Some outstanding female athletes to celebrate in this category this year, across a variety of sports. Who would your pick be from the names below? Vote in our poll at the bottom. Erika Fairweather (Kavanagh College) – Born on 31 December 2003, the cut-off date for the Youth Olympic Games, making her the youngest of the 4,000 competitors at the Bruenos Aires games. Competing in the Women’s 100m, 400m and 800m freestyle events the 14-year old Dunedin swimmer set personal bests and national age group records in both the 100m freestyle and 800m freestyle and qualified as first reserve for the 200m final. Going into the games, she held 12 national age-group records, including the girls 14 years 200m and 400m freestyle short course records. Amelia Kerr – Tawa College - In June the year 13 Tawa College leg-spinning all-rounder set a new world batting record in women's one-day cricket with her unbeaten 232 against Ireland, the third highest score in ODI cricket history. Facing 145 balls and hitting 31 fours, and two sixes. She then took 5-17 with the ball as Ireland were bowled out for 135, chasing 441 to win. At 17 years and 243 days, Kerr became the youngest double-centurion in the format across genders. Now a regular member of the Wellington Blaze and White Ferns teams, she went on to play an international tri-series against England South Africa and then against Australia, and this month is playing in the Twenty20 Women’s World Cup. Morgan McDowall - Auckland Diocesan – The youngest member of the NZ Women’s Water Polo team that competed in the Intercontinental Championships in April. Then part of the NZ team that competed in the FINA Women’s World Cup in September that finished seventh. Prior to that helped New Zealand to ninth place of 16 teams in the Women's Youth World Championship in Belgrade. In April, she was a key player for her school Dio completing the triple crown of secondary schools water polo by winning the Auckland, North Island and National titles in the same year. The NZSS win was the school’s first since 2008. Just year 11, the daughter of former All Black prop Steve McDowall, is recognised as a fast swimmer with a strong arm and a keen eye for finding the back for the net. Hannah O’Connor – Sacred Heart College, New Plymouth In June, O’Connor won her fourth consecutive NZSS cross country title, after winning the senior title in 2017 and the junior title in both 2015 and 2016. In typical fashion, she shot to the lead early and she won the 4km race by 23 seconds. She followed that up with victory NI U18/U20 Cross Country Champs. Overseas, in April she finished fourth at the ISF World Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships in Paris. At the Youth Olympic Games she ran a PB 9.25.29 in finishing seventh in the 3000m and finished inside the top 20 in the 4km cross country two days Tamara Otene – Westlake Girls’ High School - The Year 12 Westlake GHS volleyball had a big year in both indoor and beach volleyball. In Summer Tournament Week she led her school to their maiden NZSS Volleyball title. Outside hitter Otene was Tournament MVP as Westlake won without a dropping a set all week. Auckland champions Westlake beat top Bay of Plenty’s Otumoetai College in the final (25-23), (25-17), (25-21). Libero Zara Pocock also made the tournament team. Prior to indoor nationals, Otene teamed up with Maya Dickson (New Plymouth GHS) to win the Oceania Beach Volleyball qualifiers to make the Youth Olympic Games team where the pair finished in a tied for 17th. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (Mount Aspiring College) - In February Zoi Sadowski-Synnott became New Zealand’s first Olympic Winter Games medallist in 26 years, and only second winter medallist in history after Annelise Coburger who won silver in the women's slalom at the 1992 Winter Olympics. The Wanaka sixteen year claimed a bronze medal in the women’s snowboard Big Air at PyeongChang 2018. Prior to winning bronze, she finished 13th in the women’s snowboard slopestyle. She was subsequently selected as New Zealand's flag bearer for the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, becoming the country’s youngest-ever flag bearer. Returning home, she won the Supreme Award at the Otago Sports Awards and later Snowboarder of the Year at the Snow Sports NZ awards. Former winners - Girls Other
2017: Phoenix Paniora (Trident High School) – volleyball 2016: Amelia Kerr (Tawa College) – cricket 2015: N/A Note: rugby, basketball, netball, football and hockey (all still to come) are covered in separate articles in this series. The Champion of Champion series is not intended to be a definitive list of the ‘best’ athletes in each code, rather it celebrates many of the leading athletes and teams in each that College Sport Media has followed this year. Preference has gone to those individuals/teams that CSM has interviewed and profiled in 2018. Got a story? Email editor@collegesportmedia.com
11/11/2018
Champion of Champions: Boys Other SportsA wide range of high achieving males in a variety of sports this year. Our selections below and scroll down to vote in our poll. Connor Bell (Westlake Boys’ High School) - Without a shadow of doubt, Connor Bell is the best age group discus thrower in the world. At the Youth Olympics in Argentina, Bell claimed the gold medal by a whopping 18-metres throwing a personal best and Olympic Youth record of 66.84 metres. “To get out on the board reasonably early in the competition was an absolute joy,” Bell said after his convincing victory. Earlier in the year oppressively hot weather and a largely unsuitable diet wasn't enough to prevent Bell from winning the Micronesian Athletics Championships in Vanuatu. Bell threw 64.47m which at the time was his third best effort. Bell’s PB prior to the Youth Olympics was 65.63m. Seamus Curtin (Aotea College) – The Aotea College Head Boy was named the Emerging Sportsman of the Year at the Hutt Valley Sports Awards in May and was a nomination for College Sport Wellington Sportsman of the Year in November. Earlier in the year he was third in the singles of the National Bowls Championships in Dunedin, as well as finishing runner-up in the fours and reaching the quarter-finals of the pairs. At the inter-centre championships in early April, he was unbeaten in the singles for Wellington, helping it win the team title. But it was his golden run at the Australian Open at the Broadbeach Bowling Club in June that really had heads turning. In a field of 800 competitors, Curtin advanced to the final four, defeating former world champion of champions singles winner Scott Thulborn, of South Australia and pushing Commonwealth Games silver medallist Ryan Bester (Canada) all the way in the semi-finals before going down 21-15. Bester went on to win the title. In June, Curtin went on a run of 31 wins in 33 singles games, including the Australian Open. Curtin is a member of the Black Jacks high performance programme. Louis Ferigo (Sacred Heart College) - An unbeaten season was at stake for the Sacred Heart College water polo team heading into the final quarter of the National Secondary Schools decider against Westlake Boys’ High School in April. Sacred Heart made a flying start by scoring the first three goals of the game, but Westlake pulled the deficit back to 8-7 with five minutes to play. Any thoughts of an upset were quickly dashed by Ferigo, who after scoring the first two goals of the game, added two more to ensure Sacred Heart became the Auckland, North Island and National champions in the same season. Ferigo was named tournament MVP and explained to College Sport Media why he believed he received that accolade by saying: “I’ve always been smaller than most players so I’ve had to work really hard on defense. However my size allows me to move quickly around the pool, and a lot of the goals I score are counter goals because of my swimming.” Ferigo will return to school in 2019 for his fourth season in the premier team and has been a New Zealand age group representative. Jayden Ford (St Patrick’s College, Silverstream) - Jayden Ford’s golf clubs were sitting idle at Glasgow airport for two days - somehow lost in transit from London. Hardly ideal preparation for competing in the Junior Open Championship, an event featuring 142 players from 78 different countries. Ironically Ford shot a better round with borrowed clubs than he did with his own. “I shot one-under in round one and even par in round two,” Ford explained. “That was pretty funny I guess, but there was no way I was using other clubs for the whole tournament.” Entering the third and final round at Eden, St Andrew’s, Ford was eight shots from the lead. With the familiar feel of his own equipment he suddenly caught fire, shooting -4 in his last 12 holes to rapidly surge up the leaderboard and finish third - the best result from any Kiwi at the event. Ford was only two strokes shy of eventual winner, South African Martin Vorster at the biannual U16 event. The most notable winner of the Junior Open is American Patrick Reed who won the US Masters this year. Former world number ones Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth were also competitors. Ford is already a member of the Wellington senior representative team. Dylan McCullough (Saint Kentigern College) - Dylan McCullough claimed New Zealand’s first medal of the Youth Olympic Games, winning gold against a stacked triathlon field in Buenos Aires. The 18-year-old broke away to a 13-second lead in the run, after a tight-fought bike ride with Italy’s Alessio Crociani. McCullough managed to extend his advantage in the run finishing 26 seconds ahead of Alexandre Montez from Portugal. The individual triathlon featured 32 competitors, each from a different country. McCullough later teamed up with fellow Kiwi Brea Roderick (Mount Hutt College) to win a silver medal in a Mixed Relay event. McCullough’s gold adds to New Zealand’s strong history in triathlon at the Youth Olympic Games. Aaron Barclay won gold in Singapore in 2010, and Daniel Hoy placed second four years later at Nanjing. New Zealand athletes also combined with the Australian pair in the Mixed Relay Team Event to win silver in 2010 and bronze in 2014. Nico Porteous (Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu) - The New Zealand skier at 16 years and 91 days old became New Zealand's youngest ever Olympic medalist when he became the first male to claim a Winter Olympics medal winning a bronze medal in the halfpipe in PyeongChang in February. Porteous started with an 82.50 before stunning everyone - nobody more than himself - with an incredible 94.80 on his second run. Porteous was briefly in a gold medal position, but was overtaken by two Americans. In September Porteous reinforced his quality by winning the FIS Junior Freeski Halfpipe World Championships at his home mountain of Cardrona Alpine Resort. Again after a modest first run, Porteous came through with a winning run when it most counted. Porteous was named Snow Sport New Zealand Freeskier of the Year. Corbin Strong (Southland Boys’ High School) - The Southland Secondary Schools Sportsman of the Year became a world champion in August when he was part of the New Zealand cycling team in Skoda Fruzio, who claimed the 4000m team pursuit title at the UCI junior track cycling world championships. Remarkably in January, Strong fractured his T1 vertebra in a nasty collision with a car. Despite at least two months recovery, Strong quickly bounced back to win the Timaru leg of the Calder Stewart Cycling Series and has preserved his position as one of New Zealand’s leading age group riders. Story was recently 10th overall in the Tour of Southland. Former winners - Boys Other
2017: Lewis Clareburt (Scots College) - Swimming 2016: Campbell Stewart (Palmerston North BHS) - Cycling 2015: Tarquinn Alatipi (St Patrick’s College, Silverstream) - Rugby League/Troy Johnson- (Hutt International BS) - Cricket The Champion of Champion series is not intended to be a definitive list of the ‘best’ athletes in each code, rather it celebrates many of the leading athletes and teams in each that College Sport Media has followed this year. Preference has gone to those individuals/teams that CSM has interviewed and profiled in 2018. Got a story? Email editor@collegesportmedia.com
8/11/2018
Champion of Champions - Boys TeamsWhat if we had a Halberg award for the best College sports team during the year. Who would win? Normally in school sport it is relatively easy to find the top team within a code, but can you pick who has achieved more in 2018, when comparing codes? Here is a selection of Boys Teams winners in 2018 - vote for your favourite team in the poll at the bottom: Christ’s College Maadi Cup Rowing Eight - Christ’s won the Maadi Cup for the second time in three years despite only two 2017 crew members returning to school. Led by head prefect Max Goodwin in the sixth seat, Christ’s waited patiently, sitting behind North Island champions Hamilton Boys’ High School at the halfway mark before making their move and surging home. Christ’s had lost the South Island final to Christchurch Boys’ High School who were third at Maadi. The winning crew was: Alex Todhunter (stroke), Max Goodwin, Sam Darry, Jack Elvy, Zac Cran, Will Chaffey, Jamie Batchelor, Sean Swanson + Guy Flynn (cox). Christ’s won the Canterbury secondary school team of the year at the Zonta Awards. Mount Albert Grammar School Softball – The MAGS softballers won their sixth straight NZSS Division 1 title. MAGS met Hastings Boys’ High School in the final in Lower Hutt in a repeat of last year’s decider. After a rain-interrupted penultimate day, MAGS won the final 3-0. Other notable results were beating both Rongotai College and Marlborough BC 8-1. In four of their round-robin games, the mercy rule was invoked because MAGS was so far in front. Five players from MAGS made the tournament team, these being: Isaac Munro, Taine Slaughter, Ryan Earley, Brock Evans and Floyd Nola, who was also the tournament MVP. MAGS returned home from nationals to beat Auckland Grammar School 10-0 in the Auckland Championship final. Several players also finished the summer as Auckland U17 and U19 club champions with Ramblers. Rosmini College Premier Basketball - To suggest Rosmini was stacked in 2018 is an understatement. The team featured 10 New Zealand representatives, including guard Kruz Perrott-Hunt who was selected for the Tall Blacks. Unsurprisingly Rosmini claimed a trifecta of major trophies winning the Auckland Premiership, Zone I championship and National crown, despite narrowly dropping their first game in that tourney to Mount Albert Grammar School. Rosmini won 31 out of 33 games in 2018 and crushed St Pats Town 114-62 in the National final. Saint Kentigern College First XI Hockey - From India Shield winners to Rankin Cup champions, the rise of St Kent’s hockey is complete. Coached by New Zealand hockey legend Ramesh Patel, St Kent’s turned into the dominant First XI in the nation this season. In April at the St Paul's’ Collegiate ANZAC Invitational tournament featuring 14 of the country's leading schools, St Kent’s was unbeaten in five games outscoring opponents 17-2. In the Auckland Super City competition St Kent’s dethroned Westlake Boys’ High School as title holders and in the round-robin went through unbeaten, scoring 28 goals and only conceding once in seven games. At the Rankin Cup, St Kent’s won seven matches on the trot, twice defeating 2017 winners Christ’s College, including a 1-0 triumph in the final. Sacred Heart College First XI Football - For the first time in four years, Sacred Heart surrendered the Auckland Premiership to Saint Kentigern College, but bounced back in September to be crowned National Champions for the fourth time in eight seasons, reversing their runners-up finish in 2017. Sacred Heart was forced into penalties in the semi-final against St Pat's Town, but three saves from Year 11 goalkeeper Declan Viljoen earned Sacred a place in the final where they showed their big game temperament crushing Mount Albert Grammar School (MAGS) 3-0. The goals scored by Max Ongley, Joel Clissold and Riwai Stanton all came in the first-half. Sacred Heart was captained by Kingsley Sinclair who represented New Zealand at the Under-17 FIFA World Cup last year and was in the New Zealand Under-20 squad who won OFC U-19 Championship in Tahiti in August. Sacred Heart have matched MAGS effort of four wins in eight years. MAGS won four times between 2001 and 2008. St Peter’s College, Auckland First XV Rugby - St Peter’s finished the round robin of the 1A Auckland competition with an 8-3 record, sneaking into fourth position, but losing to the top two teams St Kentigern College and King’s College by more than 20 points. In the finals St Peter’s stunned those sides by a single point before pipping Westlake Boys’ High School 19-17 in the Blues Regional final to earn a place at the National Top Four. In the semi-final, St Peter’s remarkably eliminated Super 8 championships Hamilton Boys’ High School 8-7 before reversing a 21-0 deficit to topple Napier Boys’ High School 31-28 in the final. St Peter’s won 17 out of 20 games overall and were led in an inspiring fashion by Niko Jones. Tauranga Boys' College Kayaking - In March the 23-strong Tauranga Boys’ team won the top Schools Kayaking trophy for a record 19th time at the Nationals in Wanaka. Tauranga won the U14, U16 and U18 3-boat K1 events in a dominant display which eventually earned nine selections in the New Zealand Development Squad. The boys selected were: Sean Washer, Hugh Canham, Taylor Harris, Lachie Aitken, Dane O’Reilly, Jared Williams, Ben Pilbrow, Ryan Keading and Finn Anderson. Anderson would kick onto to win a silver medal in the C1 category at the Youth Olympics in Argentina in October. Oliver Puchner, who also attended the Youth Olympics, was selected alongside Damian Torwick and Charlie Bell for the World U23 championships in Italy. Westlake Boys’ High School Sailing Team - Year 9 and 11 students Blake McGlashan and Seb Menzies, teamed up to win the 420 Sailing World Championships in Newport, USA. Sailing against 73 crews, many of whom were adults, Menzies (13) and McGlashan (15) cleaned up the open division beating Spanish pair Elias Leonard Aretz Queck and Pablo Garcia Cranfield by 48 points. The Kiwis sailed consistently all week, winning five of their 12 races, including two in gold fleet, and only once finished outside the top six. Menzies and McGlashan have made rapid progress. They were 41st - and fifth of the New Zealand teams - at the 2017 world championships in Perth. Previous Winners:
2017: Hamilton Boys’ High School First XI Football 2016: Mount Albert Grammar School First XV Rugby The New Zealand Junior Surfing Team has finished twelfth at the VISSLA ISA World Junior Championship completed early this week in California, USA. The New Zealand Team performance was highlighted by top performers in the Under 18s Division and Under 16 Girls Division with Caleb Cutmore (Ham) finishing 13th overall in the Under 18 Boys Division. Gisborne’s Saffi Vette finished 16th overall in the Under 18 Girls Division and Brie Bennett (Rag) finished 19th in the Under 16 Girls Division. Cutmore advanced through seven rounds of the event eliminating teammate Conor Mclennan (Chch) in the process, McLennan finishing 17th overall. “I was stoked with how I ended up going throughout the comp” said Cutmore. “I was a bit gutted when I got the double interference in the third round but it turned out to be a positive as I started to gain momentum throughout the repechage rounds. With each round I progressed through, I felt less pressure as I had nothing to lose, I was surfing against some big names and I was the underdog. I was stoked with some of the waves I got and heats that I surfed but I feel as though I still have a lot more to give and I want to come back stronger next time” added Cutmore who is eligible for the event again in 2019. Cutmore’s last heat was a high scoring affair with the Hamilton surfer posting a 13.10 point heat total yet finishing third to surfers from Spain and Peru. “I started off my last heat with a 7 and then backed it up with a 6. I was still looking for a steeper wave where I could start to go more top to bottom. There weren’t many waves coming through and I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Two other surfers in the heat dropped 7’s and 8’s so I was left chasing a 7.8 and I couldn’t find it. I was still glad I put up a good fight though and I learnt heaps surfing against those top guys.” Mclennan had remained in the main round of the event up until Round 4 before suffering back to back defeats in the main round and repechage round. Shane Kraus (Piha) finished the event in 49th overall after exiting in the Repechage Round 3. Gisborne’s Saffi Vette placed 16th overall in the Under 18 Girls Division as the highest placed female Kiwi. Surfing in the division for the first time, Vette found herself taking in a lot of learnings as she pushed through some tight rounds to advance her cause. “I felt like my overall performance was good but I needed to get on the best waves and I didn’t really give myself the chance to show the judges my best surfing. But then again I learnt so much from being in high pressure situations and I have learnt a lot from my losses.” “Hopefully something will click soon and I can come back better next year” added the young surfer who returns to New Zealand via Australia where she is competing in the final WSL World Qualifying Series event of the year this week. Vette failed to fire a shot in her final heat of the event finishing in fourth with a 7.60 point heat total, despite that, only requiring a modest 5.57 point ride to advance. “Oh my last heat I had a total shocker! I was pretty disappointed with the way I surfed and was lucky to even make it through the heat before. So that was not the way I wanted to exit but I have seen all the mistakes I made wave selection and priority errors so hopefully I can put that into practice so I can make them my strengths in future” said Vette. Tiana – Breeze de Mooij (Mnt) and Kea Smith (Mnt) finished 31st and 49threspectively in the Under 18 Girls Division. Raglan’s Brie Bennett placed 19th overall in the Under 16 Girls Division and along with Ariana Shewry (Tara), advanced through multiple rounds during their successful campaigns. “I’m happy with my results as well as the event giving me more confidence for events back in New Zealand and a taste for the standard for overseas comps” said Bennett. “It was so fun surfing as a team and gaining knowledge amongst the best in the world, it was really cool and it made me feel good when I came in from a win or loss to still get great support and encouragement from the New Zealand Team.” Shewry finished the event in 22nd overall finishing fourth in her Repechage Round 5 heat. Both her and Bennett have the fortune of being eligible for the same division in 2019. Christchurch surfer Estella Hungerford finished the event in 43rd overall. Our surfers in the Under 16 Boys Division suffered a baptism of fire all being eliminated in the first round of the main event before bowing out early in the repechage rounds. Christchurch surfer Myka Black was the highest placed in 57th overall with Tom Robinson (Whangarei) and Kora Cooper (Rag) finishing in 65th overall. The Japanese Surfing Team went on to win the event, a first for Japan to go alongside their win at the World Surfing Games earlier in the year. Japan beat USA, Australia and Hawaii who rounded out the top four. The championship is the largest junior surfing event in the world playing host to over 350 surfers from 44 nations. 2018 marks the first year that all divisions are gender equal at the event with three surfers in each of the four divisions contested. Results from the 2018 VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship held at Huntington Beach, California, USA from the 27th October – 4th November are as follows: Team Rankings 1 Japan 7503 2 USA 7371 3 Australia 5814 4 Hawaii 5798 5 France 4898 6 Spain 4471 7 Brazil 4380 8 South Africa 4310 9 Germany 4186 10 Portugal 4108 11 Peru 3923 12 New Zealand 3628 Under 18 Boys Division Caleb Cutmore (Hamilton) – 13th Conor McLennan (Christchurch) – 17th Shane Kraus (Piha) – 49th Under 18 Girls Division Saffi Vette (Gisborne) – 16th Tiana – Breeze de Mooij (Mount Maunganui) – 31st Kea Smith (Mount Maunganui) – 49th Under 16 Boys Division Myka Black (Christchurch) – 57th Kora Cooper (Raglan) – 65th Tom Robinson (Whangarei) – 65th Under 16 Girls Division Brie Bennett (Raglan) – 19th Ariana Shewry (Oakura) – 22nd Estella Hungerford (Christchurch) – 43rd The key to success in Canoe Slalom is being able to weave through a series of gates in rushing water as swiftly as possible. A sport of literally negotiating obstacles, Finn Anderson from Tauranga Boys’ College not only fights vigorously on the water, but out of his boat to. This year alone Anderson’s travels have cost him more than $7,000. “I do a lot of fundraising like quiz nights and sausage sizzles to get to events. At the Youth Olympics the rules prevent you from showing a sponsor so I didn’t have one,” Anderson reveals. Despite a lack of support Anderson went to Barcelona where he qualified for the Youth Olympics in Argentina where he won a silver medal in the C1 category earlier this month. “I was pretty surprised to do as well as I did. The course was different to what I was used to. In New Zealand it’s uncommon to have the gates marked with buoys. The water flow was also different,” Anderson explained. There were four races at the Olympics with the field shrinking the further the competition advanced. Anderson remained a contender by getting through his qualification heat and quarter-final. In the semi-final he achieved his quickest time over the 420-metre course finishing in 1:20:570 before achieving a time of 1:23:260 in the final. The gold medal was won by Terence Benjamin Saramandif from Mauritius. “Terence trains with a coach in France. He was pretty consistent. I would like to think I could beat him, but he was the better paddler,” Anderson concedes. Anderson comes from a family of paddlers with his father coaching at Te Puke High School. Training on the Tauranga River, Anderson also travels as often as twice a week to Rotorua practice. Anderson believes his competitive breakthrough was at Tauranga Boys’ College where he made the New Zealand Development Squad and where Kayaking is a seriously successful code. In March, Tauranga Boys’ College won the top Schools Kayaking trophy for a record 19th time at the Nationals in Wanaka. Tauranga won the U14, U16 and U18 3-boat K1 events in a dominant display which eventually earned nine selections in the New Zealand Development Squad. The boys selected were: Sean Washer, Hugh Canham, Taylor Harris, Lachie Aitken, Dane O’Reilly, Jared Williams, Ben Pilbrow, Ryan Keading and Anderson. Oliver Puchner also attended the Youth Olympics while Damian Torwick and Charlie Bell competed at the World U23 championships in Italy. The next goal for Anderson is to earn selection for the New Zealand team who will tour Poland for the World Championships. Anderson’s other interests include Maths, Science, hockey and other water sports like swimming and waterpolo. Canterbury Claim First Scholastic Surfing Championships in Gisborne
The Canterbury Junior Surfing Team has claimed their first ever team title at the National Scholastic Surfing Championships. In a three way battle with defending champions Bay of Plenty and the impressive Auckland Team, the lead switched several times throughout the day as surfers were slowly eliminated from the event and the champions were crowned. Canterbury eventually took a solid lead that they never let go. Final placings: 1, Canterbury, 8008 2, Auckland, 7590 3, Bay of Plenty, 7565 4, Gisborne, 7013 5, Northland, 6638 6, Waikato, 6535 7, Coromandel, 5695 8, Tasman, 5103 9, Wellington, 4875 10, Taranaki, 4330 11, Hawkes Bay, 390 Canterbury went into the finals with six surfers challenging for titles and came out with one title from Casper McCormick who won the Under 18 Longboard Division. The team title has been a long time coming with the event celebrating 30 years this week. Canterbury is the first South Island team to win the event. The final day started off with perfect waves in the 1.0m range and offshore winds at Makorori Beach, Gisborne. Unfortunately the onshore winds did arrive in the afternoon, part way through the finals and they deteriorated the conditions somewhat for the last heats of the event. Caleb Cutmore won the Under 18 Boys Division which added to his win in the Under 16 Boys in 2017. His gold medal almost wasn’t to be with a tough run to the finals. “I was stoked to actually just make the final, I had a couple of close heats prior to that but in the final I found a few waves luckily as it was a bit messy” said Cutmore who is a little over a week away from heading to his second World Junior Championship. “I am looking forward to the worlds, it is a similar event in format so I want to build momentum from this week and head over there with some confidence” he added. Cutmore was joined in the final by Conor McLennan (Chch) who surfed his way from fourth to second on his last wave of the final. Coromandel surfers Jay Piper Healion (Whitianga) and Thomas Carter (Waihi Beach) finished in third and fourth respectively. Auckland surfer Aimee Brown claimed the gold medal in the Under 18 Girls Division continuing on her good form from earlier in the year. Brown claimed the upset win over Elin Tawharu (Mnt) with an 11.47 point heat total in the final. “I am pretty stoked, I have been surfing heaps and I am happy with another win, it was a bit of a grind out there, after pumping waves all week, the surf turned for the worse in the finals” said Brown who helped her team to the runner up finish. “The team is stoked. We didn’t actually expect to get second so it is good to finish my time at the Scholastics with a runner up finish for the Auckland Team” she added. Tawharu finished the event in second place with Tegen Bishop (Chch) in third and Eve Findlay (WC) in fourth. Titles in the Under 16 Boys and Girls Divisions went to Waikato surfers Kora Cooper and Brie Bennett who joined Caleb Cutmore atop the podium as the most winningest region at the event this year. Cooper added to his Under 14 Boys Division title in 2017. Cooper started the final with an eight point ride and then midway through the heat added a seven point ride for a comprehensive lead. “I tried to stick to the lefts because my home break is Raglan and I surf my best on my backhand so I tried to get two good ones and then paddle over to the guys on the other peak” said Cooper. He never let the lead go holding off Tom Robinson who was Northland’s highest placed surfer in second place. Both surfers head to the World Junior Championships this month as well so their performances are vital for their preparation. “It is good to get a win here in New Zealand and get some confidence up before we head overseas to the worlds at the end of the month” said Cooper. Bay of Plenty surfer Jacob Saunders finished the final in third place in his first ever final and Tom Butland (Tara) rounded out the finalists in fourth place after opting to surf his own peak up the beach. Brie Bennett posted a 10.10 point heat total to win the Under 16 Girls Division. The turning point in the final came on a nice right-hander for Bennett where she completed two big backhand turns for a six point ride. “I got one good right-hander. I only got two waves in the final but that was enough for the win I guess”. Bennett defeated Georgia Wederell (Mnt) who finished in second ahead of Estella Hungerford (Chch) in third and Summer Carkeek (Auck) in fourth. Finn Vette (Gis) and Natasha Gouldsbury claimed the Under 14 Division titles with convincing wins. Vette posted a 14.2 point heat total in his high scoring final to fend off Christchurch surfer Jai Oakley in second, Jayden Willoughby (Rag) in third and Koby Cameron (Chch) in fourth. Gouldsbury finished with a 9.1 point heat total to comfortably take home the gold medal over Auckland teammates Alice Westerkamp and Liv Haysom in second and third with Anna Brock (Mnt) in fourth. Casper McCormick defended his title in the Under 18 Longboard Division with his stylish approach netting him a 13.2 point total well clear of his opponents Joel McMullen (Auck), Ben Counsell (Auck) and Billy Whelan (Northland) who finished second through fourth respectively. Natasha Gouldsbury and Myka Black (Chch) claimed the Adam Clegg Breakthrough Performance Awards for their outstanding surfing all week. Black was in impressive form throughout the event until he came unstuck in the semifinals finishing fifth overall. Natasha Gouldsbury carried her form through to the final to claim her first scholastic title. The Adam Clegg trophies were donated by the Clegg family in honour of their son who had previously competed at the event but tragically passed away in 2014. Under 18 Boys Division Quarterfinals Heat 1 Caleb Cutmore (Ham), 11.93, 1, Jay Piper - Healion (Whiti), 11.86, 2, William Van der Beek (Mnt), 11.4, 3, Riley Gibson (Chch), 8.03, 4 Heat 2 Luke Griffin (Mnt), 12.07, 1, Thomas Carter (Waihi Bch), 10.07, 2, Ayrton Yarrell (Waihi Bch), 7.24, 3, Te Haukopa Ehau - Taumaunu (Gis), 7.14, 4 Heat 3 Conor McLennan (Chch), 11.44, 1, Max Brunker (Whngrei), 9.28, 2, Alex O'Dwyer (Whaka), 5.9, 3, Raul Ventura (Nel), 4.1, 4 Under 18 Boys Division Semifinals Heat 1 Caleb Cutmore (Ham), 14.06, 1, Thomas Carter (Waihi Bch), 9.83, 2, Max Brunker (Whngrei), 9.66, 3 Heat 2 Jay Piper - Healion (Whiti), 15.67, 1, Conor McLennan (Chch), 11.3, 2, Luke Griffin (Mnt), 10.43, 3 Under 18 Boys Division Final Caleb Cutmore (Ham), 13.07, 1, Conor McLennan (Chch), 10.80, 2, Jay Piper - Healion (Whiti), 10.13, 3, Thomas Carter (Waihi Bch), 9.9, 4 Under 16 Boys Division Semifinals Heat 1 Tom Butland (Tara), 13.83, 1, Kora Cooper (Rag), 13.74, 2, Jack Lee (Whaka), 12.27, 3, Manawa Ruru (Gis), 8.3, 4 Heat 2 Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 14.8, 1, Jacob Saunders (TGA), 12.06, 2, Myka Black (Chch), 10.23, 3, Finn Johnson (Gis), 9.27, 4 Under 16 Boys Final, Kora Cooper (Rag), 15.4, 1, Tom Robinson (Whngrei), 11.47, 2, Jacob Saunders (TGA), 9.2, 3, Tom Butland (Tara), 9.14, 4 Under 14 Boys Division Semifinals Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 15.87, 1, Finn Vette (Gis), 12, 2, Reuben Lyons (Kaik), 10, 3, Te Kauwhata Kauwhata (Sandy Bay), 9.47, 4 Heat 2 Jai Oakley (Chch), 10.44, 1, Koby Cameron (Chch), 8.14, 2, Tiger West-Hill (Gis), 7.3, 3, Navryn Malone (Rag), 6.26, 4 Under 14 Boys Division Final Finn Vette (Gis), 14.2, 1, Jai Oakley (Chch), 12.5, 2, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 11.6, 3, Koby Cameron (Chch), 9.2, 4 Under 18 Girls Division Final Aimee Brown (Auck), 11.47, 1, Elin Tawharu (Mnt), 9.93, 2, Tegen Bishop (Chch), 8.26, 3, Eve Findlay (WC), 4.13, 4 Under 16 Girls Division Final Brie Bennett (Rag), 10.1, 1, Georgia Wederell (Mnt), 6.64, 2, Estella Hungerford (Chch), 6.03, 3, Summer Carkeek (Auck), 2.67, 4 Under 14 Girls Division Final Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 9.1, 1, Alice Westerkamp (Auck), 7.77, 2, Liv Haysom (Piha), 5.7, 3, Anna Brock (Mnt), 3.4, 4 Under 18 Longboard Division Semifinals Heat 1 Caspar McCormick (Chch), 14.77, 1, Billy Whelan (Nrthlnd), 6.84, 2, Karson Burns (Wgtn), 4.27, 3 Heat 2 Ben Counsell (Auck), 12.83, 1, Joel McMullen (Auck), 9.1, 2, Sonny Eades (BOP), 7.14, 3 Under 18 Longboard Final Caspar McCormick (Chch), 13.2, 1, Joel McMullen (Auck), 8.74, 2, Ben Counsell (Auck), 6.83, 3, Billy Whelan (Nrthlnd), 6.2, 4 Hui-Ling Vong was one of the first athletes to be selected in the 61-strong New Zealand team for the upcoming 2018 Youth Olympic Games, when she won the International Table Tennis Federation Oceania qualifying tournament in Australia last November. The year 12 Onslow College student will represent New Zealand in table tennis at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Buenos Aires from 6-18 October, alongside boys player Nathan Xu from Saint Kentigern College in Auckland. Hui-Ling has also recently been selected to represent the New Zealand Junior Women’s Table Tennis Team at the Junior World Championships to be held in Bendigo, Australia from 2-9 December, so a busy and exciting time for her is just around the corner. “Right now I am just focusing on the Youth Olympics, they are coming up pretty quick,” she says. “I fly up to Auckland next week for more training and then meet up with the team and we all fly to Argentina next Saturday.” Schoolwork and most recently, exams, aside, Hui-Ling has been training in Wellington most days. “I have been training about 10 hours a week, but am starting to bump this up now. There is on-table training where I play with a partner and just go through exercises and then there is the off-table practice with specific training and fitness.” Fitness is a key component of being a top table tennis player, with rallies and games often taxing affairs, particularly for Hui-Ling, who has an attacking style of play. In winning the Oceania YOG qualifiers she beat New Zealand teammate Jiayi Zhou in a seven game epic, Hui-Ling’s power game prevailing over the defensive skills of Jiayi. But mental skills are also a big part of competitive table tennis. “Much of it is thinking about the different tactics of opponents and combatting different styles such as choppers and defensive players and keeping the pressure on them and keeping cool while you play.” Hui-Ling is expecting tough competition in Buenos Aires. “I know some of the players that will be there, having followed them in past international competitions and on the ITTF website and places like that. I have seen them play and they are pretty amazing.” Table Tennis New Zealand Executive Director John Lea stated that the YOG will be hugely beneficial to Hui-Ling and Nathan. “Hui-Ling has shown a great ability to learn and grow from the experiences she has been presented with. She prepares diligently for the big occasions, with results that demonstrate a rapidly improving ability.” “This is the opportunity for both players to prove to themselves and their supporters that they deserve to be playing on the international stage while they gain the quality table time that is needed to become a world-class player.” The duo will compete in the individual events and will also compete as a doubles pair in the International Team Event. Hui-ling is no stranger to travelling and playing overseas, having represented New Zealand in numerous international events over the last two years, one of the most noticeable was representing New Zealand women's team in the 2016 ITTF World Team Championships. She has also represented Oceania in the 2016 World Cadet Challenge, finishing 16th in the girls singles. “Earlier this year we had an Oceania Junior and Cadet Championship in Rarotonga and I managed to come first in the Junior Girls. Then we had a team tournament after that and I was in a team with a Japanese player and we managed to come third.” Hui-ling started playing table tennis several years ago. “I saw my brother playing and thought the sport was really cool. But I wasn’t competitive back then. I started to get better and I got the opportunity to represent New Zealand at the 2013 World Hopes Challenge when I was 12 and I got to see others playing and from then I wanted to compete on the same level with them. “That was when I fell in love with table tennis and I just wanted to improve and keep playing and it has led me to this point.” Hui-Ling thanked the people who have helped her, not least her parents and coach Li Chun Li and everyone who have helped her practise. “I would also like to thank everyone who has made a donation towards my funding for the competitions I am going to.” She is also looking forward to watching other sports at the YOG when she gets a break from her own competition. “I am looking forward to seeing how the other sports operate and how the athletes prepare and compete and hopefully I can learn from that.” Other wellington sportspeople going to the YOG are 3x3 basketballer Joseph Ahie (also from Onslow College), sevens rugby player Dhys Faleafaga (St Mary’s College) and climber Sarah Tetzlaff (Wellington Girls’ College, 2017).
18/9/2018
NZSS title for fencer Sophia TweddleSophia Tweddle has returned to school from Winter Tournament Week a national champion, having won the Women’s Epee title at the New Zealand Secondary School Fencing Championships in Christchurch.
Sophia has been involved in fencing since primary school but this is her first schools title. “I have been going to the NZSS nationals every year since I started secondary school but this is my first big win,” said Sophia who is year 12 at Wellington East Girls’ College. “While I’ve been getting podium places at national competitions for two-three years now, the NZSS Women’s Epee title is my first national title in any age group.” Sophia is currently ranked first in New Zealand for U17 Women’s Epee, first in NZSS Women’s Epee, third in New Zealand Junior (U20) Women’s Epee and fifth at NZ Women’s Open Epee. Fresh from winning the NZSS title, Sophia is not resting on her sword. “I have got competitions coming up over the next few weeks. This coming weekend I’ll be fencing in an Australian Open competition - AFC 4 - in Sydney, followed by New Zealand Juniors the following weekend and then New Zealand Nationals over Labour weekend in October. So when you add in training camps it’s a long season! And quite a bit of time away from school - which has only been possible because my Dean and teachers at WEGC have been so supportive.” In a field of 11 fencers in the epee competition at the recent NZSS tournament, the first round was a round-robin series (a poule round) where everyone fought each other in bouts that lasted up to three minutes and went up to 5 points. Sophia won eight and lost two. “After the poule round you go into direct elimination and I was seeded third for this. I had the bye in the first round so it was straight to quarter-finals, semi-finals and then the final, and these bouts were up to 15 points.” In these three knockout rounds Sophia beat Zoe Holden (Mount Albert Grammar School) 15-11, second seed Sally Zhang (Kristin School) 15-8 and then top seed Amey Smith (Mount Albert Grammar School) 15-7 in the final. “I had actually already lost to both Sally and Amey in the poule round, so I was nervous going into these. We have up to three three-minute rounds to get to the winning 15 points, but in these I won in two rounds. Before these I struggled with the first bout against Zoe, it got really close but I managed to win at the end.” There were three main individual disciplines at the NZSS nationals, foil and epee and sabre. The foil and sabre are lighter weapons and you can only hit the torso area. The epee is a bit heavier and you can hit all over including the legs and arms. In foil and sabre you have the right of attack but in epee that doesn’t matter. The objective in fencing is to score points with hits. All hits in foil and epee must be with the tip of the blade, but in sabre points scoring with the side of the blade is also valid. “I actually turned to epee from foil more seriously this year. I was training with epee and I did really well in a couple of competitions I entered and I have stuck with it since.” The Men’s Foil at the NZSS nationals was won by Koki Endo of Hutt Valley High School, while Sining Ye from Auckland Girls’ Grammar School won the Women’s Foil, James Butler from Mount Albert Grammar School won the Men’s Epee and Nelson Lee from Macleans College won the Mixed Sabre. There were also teams events, four of which were won by Auckland schools. Sophia is not alone participating in her sport at her school. There is now a small fencing club at WEGC, helped set up by her coach Daniel Chan. There are plenty of opportunities for domestic and international travel in fencing, which is also a long-time Olympic Sport. “In a typical year I will fence in around 15-16 regional, national and international competitions. This year, for example, in addition to regional and national age group and open competitions, I’ve fenced at the Oceania and Australian Juniors in Melbourne, the AFC 1 and Australian U23 Epee in Brisbane, the Asian Zone Cadet and Juniors in Dubai the Australian Cadets in Sydney and the Commonwealth Cadet & Junior Fencing Champs in Newcastle, England in July.” Fast five questions With Sophia: How and when did you start fencing? “My dad did it and my brother was doing it so I went along and joined in. I started in year 6 and took it up seriously when I started college. I was doing other sports, and I was a competitive swimmer up to that point.” How much time does training and practice take up? “There are two strength and conditioning programmes a week. Then there’s training sessions that involve hand coordination and footwork and then fencing. How much of fencing is mental? Much of it is in the mind, it is like physical chess, so lots of concentrating. What is the equipment you wear? For my specific discipline, epee, it requires full length protection as you can attack anywhere on the body. The basic gear everyone will have is breeches [pants], shoes, knee-high socks, a chest protector, arm protector a jacket over that, gloves a mask, the wire and then the epee, which is the actual weapon. Do you get injuries? The gear does protect you, but we often get a few bruises on our legs and arms, you get used to it! We have got a wire and when you hit the target a light will come up so you don’t need to be too hard on attack. New Zealand skier Nico Porteous has won the FIS Junior Freeski Halfpipe World Championships 2018 title at his home mountain of Cardrona Alpine Resort. The 16-year-old, who claimed an Olympic bronze medal in PyeongChang earlier this year, went in to today’s Audi quattro Winter Games NZ competition as the top qualifier. However, a deep landing on his switch 1080 on his first run of three initially had him sitting in second place behind Norway’s Birk Ruud. Porteous came through with a 93.80 on his second attempt, cleaning everything up and executing a technical run with a left double 1260 and an alley-oop flat spin 540 on his last hit for the lead. “This means a lot,” said Porteous. “It’s my first Junior World Champs and to come away with the win is really cool. “It’s all about going forward from now on.” Another local skier, Ben Harrington made a strong challenge for the podium, holding on to third place until the third last run of the day, when USA’s Dylan Ladd came through with big back to back 900s at the top of the pipe and finished with a super technical double flat 900 down the pipe for a score of 92.80, pushing Harrington in to fourth place and Ruud in to third. Top qualifier in the women’s freeski halfpipe, Kelly Sildaru faced a strong challenge by Russia’s Valeriya Demidova who showed excellent trick variety and execution with back to back left and right flairs with good amplitude and grabs. However, no one looked more at home in the pipe nor matched the amplitude, grabs and trick execution of Sildaru and she led the field on all three of her runs, finishing her day as the Junior World Halfpipe Champion. “I’m really happy with my run,” said Sildaru. “Today I did my first nines since my injury (a year ago) so I’m pretty stoked.” China’s Kexin Zhang claimed the bronze medal. American rider Toby Miller, competing at his fourth FIS Junior World Champs Halfpipe and with two silver medals (2017, 2015) already in the trophy cabinet, landed the gold medal in men’s snowboard. Miller landed his winning score of 93.20 on his first run of three, opening with a frontside double 1080 stalefish to cab double 1080 melon grab, and closing out with a frontside 1080 tailgrab. “I couldn’t be happier,” said Miller. “The level of riding out here today was absolutely-phenomenal, all the riders are so talented. This is my fourth Junior Worlds and every year the level just gets higher and higher, I’m honoured to be in such an elite group of riders.” Japan’s Ruka Hirano jumped into the silver medal spot on his third run, also incorporating three 1080s in his run and scoring 89.60, not quite matching Miller’s amplitude or clean trick execution. Team mate Kaishu Hirano finished in the bronze medal position. Mitsuki Ono (JPN) claimed the junior women’s Snowboard Halfpipe title, landing three solid runs, all of which scored above her competitors’ but sealing the deal with a score of 85.80 on run three and confirming that she was “very happy” with her performance Tessa Maud (USA) finished second and Elizabeth Hosking (CAN) third. Competition continues at Cardrona Alpine Resort tomorrow (Wednesday) with the FIS Freeski Big Air World Cup qualifiers and Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom. Matthew Lucente hasn’t lost a secondary schools squash match since he was in year 9. The Westlake Boys’ High School student is the top ranked Under-19 player in the country and recently guided his college to a fourth consecutive National Secondary Schools Championship. Westlake Boys’ is the most successful squash school in New Zealand having captured the national title 12 times since its inception in 1985. Westlake beat hosts Palmerston North Boys’ High School 4-1 in the semi-final and Auckland Grammar School 3-0 in the decider, electing not to play the final two rubbers. Lucente explained the success of the team. “We’ve all played and trained together for a little while now. In addition to playing for our school, we play club together and Gabe Yam and I have played for our country.” In fact Lucente and Yam (ranked second U19 player in NZ) only returned from Chennai, India two days prior to nationals. They were members of the New Zealand team at the Junior World Championships. New Zealand finished 10th in the teams event (matching their pre-tournament seeding) while Lucente cracked the Top 32 in the singles. “We got beaten by the USA in the Round of 16 which was a match we expected to win, but they got third in the end so all credit to them. I lost to an Egyptian in the singles. The Egyptian players are next level. The top four players were all from Egypt and played with a speed and skill that’s next level,” Lucente acclaimed. Westlake hardly raised a sweat in breezing through pool play at Nationals, but Auckland Grammar in the final was more difficult assignment than the final scoreline suggested. “Grammar is a pretty solid team. They’ve got a lot of depth and have challenged us all season,” Lucente asserted. Tauranga Boys’ College finished third. The most challenging and personally memorable National title for Lucente was in 2015. That year, Westlake broke Tauranga Boys’ three-year stranglehold on National honours in a gripping finale. In a best of five rubbers, Lucente (then a Year 10) upset an older opponent in straight sets to win the tie 3-2. It was Westlake’s first national title in 15 years. In September, Lucente will seek greater challenges when he heads to the US for further squad and high school education. Jamie Oakley from Tauranga Boys’ College who played in that 2015 National final is presently stateside. Jamie is the son of legendary squash player, Dame Susan Devoy. Napier Girls’ High School (pictured right) won the Senior Girls competition, with Palmerston North Girls’ High School second and Hamilton Girls’ High School third. Wairarapa College won the co-ed title. Trans-Tasman tournament team Five-player senior boys and girls and senior boys and girls teams were named to play in the upcoming Trans-Tasman series with Australia. Senior Boys Temwa Chilese (St Pauls Collegiate) Willz Donnelly (Gisborne Boys High School) – captain Glenn Templeton ( Katikati College) Kobe Fleming (Hutt International Boys College) Riley Vette-Blomquist (Whangarei Boys High School) Non Travelling Reserve - Campbell Webster (Hutt International Boys College) Senior Girls Winona-Jo Joyce (Hastings Girls High School)) Annaleise Faint (Palmerston North Girls High School) - captain Amelia Wadsworth (Marlborough Girls College) Jess Dean (Napier Girls High School) Leonie Marshall (Marlborough Girls College) Non Travelling Reserve – Anna Moselyn (Kamo College) Junior Boys Mason Smales (Auckland Grammar School) Joe Smythe (Tauranga Boys College) Apa Fatialofa (Auckland Grammar School) Ben McCurran (Tauranga Boys College) Braedyn Henderson (Matamata College) Non Travelling Reserve – Tom Marshall (Marlborough Boys College) Junior Girls Jena Gregory (Havelock North High School) Diana Galloway (Hutt Valley High School) Katie Templeton (Katikati College) Shea Ferguson (Whangarei Girls High School) Anne Leakey (Orewa College) Non-Travelling Reserve – Caitlin Millard (Christchurch Girls High School |
CategoriesArchives
March 2022
|
OrganisationCollege Sport Media is dedicated to telling the story of successful young sportspeople in New Zealand
|