Sports News Term 2, Week 2

As Term 1 drew to a close, the culmination of our summer sports season occurred, coinciding with tournament week for many teams. St Margaret's College experienced many exceptional results, achieving two National Secondary Schools titles. Beyond these outstanding successes, we witnessed remarkable participation, teamwork, communication, dedication, encouragement, and unwavering support from our students and the dedicated individuals who make these sporting opportunities possible.

Last Thursday, we held our Summer Sports Assembly, which was a fantastic celebration of so many amazing sporting achievements.  We issued Red Roses to our national champions and title holders.  Athletics and Swimming day trophies and champion cups were presented along with medals and ribbons from various events that had been held over Term 1.  Girls also received badges and pockets as a reward for their hard work, dedication and achievements.  It was an assembly that had so many girls going across the stage, and some multiple times, and was a real reflection of how successful sport is at SMC.

As we head into winter our Term 2 and 3 sports are starting to get underway with Netball, Hockey, Rugby and Basketball already having their first games and most other sports starting next week.  It has been a busy time for selectors, coaches and the girls as they work out their new training schedules and meet their new teams.  

BASKETBALL

Tuesday saw the tip-off of the Whelan Trophy competition.  This is the premier competition for girls' school basketball in Canterbury.  Our Senior A girls had a long road trip to Ashburton, where they played a tough first game.  With new coach Stacey Hickford at the helm, the girls had a great first game with lots of learning.  Although in the end they didn’t come away with the win, there were many small victories throughout the game and some real positives to take away.  We are looking forward to a season of growth and learning.  

Friday night basketball for our other 11 SMC teams starts this Friday.  It will be great to have you all out on the court enjoying yourselves.  

BASKETBALL REPRESENTATIVES  Alys Hatton, Y11 and Annabelle Johns, Y10, both represented North Canterbury in Nelson, along with Taylah Davis, Y10 and Lucie Davis, Y12, who represented Canterbury at the Mainland regional qualifiers tournament.  Taylah and her U16 team, along with Lucie and her U18 team, have qualified for age group nationals in the next school holidays.

CRICKET
SOUTH ISLAND CHAMPIONS

Term One 2025 was packed with exciting cricket action across all levels at SMC. It was especially heartening to see continued growth in the number of girls involved in the sport,  a testament to the supportive and encouraging environment cricket provides here at St Margaret’s.

Summer tournament week saw a new structure for the South Island Girls’ Regional tournament, which was split into qualifier and plate sections. Our 1st XI competed in the qualifier section, while the 2nd XI battled it out in the plate section.

We’re stoked to announce that SMC won the regional qualifier tournament, earning the opportunity to represent our school, for the very first time, at the National Secondary Schools 1st XI Girls Cup at Lincoln this December. This is an incredible achievement, and we’re so proud of the team. We can’t wait to fly the flag for both SMC and Canterbury at Nationals. Way to go, girls, as you catch your cricket wave.

A huge thank you to Richard Lough for coaching the 1st XI throughout the season, and to Libby Stead for her leadership and support of the 2nd XI, alongside Mrs Hartland as manager. A massive thank you to Ms Hardy for her unwavering support for all things cricket at SMC You make this all possible.

SOUTH ISLAND INVITATIONAL 

Over the holidays, Jessica Gearry, Maise Dive, and Amanda Hardy, as manager, travelled with the South Island U15 Girls’ Invitational Cricket team to the UAE to compete in the R66t Dubai Cup.

They experienced the opportunity to play cricket in a different country, in very different conditions, and what it is like to travel and play a sport.  They were able to immerse themselves in the local culture and experience what life in the UAE has to offer. It was brilliant.

A great result, finishing runner-up in the tournament to the Desert Vipers. As their name suggests, they were accustomed to playing the game in the heat. What an occasion and experience for the girls.  Playing on world-class pitches in challenging 40+ degree heat is no mean feat, and they did it brilliantly.  

The girls experienced the culture of a new country and made some new lifelong friendships and memories.  They represented the South Island of New Zealand, their families, their schools, their cricket associations, and themselves brilliantly. They were all fantastic ambassadors for girls' cricket here in New Zealand and the women’s game in general. Well done, girls and Ms Hardy.

CRICKET REPRESENTATIVES Congratulations to Lexi Boon Y11 and Jessica Gearry Y10 for being selected in the 17&U Canterbury Indoor Cricket team and Lexi for also being selected in the U22 Canterbury Indoor cricket team.  Both girls will head off to National tournaments to represent Canterbury.  Good luck girls

EQUESTRIAN
CANTERBURY SHOWJUMPING CHAMPIONS

The first week of the school holidays saw eight St Margaret's riders compete at the Canterbury Secondary Schools Show Jumping competition at Dunstan Horse Feeds National Equestrian Centre.  Each rider completed two rounds of show jumping at their height and then an optional round of show hunter jumping.  

SMC Red team with Gretel Dampier-Crossley, Briar Sharp, Sophie Gibb and Lexi Patchett had outstanding results, finishing in first place overall!  This makes them Canterbury Champions for Show Jumping "by a number of points".  Especially exciting, considering they are a young team of year 10 and 11’s competing against more senior riders.  Unfortunately, the trophy has been misplaced so we cannot add it to the trophy cabinet just yet, but hopefully, a replacement will make its way to us soon.

SMC Green was Jasmine Ginnever, Emi-Lee Elvy, Leilah Pukepuke and Danielle Vickery, who all had solid rides with some individual placings.  All came away smiling, which is the mark of a great day of show jumping.

Thanks, as always to our hard-working equestrian parents who spent the day picking up rails, writing for judges, and making sure riders were where they should be.  Huge thanks to our super coach Emily Cammock, who supports all our riders, giving them confidence and tips and helping calm all the ringside nerves (for both riders and parents!).  

This Sunday the Equestrian girls are back in Action at McLeans Island for the ODE.  Good luck girls, we hope you have another great day.

EQUESTRIAN REPRESENTATIVES National Champions Tara Morgan Y12 and Briar Sharp Y10 have had amazing success at the recent NZ Pony Club Eventing Championships, a three-day event held in Blenheim. Tara, representing Marlborough & West Coast, won the Mark Todd Trophy coming first in the 95cm class.  Briar won the Price Family Trophy, winning the 80cm class representing Canterbury.  Briar also continued her success by winning overall dressage across all ages and grades for the event, an amazing achievement.  Well done girls, a truly fantastic result, and we are looking forward to having you both ride for SMC this weekend.  

GYMNASTICS REPRESENTATIVES

Congratulations to Faye Lichen, Cherry Zhu, Hannah Jia and Sophie Chapman for being selected to represent New Zealand at the Koop Cup in Canada later in the year

HOCKEY
Wairarapa Hockey Festival

Our hockey team went to the Wairarapa Hockey Festival from April 21st to 24th, and it was definitely a trip to remember! We had a rough start with our flight getting cancelled, so we had to meet super early at 5:30 am. We had some tired faces in the vans on our drive to Wairarapa, but we were ready to give it our all.

We were up against some seriously strong 1st XI teams the whole time. Here’s how the games went:

Queen Margaret College: lost 0-4
St Matthew’s College: lost 0-6
Samuel Marsden College 1st XI: lost 1-3
Wairarapa College: lost 1-5

The scores weren’t in our favour, but we learnt a lot from playing against such tough teams. It pushed us to improve and showed us what we need to work on.

Off the field, we had a blast bonding as a team. We painted our nails in SMC green and blue, made matching bracelets, and put together an epic playlist that kept the energy up. It was awesome to hang out and just have fun together, which made the whole experience way better.

Our main goals for the festival were simple: have fun, learn as much as we could, and connect with each other as a team. And we definitely nailed it! Even though the results weren’t what we hoped for, the memories and friendships we made were worth it all.

Can’t wait to take what we’ve learned and come back stronger next time! Thanks to everyone who cheered us on, and to Mrs Shannahan and Ms Englebretsen for sharing your love and passion for hockey.

Co-Captains:  Sophia Tuck and Millie Edwards

KORFBALL

Over the weekend of the 5th and 6th of April, the SMC/CBHS Senior A Korfball Team took part in the 2025 SISS Senior Mixx Korfball Cup. The team had been working hard all term in trainings and games leading up to this point. Game day arrived, and unfortunately, some of the team were unavailable due to other commitments. A few girls from the SMC/CC senior B team and a few boys from the SMC/CBHS junior A team were pulled up to play, who the team were very grateful to, making a massive effort and impact on the team.

Out of the four pools, SMC/CBHS was placed in a pool with Riccarton High School, Kaiapoi High School 2 and Mixx NZ U15. This was a varied set of skills and players, those who are korfballers and those who are basketballers. The different knowledge of the game meant we needed to adapt and change our own game to play to our strengths. We were able to stay ahead of our opponents and come out on top of the pool table and through to the quarter finals.

In the quarter-finals, we faced Cashmere High School 1. The game started strong, and we extended a small lead; however, it was not enough to be comfortable. We held the lead throughout the game, the final score being 18-13. Similar to the quarter-finals, in the semi-finals, we gained a lead of three points and spent the rest of the game exchanging points with Kaiapoi High School 3. Many brilliant plays were executed throughout the game, a range of shots were taken, ending in a score of 13-10  to us.

This was it - we were through to the finals, we were already ahead of where we were last year. Against Kaiapoi High School 1, the team SMC/CBHS has had many battles with always going either way until the end. Although the final score was 9-23, the game was so much closer. We were exchanging shots all game, the difference being that their shots were sinking while ours seemed to bounce out. SMC/CBHS fought until the end, proving why we deserved to be in that final, the only unfortunate part being that we fell short at the top step. Second is still a massive achievement out of the 16 teams that played.
We would like to extend our greatest appreciation to Miss Lloyd for all her work coaching and behind-the-scenes organising.  Miss Lloyd is the driving force of Korfball at SMC, and we are very thankful for all that she does and has done to make sure Korfball is an option for us to play.  

Emma Hoskins - Head of Korfball

POLO

Well done to Georgia Douglas Y10 and Bree Kitson Y10 for their outstanding performance in the South Island SUPA Polo tournament.  The girls play in a Christchurch Combined competition along with girls from other schools, but fly the SMC flag proudly.  The girls played Rangi in the final. Their teamwork was outstanding and this was reflected in a 2-0 win.  We look forward to following your continued success.

ROWING
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

After our strong performances at the South Island Secondary School regatta, where we finished 2nd place overall and top Canterbury School, we headed to Maadi with a team of 52 rowers. 

During Maadi week, the girls competed hard and had some very good performances to make it through to the finals.  By the end of the week, the depth of our team was most evident with 13 crews in A finals, 4 in B finals, and I in a C final. We finished the regatta with 9 medals - 4 Gold, 1 Silver, and 4 Bronze. We placed 3rd in both the Star Trophy overall points and Executive Trophy Sweep Points.

Medal-winning crews were:

Gold
U18 Pair - Coco Flood, Aine Leeson
U16 Eight - Scarlett Hansen, Poppy Blakely, Josie Kennedy, Lucy Butterfield, Ella Drummond, Izzy Hill, Sophia Cathro, Fleur Jansen - Cox Ellie Scotland
U18 Novice Four - Isabella McCully, Izzy Hill, Sadie Eradus, Fleur Jansen -  Cox Sarah Farrell
U18 Eight - Anna Rutherford, Poppy Blakely, Coco Flood, Aine Leeson, Belize McQuarrie, Lucy Butterfield, Scarlett Hansen, Bronny O’Sullivan - Cox Bella Harris

Silver
U17 Single - Scout Phiskie

Bronze
U17 Four - Anna Rutherford, Poppy Blakely, Scarlett Hansen, Bronny O’Sullivan - Cox Bella Harris
U18 Novice Eight - Isabella McCully, Greer Cathro, Sadie Eradus, Sofia Tivers, Alex Campbell, Izzy Hill, Grace Thorn, Fleur Jansen - Cox Sarah Farrell
U18 Four - Coco Flood, Aine Leeson, Belize McQuarrie, Bronny O’Sullivan - Cox - Ellie Scotland
U16 Four - Sophia Cathro, Ella Drummond, Josie Kennedy, Izabella Green - Cox Ellie Scotland

In addition to these results, we also had 6 crews finish in the Top 10. 

5th U15 Octuple
6th U15 Eight
8th U15 Four
8th U17 Pair
10th U18 Pair #2
10th U18 Four #2

A big thank you must go to the coaching team, support staff, and parents, who, without this level of support, we would not be able to achieve the results we did. 

Following on from our success at Maadi, Anna Rutherford, Poppy Blakely, Scout Phiskie and Ellie Scotland were selected to trial for the South Island U18 Team. Anna Rutherford was selected in the four and eight, Scout Phiskie in the single and quad and Ellie Scotand coxed the boys eight. They achieved great results at the regatta, and the South Island team won overall.

At the same time, Aine Leeson and Coco Flood were trailing for the NZ junior team. A huge congratulations to both Aine and Coco, who have been selected in the NZ Junior women's four to race at the 2025 U19 World Championship Regatta in Trakai, Lithuania, 6-10 August. Congratulations also go to our Matthew Adam, who has been selected to coach this crew. 

SWIMMING

On Thursday, 3 April, a group of Year 6-8 students represented St Margaret’s College at the Canterbury Primary School swimming in Rolleston after qualifying at our zone event earlier in the term. Our swimmers performed amazingly with some fantastic results, including winning the Year 7 relay by seven seconds and our Year 8 relay in second place. This shows the depth of our experience here in the middle school, alongside some outstanding individual results.  Well done girls,  for all your hard work.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS

Olivia Vivian and Millie Bell both competed at the Swimming NZ National Age Group Championships in Napier during the school holidays.

Both Olivia and Millie delivered exceptional performances and celebrated major milestones by winning their first NZ National Titles!

Olivia Vivian won 3 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals, while also breaking 3 Canterbury Age Group Relay Records.

Millie Bell won 3 gold and 3 silver medals, and broke 2 Canterbury Age Group Relay Records.

Impressively, both Olivia and Millie made the finals in every event they swam—a remarkable achievement and testament to their hard work and dedication.

Olivia Vivian also won the Outstanding Junior Swimmer Award at the recent 2025 Secondary Schools Swimming Championships.

TABLE TENNIS

Tracey Hsia Y10 has been back in action, competing in Wellington at the Autumn Open 2025 tournament and won the U15 Girls Singles, U15 Combined Doubles, U19 Girls Singles and Women's Doubles.  Brilliant work, Tracey, keep it up.

TENNIS

St Margaret's tennis players have had another successful year, with wins in the Canterbury Secondary Schools, South Island Secondary Schools and Summer Quad tournaments.  The tennis girls stepped up from competing in the Cup event last year to the challenge of the top-ranked Championship this year against NZ's finest players.

The New Zealand Secondary Schools teams tournament, held in Christchurch during tournament week, presented a highly competitive field. SMC demonstrated its consistent performance by finishing in 5th place nationally.  This was a big week of intense competition for all involved and a great result for the team.  Well done girls on a massive effort and a fantastic season.

The entire tennis contingent at St Margaret's College extends their sincere gratitude to their dedicated coaching and support staff: Andrew Falck (coach), Liz Righton, Gemma Pepper, and Robyn Young (team managers), for their invaluable guidance and support throughout the season.

TENNIS REPRESENTATIVE Congratulations to Aliyah Daly Y10 for being selected into the New Zealand U16 tennis team.

TRIATHLON

NZ Secondary Schools Triathlon

Year 9 student Elza Harrington took home silver in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Triathlon Championships in the U14 girls held at Glendhu Bay, Wanaka during tournament week.  At the same event in the Intermediate team grade, Sydney Alva Y11 and Emma Crawford Y11 won gold, taking out the national title.  Amazing achievement, girls!

VOLLEYBALL
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Our Senior A Volleyball team made history by winning the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships for the first time.

The girls displayed incredible courage, composure, confidence, and determination on their way to claiming the national title. Their outstanding performance was further recognised with four players named in the tournament team.

Julia Mitchell earned the MVP title for the tournament. Her blistering attacks from the right side, combined with her dominant blocking, kept the opposition trying to find ways to stop her. Joining her in the tournament team were the ever-reliable Lulu Inglis, Delilah Brown, and Hannah Millar. Lulu and Delilah were relentless in attack, consistently finding ways to score through, over, and around the block, while Hannah proved to be a powerhouse at the net, delivering punishing blocks when they mattered most.

Volleyball is the ultimate team sport, and while these individual accolades are well deserved, this victory belongs to every player. Their commitment—some for the season, others for three or four years—alongside coach Seb, has been instrumental in this achievement. Countless hours of skill development, strategic planning, and tournament play have led to this moment, and we extend our gratitude to all who have contributed to the growth of volleyball at SMC.

Results;

vs Marlborough Girls College win 3-0

vs Cashmere High School win 3-0

vs Westlake Girls win 3-0

vs Burnside High School win 3-0

vs Sacred Heart win 3-0

vs Nayland High School  win 3-0

vs Mount Albert Grammar School win 3-0

vs Christchurch Girls High School win 3-2

FINAL vs Rangitoto College win 3-0

Paula Vesty - Team Manager

Along with the Senior A team competing, we also had two other senior teams competing in the South Island Satellite tournament, showing the strong depth we have in our volleyball programme.  

SMC Red hit the court at the recent tournament with a reduced squad, but that didn’t stop the girls from showcasing grit, teamwork, and talent. With fewer players, it was a great chance for the younger athletes to step up—and they sure did!  The tournament marked the final game for Ella and Hannah, who wrapped up their time with the team.  Lexie, Maddie, and Vaali made it tough for the opponents to break through at the net. Vaali’s powerful A quicks were legendary and great signs of the team’s growing attacking confidence.  MaiLinh embraced a new role as libero, showing quick feet in the back court, while Gretel proved herself as a super setter in the making. Flo, Hannah, and Laura delivered some impressive hits throughout the tournament. Well done, girls! Off the court, Lily, though injured, was there whenever she could to support her teammates, and the backing from loyal parents was, as always, incredible. The team continued to enjoy their positive connection with Coach Cris whom we will hopefully see back next season. Despite a tough loss to long-time rivals Avonside in another close five-setter, the girls finished 4th overall—a result to be proud of. Tired but smiling, the team walked away with

Lots of learning, strong memories, and eyes already on redemption next season.

SMC Green had great tournament success at the Canterbury Champs and Monday night competition and this put them into Div 1 of Satellites, a challenge the girls were ready to take on.  The team is made up of enthusiastic Year 11 girls who have demonstrated significant growth this season under coach Tom.  A standout feature of the team was their supportive culture. On and off the court, they encouraged one another and maintained a positive, inclusive environment. This strong sense of teamwork played a vital role in their development and overall enjoyment of the game.  Although the results from Satillies weren’t what the girls had hoped for, coming up against some incredibly strong teams on the first day, they continued to battle and hold their heads high to the last point in every game.  This was a great tournament for the girls, who have a massive amount of potential given the growth they had this season.  

VOLLEYBALL REPRESENTATIVES Congratulations to Hannah Millar Y12, Julia Mitchell Y12, Lucie Davis Y12, Delilah Brown Y12 for being selected into the Canterbury U19 IPC team to compete in Wellington at King's Birthday weekend in the Volleyball New Zealand Inter Provincial Championships.

WATER POLO

During tournament week, the Senior A Water Polo team competed in the South Island Secondary Schools Water Polo championships, at Jellie Park.  Our team had a fantastic tournament, placing 4th overall, meaning we were heading to Nationals in the holidays in a strong position.  

With two games each day, the girls managed to juggle fitting in schoolwork between games where possible, while still turning up and performing in the water.

Well done to Zoe Crosbie Y12 on being selected into the tournament team.  

The Senior A team then jetted off to Hamilton to compete in the NZ Water Polo Division 2 National Championships, where they placed 5th. It was a great tournament, and the girls showed incredible resilience over the four days. They improved with every game and performed at their best throughout the entire competition. The team developed immensely, always playing with teamwork at the core of everything they did. They represented St Margaret’s with pride, and I’m so proud of all their efforts—not just at nationals, but throughout the whole water polo season.  Congratulations to Abbey McCormack-Young Y12 for being named in the tournament team.

Massive thanks to Scarlett Goldsworthy and Charlotte Coughlan for their fantastic coaching efforts and to Vanessa Coughlan for managing the team and Brigit McCormack for being the team driver.

WALKING CLUB

Sunday 18th May the SMC Walking club will be tackling Canterbury's highest peak and walking Mt Herbert.  It sounds like a great adventure and we can’t wait to hear all about it in the next newsletter.  If you are interested in joining the walking club please contact Miss Mackie.