College sport: Massey, Westlake join untouchables

The Massey High netball team and the Westlake BHS basketball team joined a growing list of teams to complete their season unbeaten in taking their respective national secondary school titles.

For the Massey girls, the 26-19 win over Auckland Girls Grammar in the final in New Plymouth was sweet revenge as they had lost last year's final, also against AGGS, by one goal.

The team have been coached for the past four years by Mako Nio-Aporo and Sheryl Hindman.

Captain Catherine Latu steered her side through a long season which also included victories in the local competition, the Rotorua invitation tournament and the Upper North Island championship.

Latu (defender) and Charlene Halapua (mid-court) were named as two of the three players of the tournament.

There was further honour for the West Auckland school with Ken Pisi among the try-scorers as the New Zealand Schools held off their Australian counterparts 22-19 in the annual rugby test in Canberra last weekend.

Westlake were never challenged in taking the basketball title for the first time.

From the time they beat Otago BHS 119-23 first-up to their 82-63 win over Mana College in the final, the Tom Abercrombie-led team, who finished fourth a year ago, were always going to be the team to beat.

Their 77-68 victory over Aranui and the semifinal in which they edged Nelson College 58-47 were their closest games.

The final was tight in the opening quarters.

Westlake led 24-21 at quarter time and lost the second quarter 16-17 to lead by only two points at halftime. With Corey Webster, later named the tournament MVP, leading the way with 36 points, Westlake pulled away to win comfortably.

Abercrombie and Webster were named in the tournament team.

Badminton

Westlake BHS completed their expected win in the boys' team event at the NZSS Championships in Wellington.

Led by NZ under-19 representatives Chance Cheng and Henry Tam, Westlake overpowered Auckland Grammar in the final.

Cheng led the charge with his 15-4, 15-13 win over highly-rated AGS No 1 William Bok while Tam had an easier 15-9, 15-7 win over Delius Tang.

AGS got one back when their No 3 Kevin Dennerly-Minturn overcame Sean Willins in three tough games to give his school their only success.

In a closest possible scrap, Macleans College went one better than last year's second placing with their win over Rangitoto College.

With matches shared 3-3, a countback of sets was required with Macleans getting home seven sets to six.

Rosehill College had a good tournament, finishing third in both events.

Cricket

The season will start on Saturday with more than 150 teams.

The 1A and 1B grades start their season with a series of one-day matches in term four. Both grades will then split into two pools to play the championship grades in two-day matches in term one next year.

Curling

Led by captain Aaron Jackson, who made the switch from representing New Zealand at the world mountain running championships, the Kelston BHS team successfully defended their national title with an 11-5 win over Maniototo.

Jackson had a superb game and was well-supported by No 3 Glen Nelson, No 2 Dylan Ford and lead Mark Towers as they raced to a 9-0 lead after five ends of the final before Maniototo got three back on the next.

Kelston replied with a two and held on as their opponents scored just two on the last end.

Massey High Strikers were too strong for Birkenhead College winning 7-4 in the play-off for third.

Birkenhead did savour some success however with their 9-3 win over Epsom Girls Grammar No 2 in the girls' final.

Massey's team of Andrew Dustin, Grainam De Borja, Catharina Coppell and lead Hayley Littlewood won the mixed competition.

Orienteering

New Zealand completed their third straight triumph in the annual Southern Cross Junior Challenge in Tasmania, Australia.

The New Zealanders (61 points) finished ahead of Queensland (49) and Victoria (39).

Racing in the individual and relay events was held over a mixture of terrain including open farmland, eucalypt forests, gullies and sandstone rock.

New Zealand were given a flying start when Scott McDonald (Karamu HS) just edged Toby Scott (Glendowie College) in the junior boys race.

They repeated that one-two finish in the senior girls with Lizzie Ingham (Samuel Marsden College) winning from Kate Rea (Chilton St James).

A storming late run from Mt Roskill Grammar's Simon Jager earned him third place in the senior boys. Rachel Goodwin (Iona College) held the advantage for most of the day in the junior girls but was pipped by Queenslander Krystal Neumann.

New Zealand wrapped it up by finishing first or second in all four relays on the second day.

Soccer

Australia continued their transtasman domination with 3-0 and 2-1 wins over the New Zealand Secondary Schools in Sydney.

The two matches in Australia followed an arduous journey from Canada where they had a win and a loss to share the series with the Canadian under-18 side in Kelowa, British Columbia.

The Jacques Vercauteren-coached senior side headed to Australia determined to improve on the 1-0 and 7-0 losses they sustained in Christchurch last year.

They struggled first up to lose 3-0 but bounced back to hold the Australians to 0-0 in the first half of the second test.

Seven minutes into the second half David Houston poked one past goalkeeper Aaran Rowley to give the hosts the lead.

New Zealand bounced back soon after to equalise when Cunningham gathered a ball from Josh Smith.

New Zealand pushed forward in search of a winner but with less than 10 minutes left, were caught out by a long ball which captain Ben Gough converted for the 2-1 victory.

Tennis

Keen to play a part in finding the next generation of New Zealand's best tennis players, the Auckland secondary schools championships have been restructured with all grades to now play semifinals on Saturday and then all finals at Vodafone Park on October 29.

In the past, the A1 teams have played a round-robin involving six teams in the first term with the top four then playing a further round-robin in the fourth term with the winner decided on accumulated points.

It was felt that one bad result if a player(s) was absent for a tournament in the first term could give a false result.

In another change, all games will be decided in just one tie-breaker set for singles and doubles making a total of nine sets played.

This weekend in the senior A1 championship, Westlake BHS, as top seeds, will play Auckland Grammar (who were fourth at the end of the first term) in one semifinal and St Kentigern College and King's College clash in the other.

The top four girls teams (with likely representatives in the semifinals in brackets) are St Cuthbert's (Shona Lee and Abigail Guthrie), St Kentigern (Kairangi Vano and Melissa O'Keefe), Diocesan (Anna Johnston and Jacinda Harper) and Kings College (Libby Batley and E. Hermon).

* Results

BADMINTON

NZ SECONDARY SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

(Wellington)

Boys Final: Westlake BHS 5 Auckland Grammar 1 (C. Cheng bt W. Bok 15-4 15-13, H. Tam bt D. Tang 15-9 15-7, S. Willins lost to K. Dennerly-Minturn 15-8 10-15 11-15, J. Ho bt K. De Silva 15-10 15-2, Cheng/E. Haggo bt De Silva/Dennerly-Minturn 12-15 15-5 15-6, Tam/Willins bt Tang/Bo 15-5 15-9; 3rd-4th: Rosehill 4 Hutt Valley 2; 5th-6th: Havelock North 3 (7 sets) Rongatai 3 (6); 7th-8th: Palmerston North HS 4 Burnside 2.

Girls Final: Macleans College 3 (7 sets) Rangitoto College 3 (6) (A. Wong lost to M. Leviana 5-11 2-11, S. Cheng lost to J. Hung 11-4 7-11 8-11, J. Liu bt M. Ensoll 11-8 11-2, C. Chiang bt C. Chan 11-1 11-3, Wong/Liu lost to Leviana/Hung 8-15 9-15, S. McCamish/Cheng bt Ensoll/S. Matheson 15-1 15-1; 3rd-4th: Rosehill 3 (6 sets, 96pts) James Hargest (6 sets, 76pts); 5th-6th: Palmerston North GHS 6 Wellington East 0; 7th-8th: Gisborne Girls 3 (8) Burnside 3 (6).

* * *

BASKETBALL

NATIONAL SS CHAMPIONSHIPS

(Napier)

Final top 10 placings: Westlake BHS 1, Mana College 2, Avondale College 3, Nelson College 4, Waitaki BHS 5, Wellington College 6, Rangitoto College 7, Kelston BHS 8, Auckland Grammar 9, Church College 10.

* * *

CURLING

NATIONAL SS CHAMPIONSHIPS

(Paradice, Avondale)

Girls.-

Semifinals: Birkenhead 8 Baradene 6, Epsom GGS 2 8 Epsom GGS 1 6. Final: Birkenhead 9 EGGS 2 3. 3rd-4th: Baradene 14 EGGS 1 2.

Boys.-

Semifinals: Kelston BHS 8 Birkenhead 6, Maniototo 9 Massey 4. Final: Kelston BHS 11 Maniototo 5. 3rd-4th: Massey 7 Birkenhead 4.

* * *

CYCLING

NATIONAL SS TEAMS

(Palmerston North)

Time trials.-

Girls Year 7/8: Baradene 31m 57s 1, Diocesan B 32m 35s 2, Taupo Intermediate 33m 10s 3; Under-16: St Cuthberts 29m 15s 1, Diocesan 29m 18s 2, EGGS 29m 30s 3; Under-20: Diocesan 26m 31s 1, EGGS 27m 33s 2, St Cuthberts 28m 18s.

Boys Year 7/8: Taieri College 30m 11s 1, Taupo Intermediate 30m 40s 2, St Kentigern 31m 19s 3; Under-16: Westlake BHS 24m 41s 1, Auckland Grammar 25m 04s 2, Palmerston North BHS 26m 07s 3; Under-20: St Kentigern 22m 29s 1, AGS 22m 57s 2, PNBHS 23m 12s 3.

Road races.-

Girls Year 7/8: D. Harford (Havelock North) 30m 59s 1, L. Gretton (Taupo Int) 2, J. Hogan (Taupo Int) 3; Under-15: F. Barnfield (Burnside HS) 29m 13s 1, S. Prosser (EGGS) 2, F. Verdonk (Waik Diocesan) 3; Under-16: A. James (St Cuthberts) 1h 2m 23s 1, C. Routledge (St Cuthberts) 2, G. Dudley (Horowhenua) 3; Under-17: R. Mercer (Wellington Girls) 1h 1m 00s 1, S. McDonald (Dunstan HS) 2, T. Steens (Tauranga Girls) 3; Under-20: A. Fowler (Macleans) 55m 42s 1, R. Buchanan (St Peters, Cambridge) 2, B. Broad (EGGS) 3.

Boys Year 7/8: B. Evans (Taieri) 29m 36s 1, M. Roberts (Taupo Int) 2, C. Todd (Taupo Int) 3; Under-15: P. Bevin (Taupo-Nui-A-Tia College) 27m 38s 1, J. Barnes (Taupo-Nui-A-Tia College) 2, T. Gunman (WBHS) 3; Under-16: C. Scott (Te Awamutu) 59m 02s 1, C. Sloan (Marlborough HS) 2, J. Barr (Taupo-Nui-A-Tia College) 3; Under-17: M. Howell (Taieri) 1h 5m 36s 1, J. McColl (St Peters, Cambridge) 2, F. Desmond (Macleans) 3; Under-20: A. Thompson (AGS) 1h 12m 40s 1, J. Sergent (PNBHS) 2, R. Wills (Cambridge HS) 3.

* * *

LAWN BOWLS

NORTHERN ZONE PLAY-OFFS

(Mangawai Heads)

Top qualifiers.-

Boys Singles: M. Shine (Auckland) 7pts, M. Parry-Crooke (North Harbour) 6, H. Smith (Northland) 5, A. Buckner (North Harbour) 4; Pairs: A. Wishnoski/T. Kuric (Auckland) 8, S. Cottrell/J. Sunnex (Auckland) 7, N. Walker/S. Paddock (North Harbour) 5, J. Gordon/D. Bettle (North Harbour) 4.

Girls Singles: E. Hinge (Northland) 8, D. Lelosio 6 (+34), M. Toi (Far North) 6 (=7), J. Moffett (Northland) 4; Pairs: L. Mulder/J. Knight (North Harbour) 8, E. von Vey/L. Russell (North Harbour) 7, B. Zimmerman/H. Gower (Auckland) 6, S. Duffey/C. Riceman (Northland) 4.

Winners and runners-up from each section will represent Northern Zone in national finals in Auckland on Dec 11-13.

* * *

NETBALL

NATIONAL SS CHAMPIONSHIPS

(New Plymouth)

Post section: Hillcrest HS 39 Sacred Heart College 26, Verdon College 40 Taita College 26, Auckland GGS 41 Villa Maria College 22, Craighead Diocesan 43 St Orans 31, Massey HS 41 TCS-Tu Toa 25, Mt Albert Grammar 38 Marlborough GHS 31, Taita 32 Sacred Heart 27, Verdon 30 Hillcrest 29, St Orans 38 Marlborough 37, Craighead 35 MAGS 29; 3rd-4th: TCS Tu Toa 33 Villa Maria 30; Final: Massey HS 26 AGGS 19.

* * *

ORIENTEERING

SOUTHERN CROSS JUNIOR CHALLENGE

(Tasmania, Australia)

Final placings: New Zealand 61pts 1, Queensland 49 2, Victoria 39 3, Tasmania 36 4, NSW 35 5.

New Zealand teams.-

Junior girls: C. Dinsdale (Samuel Marsden), R. Goodwin (Iona), K. Morrison (Napier GHS), N. Peat (St Cuthberts).

Senior girls: L. Ingham (Samuel Marsden), T. Ramsden (Wanganui HS), H. Rea (Chilton St James), G. Whitla (Riccarton HS).

Junior boys: A. Barrett (Hastings BHS), S. McDonald (Karamu HS), B. Reidie (Nayland), T. Scott (Glendowie).

Senior boys: S. Jager (Mt Roskill GS), S. McNally (Te Puke HS), T. Reynolds (WBHS), J. Vincent (Havelock North HS).

* * *

SOCCER

NZ SS TOUR

In Canada: Lost to Canadian u-18 2-1 (G. McDermott); bt Canadian u-18 1-0 (M. Cunningham)

In Australia: Lost to Australian schools 3-0; lost to Australian schools 2-1 (M. Cunningham)

* Coming up

Today: Softball, central zone girls (home team first, all 4pm), AGGS v Marist, MAGS v St Marys, Penrose v Tamaki.

Saturday: Auckland SS junior waka ama (outrigger canoeing) regatta, Onehunga Basin, from 8am (final 2pm).

Cricket: 1A pool 1 (all 12.30pm, home school first), Westlake BHS v Takapuna GS, Kelston BHS v Auckland Grammar, Rosmini v Mt Albert Grammar. Pool 2, Kings v Macleans, Sacred Heart v Avondale, St Kentigern v WBHS 2nd XI.

Cycling: National SS mountainbike relays, cross country, Redwood Forest, Rotorua.

Rowing: SS indoor championships, Bethlehem College, Tauranga, 10am (also Sunday, finish 4pm).

Tennis: Senior girls A1 (both 8.15am, home school first), St Cuthbert's v Diocesan, St Kentigern v Kings. Senior boys A1 (both 8.15am, Vodafone Park, Merton Rd), WBHS v AGs, St Kentigern v Kings.