College sport: Gold medallist out of running for awards

Auckland Grammar's Sam Webster was good enough to win three gold medals as the outstanding rider at last month's UCI World Junior Cycling Championships in Moscow but he will not be adding the Auckland ASB College Sport Young Sportsman of the Year to his impressive title haul.

Through no fault of his own.

Under the rules governing the end-of-the-year awards, winners must be nominated by their schools and must compete for them on a regular basis in their chosen sport.

With no track cycling on the Auckland school's sporting programme, Webster falls outside the criteria.

He is not alone in that.

Three years ago, St Kentigern's Amasio Valence was a member of the New Zealand sevens team who won Commonwealth Games gold in Melbourne. Again, with sevens a non-school sport, Valence was not eligible for the top award.

Not that AGS are complaining. They accept the rules and have not nominated Webster but did recognise his efforts at a special assembly last Friday where he and his parents were guests of the school and at which he was able to proudly display his world championship medals.

The list of nominees for this year's awards should be known next week.

CYCLING

After a quiet winter during which only one record has been broken, organisers of the Avanti Plus time trials are now preparing for a repeat of last year when three records were broken in the seventh, and final, round of the series.

The only record to survive that onslaught was in the junior girls where the record has stood since 2005.

Sunday's final round (of seven), with all riders hoping for perfect, still conditions on the Auckland waterfront, should do little to alter overall standings after the series which has again produced some outstanding riding and regularly attracted more than 100 teams.

Sunday's racing will be followed by the prizegiving at St Kentigern College where the season awards and the special trophies at stake on the last day will be handed out.

HOCKEY

Sam Harrison will have longer school holidays than her Diocesan schoolmates when the third term ends next week.

Harrison, 18, is off to South Africa as the youngest member of the Black Sticks team for next month's Champions Challenge tournament in Cape Town.

Coach Mark Hager added Harrison - she joins sister Charlotte in the team - as the 19th member of the squad with a view to playing her in warm-up matches in South Africa as part of her on-going development.

Harrison, who captained Diocesan and led them to victory in this month's Federation Cup [premier girls] tournament in Wellington, has played a key role in her school's successes at local and national level this season.

Hager is determined to monitor Harrison's involvement with the national side.

"We are mindful of how much hockey Samantha has been playing this year and we want to avoid burnout," said Hager. "It is also good for her to enjoy playing within her peer group."

Harrison is also a member of the Auckland team playing in the National Hockey League which finishes just four days before the Black Sticks leave for South Africa.

"I was completely surprised to be chosen," said Harrison who has already played against China and Argentina at senior international level. "I am just really happy to have the experience of going away with the team."

LAWN BOWLS

Dilworth made the short trip to the Remuera BC on Monday and wasted little time in upsetting defending champions Kelston BHS 2-1 in the inter-school championship final.

Played over three matches of two-bowl pairs with a one-hour time limit (around 13 ends), Dilworth won the team A and C matches - the latter by an emphatic 18 shots to one with some superb draw play.

KBHS won through to the final with the loss of only one game - to AGS B in last month's quarter-finals. In the semifinals a week before the final, KBHS beat AGS A, a repeat of the controversial rugby clash between the schools, 3-0 while Dilworth won through after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Botany Downs with the third game deciding it as Dilworth edged home 7-6.

In Monday's final, Thomas Leonard-Gatland, nephew of top rugby coach Warren Gatland, and Anthony Lings, at the top of the order, gave Dilworth a solid start with their 13-7 win over Ravi Ram and Kevin Samson.

Kelston's Madhukar Narain and Brett Sargon fought back from 0-10 after eight ends to pick up 13 shots in four ends to beat Michael Hoyde and Timi Emmes 13-11.

It was never close in the third game as Brendyn Johnston and Bowen Shi raced away to win in a canter and ensure Dilworth's triumph.

MULTISPORT

There has been a shift of power down the hill on Auckland's North Shore with Kristin School edging big brother Rangitoto College out of the multisport limelight.

In days past, Rangitoto ruled the triathlon roost with outstanding efforts from Terenzo Bozzone and Rebecca Spence, now Kristin have a world champion of their own.

Maddie Dillon led the charge for the 800-pupil Albany secondary school with her victory in the 16-19 age group at the ITU world sprint distance championship on Australia's Gold Coast last weekend.

Her older brother Harry was fifth, and first New Zealander, in the 18 to 19-year-old Olympic distance race while a third from the school, Sophie Corbridge, was 15th (and again the first New Zealander) in the elite under-19 championship.

The efforts in Australia capped a good year for the school.

Maddie Dillon (year 11) won the intermediate race at the Auckland SS triathlon championships with Corbridge (year 13) taking the senior title. They repeated the effort at the national championships.

Selection in various national squads followed with the Dillons pitched into the Tri New Zealand Youth Development Squad and Corbridge named in the TNZ 2016 Olympic Performance Squad.

The brother and sister duo, who started their sporting careers as swimmers at North Shore at 8 and 7 years old respectively, switched to triathlon in Year 9 at Kristin as 13-year-olds.

They are coached by Ally Boggs.

Corbridge, who came to New Zealand from England with her family three years ago and started multisport at that time, is coached by her mother Dawn.

SOCCER

Brett McMurdoch and his St Peter's College team struck a blow for the "little guys" with their 2-1 win over AGS in the Knockout Cup final at Bill McKinlay Park.

The win by St Peter's over their near-neighbours followed the bold showing by Danny Hay's Sacred Heart in reaching the semifinals of the Lotto Premier tournament in Nelson earlier in the month.

Captain Ethan Galbraith led the charge with both goals for St Peter's. He opened the scoring in the 30th minute with a powerful strike from 20 metres but had little time to savour that as Anton Yee struck back to grab the equaliser within five minutes, capitalising on a rare defensive lapse by the St Peter's back four of Hugo Wulf, Isaac Fitzgerald, Vinnie Paget and Andrew Tort.

The cup was finally won 10 minutes from time when Galbraith ran on to a great long ball from Wulf to score.

The AGS strikeforce of Kelly Martin and Aaron Bawdekar were given nothing by the St Peter's rearguard. Up front Rory Kelly had a strong game for St Peter's.

* www.asbcollegesport.co.nz