College sport: Distant snow no barrier for boarder

A lack of funding and the absence of any nearby mountains hasn't stopped snowboarder Phil Dominick from competing and achieving at the highest level.

The Takapuna Grammar student is the youth world champion in the boarder cross event, and is off this Friday to Canada and then Europe to aim for more world titles.

The 17-year-old travels to Big White ski resort in British Columbia to compete in the Canadian regional snowboard series and the Canadian snowboard national champs as a senior in four disciplines: boarder cross, slopestyle, giant slalom and halfpipe.

At the end of this month his focus will turn to Switzerland where he joins the rest of the New Zealand team for a week before the world junior champs at Arosa on April 5, where he says the Kiwis will mix it with the big budgets of Europe.

"The Swiss and other teams have so much funding they don't know what to do with it. Whereas we have a coach telling us to go nuts with our crappy equipment compared to the Europeans," says Dominick, who compares the Kiwis to the Jamaican bobsled team in the movie Cool Runnings.

However the Kiwis have a better chance of winning medals.

"I have been training hard. Surfing, wakeboarding, skateboarding are all part of my training as well as going to the gym. You have to have a strong upper body and strong legs to handle the drops," he says.

The other members of the squad are 17-year-old Mitchell Brown and Kendall Brown, 15, from Mt Maunganui, Ellie Richards, 17, from New Plymouth and Jessie Wilkinson, 18.

Snow was a part of Dominick's life from early on when his parents got him skiing near Christchurch.

The Dominicks then moved to Ohakune and he got his first snowboard when he was eight years old.

He gets to the mountain about once a week during the winter and his last visit was in October.

Dominick says his school has been good to him, by allowing time out to train and travel, but what he does after leaving school is a little up in the air.

"I'd like to skate and snowboard ... I think my parents would like me to go to university for some back-up," he says.

Dominick was nominated for the Herald Junior Sports Awards and was highly commended.

Hockey/Cricket

Simon Child has become one of the youngest players selected for the New Zealand men's hockey squad. The 16-year-old is in the squad for the four-test series against Malaysia this month.

Child is also a member of a cricket first XI which is unbeaten after six matches this year. He scored a match-winning 61 against Kelston Boys High on Saturday, then added 43 against Wanganui Collegiate the next day.

The Kings first XI beat Kelston Boys High on first innings after Kelston scored 211 and Kings reached 214-7.

They then defeated Wanganui Collegiate by three wickets on Sunday and Monday. Tim Southee was the player of the match, taking 6-27 in the first innings and 5-36 in the second, including a hat-trick and four wickets in six balls, for match figures of 11-63.

Aquathon

The girls are taking over multisport events in the Auckland region after an increase in numbers of female competitors at the 2005 Aquathon event at Long Bay. It is the third year in a row that the overall number of competitors has increased. The podium places were shared among 16 schools from greater Auckland, ranging from up-and-coming multisport schools such as Papatoetoe High School, Rosehill College, Glendowie College and Long Bay College, to the more established schools such as Rangitoto College and St Kentigern College.

Surprisingly, Auckland Grammar did not place in any of the male categories

At least two-thirds of the 227 competitors taking part in the 400-750m swim followed by the 3-5km run were female.

The senior girls winner was Kate Mitchell of Rangitoto College, ahead of St Kentigern's Rebecca Clarke, with Epsom Girls student Sarah Clarke third.

The boy's title was won by St Kentigern's Andrew Curtayne, over his identical twin William in a close finish.

* Results

KILIKITI

AUCKLAND SENIOR
(Auckland Domain)

Final

A grade boys: Lynfield College 1, Otahuhu College 2, Auckland Grammar School, Avondale College 3rd equal.

A grade girls: Otahuhu College 1, Onehunga High 2, McAuley High School, Westlake Girls 3rd equal.

B grade boys: Onehunga College 1, Mangere College 2, James Cook High, Mt Roskill Grammar 3rd equal.

* * *

AQUATHON
(Long Bay)

Senior boys: A. Curtayne (St Kentigern) 29m 34s, 1,W. Curtayne (St Kentigern) 29m 56s, 2, R. Sissons (Macleans College) 31m 21s, 3.

Senior girls: K. Mitchell (Rangitoto) 34m 24s 1, R. Clarke (St Kentigern) 35m 08s, 2, S. Jack (Epsom Girls) 38m 03s 3.

* * *

TENNIS

AUCKLAND SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Second round

Boys,Senior A1: King's bt Mt Albert 9-0, Westlake bt Auckland Grammar 8-1, St Kentigern (1) bt St Kentigern (2) 9-0.

Points: Kings 21, Westlake 17, St Kents(1) 15, Auckland Grammar 12, St Kents(2) 1, Mt Albert 0.

 

Girls, Senior A1: St Kentigern bt King's 7-2, St Cuthbert's bt Baradene 9-0, Diocesan bt Epsom 6-3.

Points: St Cuthberts 22, St Kentigern 20, Diocesan 16, EGGS 3, Baradene 3, King's 2.

* * *

SWIMMING

THAMES VALLEY CHAMPS
(Matamata)

Raw score event: Matamata College 1310 (1), Thames College 1043 (2), Te Aroha College 919.50 (3), Waihi College 839 (4), Whangamata Area School 810 (5), Te Kauwhata College 785.50 (6), Hauraki College 775 (7) Katikati College 7089 (8), Paeroa College 271 (9), Coromandel Area School 216 (10), Mercury Bay Area School 164 (11).

* * *

WATERPOLO

PREMIER

Girls: Diocesan 6 St Cuthberts 3, Rangitoto 10 Avondale 4, Westlake Red 20 Massey 1, Epsom Girls 11 Carmel 1.

Boys: Rosmini 7 Auckland Grammar B 3, Sacred Heart 4 Auckland Grammar A 2, Rangitoto 13 Northcote 2, Westlake A1 15 St Kentigern 1, Westlake A2 5 Rangitoto B 4, Westlake A1 5 Sacred Heart 4, Auckland Grammar A 16 St Kentigern 0, Rosmini 14 Northcote 2, Rangitoto A 13 Rangitoto B 2.


* This week:

Today: Athletics, Auckland secondary school girls, qualifying day - Ericsson Stadium No 2.

Thursday: Athletics, Auckland secondary school boys qualifying day - Ericsson No 2.

Yachting, fleet racing Narrow Neck, Devonport (also Friday).

Saturday: Auckland secondary school waka ama regatta - Orakei Basin.

Cricket, 1A, 12.30pm (home team first)

Kelston Boys v St Kentigern, Westlake Boys v Kings, Mt Albert v Avondale.

Plate section, Rosmini v Auckland Grammar, Rangitoto v Takapuna, Macleans v Sacred Heart.

Tennis, A1 grade, various venues.