Sports News Term 4, Week 0

AIMS Games - Tauranga

SMC had three girls, Lyla O'Sullivan, Alexis Robertson, and Gemma Scott, participate in this year's AIMS games in Tauranga. What an amazing event to be a part of.  

Congratulations to Gemma Scott, who made the finals in 7 out of her 8 races (top 10 and a ribbon) with huge personal best times in all 8 races; results below:

4th - 100m Free, 100m butterfly

6th - 50m butterfly, 200m IM, 50m Free

8th - 200m Free

10th - 100m IM

Cycling

The Cycling Southern Tour was held over the weekend of August 31st/September 1st. With two National Titles up for grabs in the Time Trial and Criterium on Saturday, the SMC girls did very well!

MacKenzie Crampton was competing in the U14 races, finishing 3rd in both (7 competitors)

Emma Crawford was competing in the U15 races, finishing 1st in both (7 competitors)

Fiona Oliver was competing in the U16 races, finishing 4th in the TT and 3rd in Criterium (5 competitors)

Overall results from the Tour:

Emma, 1st in the sprint, 1st in KOM and yellow jersey (1st overall). 

Mackenzie, 3rd in the sprint, 3rd in KOM and 4th overall.

Fiona - 3rd in sprint and did not race Sunday so no GC placing.

The girls all rode really well and represented St Maragarts with pride and passion.

CPS Duathlon

The Canterbury Primary School Duathlon was held this week for Year 5-8 students at RuaPuna Raceway. The event consisted of a 2km run, 6-9km bike and a 1km run to finish.

St Margaret's College was well represented and achieved some great results. 

There were a record number of entries this year, and we had three students finish in the top 10!!

Year 6 Girls - 

Amelia O'Connell -6th

Charlotte Robertson - 10th

Year 7 Girls - Alexis Robertson

Winter Tournament Week

It’s always a busy week for our girls during Winter Tournament week! 

We have had teams competing in Porirua for Badminton, Dunedin and Hamilton for Hockey, McLeans Island for Equestrian, Nga Puna Wai for Netball and Westport for Rugby. 

Sending all these players to these events requires a lot of work, and we want to thank all the coaches, parent helpers, and managers for their time and effort. The girls have all represented St Margaret’s and themselves with pride, and they should be very proud of their achievements.

Badminton

Our Badminton girls had some tough competition against the players from the North Island, but they all improved over the week and finished 11th in Division 2.

SISS Equestrian Championships 

Last week a squad of 14 riders headed out to the National Equestrian Centre to take part in the SISS Equestrian Championships.  This event is run over four days and riders compete in endurance riding, arena eventing, showjumping, show hunter and dressage.  There really is something for everyone!

Our riders showed great team spirit and support for each other and many pushed themselves out of their comfort zones to try something new.  Our parents got into the spirit of things, too, and were sporting special SMC cowboy hats, fashioned by Sammy Donovan.  

Our top individual performances came from Briar Sharp riding She’s a Cracker, who won the Kay Hogan Cup for the Best Show Hunter Pony.  Also, Maisie Graham, riding Galaxy Angel Wings, placed 2nd overall in the pony 60-70cms and Jasmine Ginnever, riding Mojito, placed 4th overall in the horse 90-1m jumping.  

There was lots of learning, and special thanks go to coach Emily Cammock, who supported the riders throughout the competition. Thanks also to all our parents for helping the event run smoothly by performing duties, without which an equestrian event cannot run.

Everyone came away with huge smiles - tired riders and ponies and lots of goals set for the competition next year!

Photograph Credit: Bella Maitland Photography and Anna Gibb

Hockey

Our 1st X1 Hockey Team at the Federation Cup in Hamilton finished top of their pool and then went on to play St Cuthberts College in the quarter-finals. The girls fought hard, with a 2-all draw at full time; however, they lost in a penalty shootout.  They then beat Taradale High School 3-2, meaning they finished 7th place out of 32 teams. Well done!

Our 2nd X1 Hockey Team at the Chris Arthur Cup in Dunedin finished top of their pool and then went on to play Christchurch Girls High School in the semi-final. They came away from this game with a 3 - 1 win, which put them into the finals against St Cuthberts College, where they came away with a 1 - 0 win. Great result, team; well done.

Netball

The SMC A team had a successful South Island tournament in Christchurch. They came through pool play in top position before competing in the next round of do-or-die games. With some brilliant teamwork, the girls had a convincing semi-final win against Christchurch Girls High before taking on Columba College in a repeat of the 2023 final.

The tides were turned this year, and SMC took out the South Island title.

Siahn Nilsen, Charlotte Coughlan and Evie Leeson were all named to the tournament team.

This team is currently competing at the New Zealand Secondary Schools tournament in Christchurch and has progressed to the top 8. Games will follow on Wednesday night and Thursday before the final game on Friday to end an amazing year.

Rugby

2024 has been a year of growth within the rugby world at SMC. We had the privilege of taking our rugby 10's team to Westport for the Buller Rugby Union Secondary School Girls 10’s Tournament. The group of students showcased their talent and determination, representing the school with pride and further developing their skills as they faced teams across the South Island. The girls triumphed in five out of seven intense games, with two narrow losses that taught valuable lessons. The future of rugby at SMC looks bright, and we are looking forward to seeing where the journey takes them next. 

Netball qualifications

Here's a further update on our umpires, who have passed their CNC Centre Awards. This is a great achievement, girls—well done!

Centre Theory and Centre badge - Jasmine Ginnever and Maddie Coughlan

Centre Theory and Level 1 - Hannah Millar

Kate Ballantyne earned her Zone award at the South Island Secondary Schools tournament and was selected to umpire the C Grade final.