson Park on Sunday.
Teams of four contested the 72-arrow match over distances from 15-25m (novices) and 30-50m.
A titanic battle between top-ranked Kings and AGS was won by four points _ the margin they held after the first of four rounds. Grammar got within two points at the three-quarter stage.
The series continues on March 29.
CRICKET
WaikatoDaniel Frischknecht's unbeaten 130 and some useful batting-bowling doubles sparked the latest round of the 1st Xl 50-over championship.
Batting first against the Hamilton BHS Emerging Xl, 10-man Te Aroha reached 253/6 with Frischknecht scoring more than half their runs. He anchored a number of useful partnerships but extras (36) were the next highest score.
In reply, HBHS stumbled along with what appeared likely partnerships failing to kick-on. Shannon Herbert, batting at eight, fared best in scoring 48 but in the end they came up 13 runs short when dismissed in the 47th over.
Despite their best efforts, St John's College could not claim the points in a 400-run-plus game with Fraser HS.
Batting first after winning the toss, St John's reached 205 with Cameron Smith (76) and Jude Cooper (50) _ who added 80 runs for the 3rd wicket after being rocked at 16-2 _ leading the way.
The middle-lower order batsmen were given little respite as Trent Salvatierra and Andrew McLean picked up seven wickets between them. After losing an early wicket, Fraser eventually got home by three wickets as McLean (74) and Salvatierra (56) completed useful match doubles to help Fraser home with seven overs to spare.
Chris Jamieson, too, was in good touch with bat and ball as Hillcrest HS beat the Hamilton BHS Development Xl by two wickets.
Jamieson picked up 3-36 as HBHS reached an encouraging 244/9 and then scored 41 as Hillcrest, led by another solid knock of 62 from William Kokaua, managed 245/8 in reply.
Despite Lance Knyvett's best efforts with bat and ball, Matamata College came up short in their away game with St Peter's School in a low-scoring affair.
Batting first after winning the toss, the visitors were soon in trouble at 36/4. Knyvett (29) and Mitchell Green (55) added 55 for the fifth wicket but the innings again fell apart and ended at 141 in the 32nd over.
At 110/3 in reply, St Peter's were in cruise mode but the introduction of Knyvett's slow stuff _ 4-18 _ undid the home side who, in the end, needed four runs from their last wicket pairing to get home by one wicket.
SOFTBALL
There is no stopping St Peter's College on the softball diamond.
A hard-fought 5-3 win over Green Bay High in the Auckland SS premier final stretched St Peter's winning record to 15 straight. But at 2-3 late in the game, an upset was on after Green Bay had taken the lead.
Answering the call from coach Myles Hogarty, St Peter's rallied. Strong bat ting from Alex Rau and Scott Johnson and a shut-out by pitcher Clark Trethowan in the last two Green Bay innings dashed hopes of a major upset. Trethowan was named player of the day.
TENNIS
Abigail Guthrie and Trent O'Keeffe turned in outstanding efforts to win two titles each in the three-day Auckland SS champion of champions tournament.
Guthrie (St Cuthberts) beat schoolmate Sarah Henderson 6-1, 6-0 in a one-sided singles final and combined with Henderson to comfortably win the doubles title 6-2, 6-2 over the Rangitoto College pairing of Christine Foote and Katarina Mittag.
O'Keeffe (St Kentigern) was just as dominant. He beat Darnell Sgubin (Kings) in the singles final and joined Ari Davis to claim the doubles crown 6-1, 6-1 from Bryce Hayr and James McPhail (AGS).
The battles for the James Aitkenhead Shields were tight with the boy's honours shared by Kings, MAGS and last year's winners St Kentigern on seven points with AGS a point back. St Cuthberts, led by Guthrie, retained the girl's shield by four points from Baradene.
With the Easter break, there will be no College Sport next week.
