KEY POINTS:
Penrose High and Avondale College are setting the early pace in the Auckland premier boys volleyball championship with four-from-four in a hectic start to the season.
Led by strong games from Jacob Lee and captain Neil McFall, Avondale beat Otahuhu in straight sets but then had to battle all the way before edging home over Auckland Grammar.
The first two sets were shared 25-22 before Avondale claimed the third 26-24 and then held on in the fourth to win 25-23.
Grammar rallied in the last game of the night to beat Otahuhu three sets to one 25-15, 20-25, 25-18, 25-18.
Defending premier girls champions McAuley High have begun the defence of their title with four straight wins. MAGS have been the early surprise and have hit the floor running as the other unbeaten team with four wins.
Cricket
AUCKLAND
Kelston BHS and St Kentigern hardly rate as really big names in Auckland first XI cricket but they have deservedly won through to the final of the R H Marryatt Cup one-day championship with only one loss between them.
In a dramatic final round, Kelston upset previous pool A leaders Auckland Grammar in a low-scoring affair. Batting first and at 86/7 it did not look as though Kelston would challenge the favoured Auckland Grammar team, but useful knocks from Nathan Bell and Jerome Webby got them to 190.
Chasing such a modest tally was not expected to challenge the AGS batsmen but their inability to cope with the KBHS spin attack of Sheahan Huri, Ajay Saraff, Bell and Webby cost them any chance as they were bundled out for 130.
St Kentigern also won a top-of-the-table clash to book their place in the final.
Led by 3-13 from Alan Miles and 2-24 from Tamati Clarke, St Kentigern held all the aces as Rosmini were skittled for 135.
Jono Hickey wasted little time in setting up the victory as he smacked 64 and steered St Kentigern to their target for the loss of only three wickets.
Elsewhere, in matches that did not count, King's beat Macleans by eight wickets on the back of a Jonathon Bassett-Graham century.
He was upstaged however by Westlake Boys captain Tony Manning who hit 137 as he helped his team to a massive 262-run victory over Avondale College and MAGS beat Sacred Heart by five wickets.
WAIKATO
St Peters School and St Johns College are setting the early pace in the 1st XI championship, with three-from-three records.
But it was a close-run thing for St Peters, who sneaked home by four runs over Hamilton BHS' 3rd XI. In a tight contest which featured a century from Fraser Kilgour and a five-wicket haul for his team-mate Malcolm Matthews - 5-36 from 10 overs of pace - St Peters claimed the points.
Batting first after winning the toss, St Peters quickly reached 50 without loss and went on to amass 252, aided in no small part by some sloppy fielding which included five dropped catches.
In reply, HBHS raced to 85 for no loss but then lost their way as Matthews struck. Openers Steven Cullingworth and Mitchell Santner held sway until the loss of their first wicket in the 29th over. Apart from 40 from Alex Waterman, there was little else from the middle and lower order and the home side fell four runs short.
There was no such drama for St Johns.
Matamata College captain Toby Hawes won the toss and took first use of his home wicket. He batted throughout the innings for an unbeaten 88 but received scant support. Ryan MacKinnon was the best of the St Johns attack bagging 5-43.
In reply, opener James Evetts got his team started and went on to score 56. A timely 76 from Shaun Devoy helped St Johns get home with six overs to spare.
Elsewhere, Sean Keeley and Danny Woodlock bagged eight Hillcrest High wickets between them to steer Cambridge High to an 18-run win in a low-scoring affair.
Kilikiti
McAuley High (girls) and The Manurewa High School (boys) grabbed the honours with convincing wins in the finals of the Auckland SS B grade championship at Ngati Otara Park.
Ten girls' teams and eights boys' - over 500 competitors - participated, with McAuley overpowering Mangere College in their final and Manurewa proving too strong for Wesley College. The finals were timed affairs with each team batting for 25 minutes.
The A grade tournament at the Auckland Domain tomorrow has attracted 18 boys' and 16 girls' teams who will play concurrently on 17 fields. Lynfield College (boys) and Auckland GGS (girls) will defend their titles.
Multisport
In an amazing result, St Kentigern won six of the nine titles at the team tag triathlon at Maraetai Beach. They also finished second in the junior mixed and third in the intermediate boys - one of the races they won.
The event attracted 420 competitors from 140 teams. While St Kentigern deservedly took overall honours, there was also success for Epsom GGS (in the junior girls), Waiuku College (junior mixed) and St Cuthberts in the senior girls, where they took first and third.
Whangaparaoa College showed they might be a school of the future with their second placing in the junior boys' race, in which they bowed to St Kentigern but finished ahead of Westlake BHS.
Waka Ama
With Kelston BHS a no show at this year's Auckland SS Regatta, the spoils are up for grabs among the record entry of 134 crews from 25 schools.
Winners of the division one boys' final, the mixed championship final and the mixed plate final last year, Kelston BHS has no crews entered for Saturday's racing at the Orakei Basin.
There will also be a new division one girls champion, with no entry from last year's winning school, Papatoetoe HS.
Water Polo
Massey HS were celebrating after they beat Diocesan in the latest round of the premier competition.
Led by three goals from Teresa Adam, Massey scored their first win over Diocesan in more than a decade, ending Diocesan's unbeaten start to the season.
Westlake Girls High, 7-5 winners over Rangitoto, and the only unbeaten team, hold a narrow lead as the race for the semifinals intensifies. With three rounds to play, Massey have pitched themselves into play-off contention.
COMING UP
TODAY: CRICKET, girls (home team first, 4pm), Premier Senior A, Pool A, Avondale V EGGS, MAGS V Diocesan. Pool B, MRGS V ST Cuthberts. Senior B, Pool A, St Kentigern V Botany Downs, Glendowie V Papatoetoe, Tamaki V Howick, St Kentigern 2. Pool B, Kings V McAuley, Macleans V Manurewa. Pool C, EGGS V Marist, Marcellin V Lynfield, Massey V St Marys.
TOMORROW: Kilikiti, A grade tournament, girls/boys, Auckland Domain, from 9am (finals 2pm).
FRIDAY: Volleyball, premier boys, at AGS, AGS v Manurewa 4pm, Manurewa v Long Bay 5pm, AGS v Long Bay 6pm. At KBHS, KBHS v Otahuhu 4pm, De La Salle v Otahuhu 5pm, KBHS v De La Salle 6pm. At MAGS, MAGS v Avondale 4pm, Avondale v Mangere 5pm, MAGS v Mangere 6pm. At Sir Edmund Hillary, Sir Edmund Hillary v Aorere 4pm, Penrose v Aorere 5pm, Sir Edmund Hillary v Penrose 6pm.
SATURDAY: Cricket, Auckland 1B championship (2nd day, two-day matches, all 12.20pm, home team first), Liston v St Kentigern, Pakuranga v Rangitoto, St Peters v Papatoetoe, WBHS v AGS. North Harbour premier boys (8.30am, home team first), Birkenhead v Long Bay, Rangitoto v WBHS, TGS v Glenfield.
Volleyball, premier girls, at McAuley, McAuley v Avondale 9am, McAuley v Rangitoto 10am, Rangitoto v Avondale 11am. At MAGS, MAGS v Mangere 9am, MAGS v Green Bay 10am, Mangere v Green Bay 11am. At Manurewa, Otahuhu v Aorere 9am, Manurewa v Aorere 10am, Manurewa v Otahuhu 11am.
Waka Ama, Auckland SS regatta, Orakei Basin from 8.45am (finals 3pm).
MONDAY: Softball, boys, at Norana Park, Aorere v Otahuhu 4pm, Sir Edmund Hillary v Otahuhu 5pm. At Meadowlands, Botany Downs v St Kentigern 4pm, Howick v St Kentigern 5pm. At Prince Edward Park, Papakura v Rosehill 4pm, Manurewa v Pukekohe 4pm, Papakura v Manurewa 5pm, Pukekohe v Rosehill 5pm.
COLLEGE RESULTS
CRICKET
AUCKLAND
1A, pool A (5th, final, round).-
KBHS 190 (N. Bell 45, J. Webby 31; J. Neesham 4-33) bt AGS 130 (H. McChesney 32).
TGS 137 (J. Abraham 46; R. Bezuidenhout 3-22) lost to Rangitoto 138/2 (C. Trent 47no, D. Brown 42no).
WBHS 335/3 (J. Tasman-Jones 86, T. Manning 137, A. MacDuff 73no) bt Avondale 73 (J. Coughlan 5-15).
Points: KBHS 8, AGS 7, WBHS 6, Rangitoto 5, TGS 4, Avondale 0.
Pool B
Macleans 189 (A. Martin 50, R. Lahood 30; T. Horrocks 3-25) lost to Kings 190/2 (K. de Silva 63no, J. Bassett-Graham 100).
Sacred Heart 232/9 (D. Gray 3-35) lost to MAGS 233/5 (D. Pitcher 51, J. Drew 65, R. Khan 46no).
Rosmini 135 (A. Miles 3-13) lost to St Kentigern 137/3 (J. Hickey 64).
Points: St Kentigern 10, Rosmini 8, MAGS 6, Kings 4, Sacred Heart 2, Macleans 0.
WAIKATO
1st Xl championship, division one.-
St Peters 252 (F. Kilgour 107, J. Mongston 35; H. Blake 4-48) bt Hamilton BHS 3rd X1 248 (S. Cullingworth 64, M. Santner 62, A. Waterman 40; M. Matthews 5-36).
Matamata College 204 (T. Hawes 88no, N. Dyer 35; R. McKinnon 5-43) lost to St Johns 205/6 (J. Evetts 56, S. Devoy 76).
St Pauls Collegiate 2nd X1 286/9 bt Hamilton BHS 4th X1 266.
Cambridge HS 168 (K. Adlam 65; J. Bruce 4-15, S. Roots 3-14) bt Hillcrest HS 150 (S. Keeley 5-19, D. Woodlock 3-31).
Morrinsville College 152 (D. Lowe 39, S. Peak 38; A. McLean 5-16) bt Fraser HS 147 (S. Singh 66; T. Inger 6-51, J. Chambers 3-15).
* * *
MULTISPORT
TEAM TAG TRIATHLON
(Maraetai Beach)
Junior boys: St Kentigern 36m 02s 1, Whangaparaoa College 38m 34s 2, WBHS 40m 04s 3.
Junior girls: EGGS 36m 55s 1, Diocesan 38m 49s 2, Kristin 39m 42s 3.
Junior mixed: Waiuku College 39m 12s 1, St Kentigern 40m 45s 2, Waiuku 46m 03s 3.
Intermediate boys: St Kentigern 45m 43s 1, Glendowie 46m 44s 2, St Kentigern 47m 05s 3.
Intermediate girls: St Kentigern 49m 52s 1, Kristin 50m 14s 2, Massey 50m 44s 3.
Intermediate mixed: St Kentigern 49m 16s 1, Macleans 49m 42s 2, TGS 51m 02s 3.
Senior boys: St Kentigern 54m 25s 1, Macleans 56m 00s 2, WBHS 60m 05s 3.
Senior girls: St Cuthberts 65m 11s 1, Diocesan 66m 36s 2, St Cuthberts 67m 19s 3.
Senior mixed: St Kentigern 59m 13s 1, Howick 60m 08s 2, Waiuku 60m 20s 3.
* * *
ORIENTEERING
AUCKLAND ROGAINING CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Mangere Mountain/Ambury Park)
Senior boys: J. Harvey/D. Baird (Kings) 50pts, 78m 42s 1, M. Nugent/K. Saville (Pukekohe HS) 50pts, 92m 31s 1.
Intermediate boys: G. Van Zyl/J. Charles (Wentworth) 46pts, 112m 28s 1, M. Tunnicliffe/N. Mavrionis (Elim College) 44pts 110m 00s 2.
Junior boys: K. Walley/D. Melchers (Pukekohe) 50pts 109m 00s 1, J. Eksteen/A. Dumper (Elim) 44pts 112m 00s 2.
Senior girls: N. Peat/H. Linkhorn (St Cuthberts) 50pts 80m 08s 1, S. Fulton/P. Roberts 23pts 62m 00s 2.
Intermediate girls: J. Horan/A. Morris (Pukekohe) 48pts 109m 00s 1, S. Wijdeven/C. Saville (Pukekohe) 37pts 123m 00s 2.
Mixed teams: M. Clarke/H. Charles (Wentworth) 44pts 85m 00s 1, M. Rapson/F/ Fernandes (Wentworth) 38pts 117m 00s 2.
* * *
WATER POLO
PREMIER
Girls: WGHS 1 7 Rangitoto 5, Diocesan 19 WGHS 2 2, EGGS 6 MAGS 4, Massey 15 Carmel 3, Rangitoto 10 MAGS 3, Massey 7 Diocesan 6, St Cuthberts 7 Carmel 2, EGGS 7 WGHS 2 2.
Boys: AGS 1 8 Sacred Heart 1, AGS 2 9 Avondale 3, Kings 3 St Kentigern 3, Rangitoto 23 Rosmini 2, Sacred Heart 6 Avondale 2, WBHS 5 Rangitoto 4.
