Sports News Term 1, Week 5

Welcome back to what promises to be another great year of sport at SMC.  It has been a busy start to the year, with teams already successfully competing in the NZSS Beach Nationals and in the Canterbury Senior Tennis Championships and South Island Secondary School Tennis Championships, Triathlons, Athletics Day and Junior Swimming Sports. 

We now have all of our summer sports teams underway, and Wednesday sport is in full swing.  With over 50 teams entered into School Sport Canterbury and other Canterbury competitions, along with a number of sports that run lessons, it has been a bust start to the year for the students, coaches, teachers, selectors and parents running them around. 

Athletics

December 2024, the NZSS Athletics Champs were held in Timaru, and we had two top runners competing in the 800m.  Elsie Seeto and Samantha Lascelles (2024 OC) made SMC proud as they made their way through the heats and into the finals. Samantha placed 4th, and Elsie placed 6th in what proved to be a very fast final, with the NZSS record being broken in that race.  Well done, girls.

School Athletics Day

On Tuesday, 18th February, we challenged the odds of a terrible weather forecast and held our Year 7-13 Athletics Sports at Nga Puna Wai.  Luck was on our side, and after a grey, wet start to the day, it was sunscreen, hats, and shade for the afternoon. It turned out to be a blistering hot day that provided some amazing competition to watch.  The school stood still over lunchtime as the Under 14 girls put on a thrilling display in the High Jump. There was a mix of competitive and non-competitive activities on the day, and of course, the house battles in tug of war and egg and spoon.  The day concluded with running, starting with the 3000m race where Sascha Mitchell (Y9) wowed the crowd with her graceful running, which saw her finish first overall.  This was followed up by the age group relays and full house relays to finish. It was a fantastic day all around, with some outstanding results.  For those girls in Years 9-13 who have qualified, they can progress to the Canterbury Athletics, being held mid-March in Christchurch.  For the year 7-8 girls, their zones are in December.

You can see all of the Athletics Day photos here.

password SMC 2025

Basketball

Congratulations to Lucie and Taylah Davis for being selected into the Mainland Eagles Squad. Lucie was selected for the December Camp, and both Lucie and Taylah were selected for the recent Waitangi weekend camp.  Mainland Eagles is the pinnacle squad for high school students to be selected into, with the top players from around the South Island attending.  Lucie has also gained further success and was offered a position to trial for the New Zealand U17 Basketball team, with trials held on Saturday, 15 February. Best of luc,k Lucie!

There are a number of girls also trialling for Canterbury and North Canterbury representative teams over the coming weekends; good luck to them all.

Cricket

During the Christmas Holidays, Ciara Hartland (Y12) and Lexie Boon (Y11), along with Amanda Hardy as the team Assistant Coach, had the privilege of being selected in the Canterbury Under 17 cricket team to travel to Palmerston North for the Kookaburra National Under 17 Girls Cricket Tournament. This was the first time that Canterbury had sent a team to the tournament, so it was a step into the unknown for the team and their supporters.

With a resounding win over Otago on the first day, the team had a couple of hard-fought losses to the tournament finalists Auckland and Wellington on Day 2, with Ciara and Lexie performing their roles well with bat and ball, respectively. They entered Day 3 against Northern Districts and Central Districts needing to win both to give themselves a chance of making the Final. Northern Districts first up, and Canterbury won an absolute thriller by just two runs, with the Canterbury team looking dead and buried on more than one occasion before Ciara stepped up to crush Northern Districts' hopes with an excellent bowling performance under pressure. On a high heading into the Central Districts game, Ciara again found herself bowling late with the pressure on and held her nerve to deliver a win for Canterbury by the smallest possible margin of just one run!

Well done to Ciara and Lexie, who both found themselves to be key members of the team, with Ciara providing solidity with the bat and some key performances with the ball and Lexie having her best bowling performance against Tournament Champions Wellington and looking unflappable with the bat and in the field. The team finished a credible 4th overall.

Congratulations Girls!

Football

Congratulations to Trelise McEwan for her recent selection into the New Zealand Secondary Schools U18 team to compete at the Dallas International tournament in April.

Trelise has also been named in the Canterbury United Women’s Futsal Squad for the 2025 Ford Futsal Superleague Series that commenced in February. Great work Trelise.

Hockey

Please note there is a change of trial time for Year 9’s on Sunday, 30 March. Trials will now be at the earlier time of 3.00-4.30pm at SMC due to a clash with a chapel service.

Korfball

At the end of 2024, our Senior girls, who combined with Christchurch Boys High School, won the Canterbury Mixx Korfball competition in a down-to-the-wire last-minute one-goal win over Kaiapoi.  Great job by the coaching team of Tayla Hardy and Nicole Lloyd

Netball

There is a change of trial days and time for Year 7’s due to the clash with Year 7 camp.

Year 7 netball trials are now:
Thursday 20 March 12.45-1.30pm
Friday 21 March     12.45-1.30pm

There is a change of trial time for Year 9’s on Sunday 30 March due to a chapel service.

Please note the Year 9 netball trials are as follows:

Sunday 23 March 

4.00-5.30pm Y9 Gold
5.30-7.00pm Y9 Green

New groupings will be posted for the Tuesday 25th trial after this trial has finished

Tuesday 25 March

3.45-5.15pm Y9 Pink
5.15-6.45pm Y9 Purple

New groupings will be posted for the Sunday 30th trial after this trial has finished

Sunday 30 March

1.30-3.00pm Y9 Blue
3.00-4.30pm Y9 Bronze

Rowing

Over the holidays, the SMC Rowing girls competed in the South Island Club Championships, which were held at Lake Ruataniwha in January.  Well done to all those girls who had put in the hard work over the holidays. 

Click here for full results Rowing Results

On Thursday 6th March the Rowers will head to Twizel for 3 days of racing in the South Island Secondary Schools Rowing Champs, this is the final competition before the pinnacle event of Maadi at the end of March.  Good luck to all 52 rowers, coaches and helpers for next weekend's racing.

Swimming

Millie Bell has recently been selected into the North Canterbury Sports Academy Programme and will receive mental skills, strength & conditioning, nutrition, physiotherapy, load guidance and time management training and skills. Way to go ,Millie

Olivia Vivian (year 10) had an exceptional weekend at the South Island Long Course Swimming Championships in Invercargill.

• She won 5 Gold Medals and 5 South Island Age Group Titles

• She secured 1 Silver Medal and 1 Bronze Medal

• She also claimed 1 South Island Open Overall Title

• Additionally, Olivia broke 4 South Island Long Course Championship Age Group Records

Well done, Olivia, on a fantastic set of results!

Tennis

Early February saw us competing in the Canterbury Schools Senior Tennis Championships at Wilding Park.  Head of Tennis Sophia Amyes did a wonderful job of leading the team in what was a very successful tournament.  The team of Sophia Aymes (Y13), Lucy Young (Y12), Margo Dalling (Y13), Nevaeh Shand (Y13) and Ana Eradus (Y12), were very competitive.  Sophia and Lucy placed 2nd in the girl's doubles while Sophia went on to win the final of the singles to become the Canterbury Secondary Schools Senior Champion for 2025.  Amazing job, girls.

Hot on the heels of the Canterbury Champs the girls were back in action in the South Island Secondary School Tennis Championships last weekend.  This is a team event where each team member's results are counted to see which team wins the tie.  With tough battles against Rangi and Columba, our team of Sophia Amyes, Lucy Young, Aliyah Daly (Y10), Jess Gearry (Y10), and Elise Donovan (Y10) faced St Andrews in the final match on Sunday morning.  After the singles matches, it was all tied up with 2 games each, so it all came down to the two doubles matches.  With one win and one game going to a super tiebreak, the girls pulled off an epic victory to become South Island Champions.  Amazing effort, girls.  

Touch

Over Waitangi weekend, we had four girls representing Canterbury at the NZ Touch Nationals.  Well done to Eva Grace and Jasmine Ginnever, who came 8th, playing in the Canterbury U16 team and Sophie Booth and Molly Ginnever, placing 6th, for the Canterbury U18 team.

Triathlon

The Canterbury Primary School Triathlon was held on Tuesday this week at South Eyre Road. St Margaret's had an enthusiastic group of 10 Year 6-8 girls competing at this event.

Well done to Isla Foley (Y6), Addie McAnulty, Charlotte Bettle, Charlotte Robertson, Harriet Kristianseng-Benge, Sadie Farrell (Y7), Alexis Robertson, Belle Greer, Lyla O'Sullivan and Sophia Foley (Y8) for the fantastic way you represented yourselves and St Margaret's College.

Special mention to Isla, Lyla and Belle for finishing in the top 8 of their grades.

The Canterbury Secondary Schools Triathlon was held on February 18. Great results from Gemma Sitjes who placed 2nd in the U18 category and Elza Harrington who was 1st in the U14 grade.

Congratulations to all. 

Volleyball

At the end of 2024 , our Senior A volleyball team travelled to Australia to compete in the Australian Schools Volleyball Championships.  With blistering heat to contend with, our girls fought their way through to the semi-finals but were beaten by the eventual champions.  Placing 4th overall was a brilliant result for our girl,s who gained valuable experience on the international stage.  Well done, girls, on a great achievement.  Thank you to those parents and families who helped with the fundraising efforts for this trip. Special thanks to Paula Vesty, Fiona Hartland, and Seb Gonzalez for planning and coaching this trip.  

Beach Volleyball

New Zealand Secondary Schools Beach Volleyball Championships

The first national sporting tournament on the annual calendar for secondary schools is the New Zealand Secondary Schools Beach Volleyball Championships, held at the stunning Mount Maunganui. This year, we entered four pairings:

Year 12/13 Grade: Lulu Inglis & Annie Francis, Mae Wilkinson & Delilah Brown, Julia Mitchell & Hannah Millar

Year 11 Grade: Coco Hocking & Rosa MacLeod

The tournament took place over three days during Waitangi Weekend, with Mount Maunganui living up to its reputation for beautiful weather and intense heat. As always, competition from northern schools was strong, but our Canterbury athletes held their own, showcasing determination and skill across both grades.

Results:

Lulu Inglis & Annie Francis: 11th in Division 1

Julia Mitchell & Hannah Millar:  1st in Silver Division 1

Delilah Brown & Mae Wilkinson: 5th in Silver Division 1

Coco Hocking & Rosa MacLeod: Strong performances with notable game and set wins, despite injuries affecting their ability to compete fully

The girls gained valuable experience, learning about the strategies, fitness, and skills needed to perform in challenging conditions such as heat, wind, and sand. They represented our school with pride and determination throughout the tournament.

For students interested in beach volleyball, keep an eye on the Canterbury Volleyball Association website for information about beach squad trials in September.

Mrs Vesty

Photo Credited to Tony T

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Year 7-13 Swimming Sports Thursday 6th March - held at SMC Pool 

GOOD LUCK TO:

VOLLEYBALL: Senior A, Red and Green teams competing in the Mainland Championships this weekend in Christchurch - Senior A are defending champions

ROWERS: Competing in the South Island Secondary Schools Rowing Championships 7th - 9th March in Twizel.

SUMMER QUAD: Cricket, Touch, Tennis and Volleyball girls travelling to Timaru to compete against Rangi, Craighead, Columba and St Hildas

SWIMMING: Year 5-8  Zones at Wharenui Wednesday 12th March for those girls who have qualified after our SMC swimming sports

Over the summer break, the new online version of the SMC Sport Handbook was sent to all families, and it contained information about more than 30 sports on offer.  It also includes the dates for school-wide sport events like our recent Athletics sports and Swimming sports days, a really handy thing to help you plan. 

Sports Handbook 2025

NEWS AND SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

Please send all sporting news, achievements (in and out of school), upcoming events and good quality photos to Liz in the Sport Office liz.righton@stmargarets.school.nz