Sports News Term 1 Roundup

With Term 1 now complete, we reflect on what has been a massive and highly successful season of sport at St Margaret’s. We once again celebrate the achievements of so many teams. This term has been nothing short of exceptional, with outstanding results across a number of sports. Just as importantly, we have seen continued growth in participation, with more students getting involved in a wide range of sporting opportunities.

Thank you to all the coaches, managers, teacher managers, parents, supporters, and players for making this busy and action-packed term possible.

As we look ahead to Term 2 and the winter sports season, we are excited by the level of skill and talent already evident during trials. With some sports beginning competition games during the holidays, the winter schedule is set to be fully underway even before the term officially begins.

ATHLETICS

St Margaret’s athletes delivered an outstanding performance at the Canterbury Secondary Schools Athletics Championships. Highlights included a remarkable clean sweep of all U16 track events and an impressive six meet records. Multiple gold medal performances came from Lucy Gredig, Lily Dunne, Sacha Mitchell, Annabelle Smallman, and Ruby Darwen, with several athletes achieving podium finishes across a range of events.  Our relay teams also impressed, with gold medals in the U16 and U20 4x100m, and a standout performance from the U17 4x400m A team, who claimed gold.

The South Island Secondary Schools Athletics Championships saw the team secure an impressive nine first-place finishes and five second-place results, along with six meet records, highlighting the strength and depth of the squad.  A standout moment came in the U17 4x400m relay, where Lily Dunne, Lucy Gredig, Sascha Mitchell, and Isobella Blakely produced a phenomenal run, breaking the meet record by 8 seconds and surpassing the national record.  Annabelle Smallman was dominant in the throws, claiming three first-place finishes and setting meet records in both the Discus and Hammer.

CANOE POLO

In a performance defined by pure grit and determination, St Margaret’s claimed the Open B grade title in the Christchurch secondary schools Canoe Polo league, edging out St Andrew’s B with a thrilling 6–5 victory in the final.

This championship win is particularly remarkable as this was St Margaret’s very first term competing in this grade. To secure a title immediately upon promotion is a rare and impressive feat. For the majority of the season, the team showed incredible resilience by playing short-handed. They took to the water with one less player than their opposition, relying on superior fitness and tactical discipline to outmaneuver full-strength teams. Canoe Polo is a relatively new sport at SMC and offers a great alternative to play on Wednesday afternoon in summer.

CRICKET

Term 1 has been a busy and successful one for SMC Cricket, with girls involved right across the programme — from our Junior School sessions and Year 5/6 girls, through to our Saturday Division 3 team and our 1st and 2nd XI squads at Summer Tournament Week.  Across all levels of the programme, our players have continued to develop their skills, build confidence, and grow in their understanding of the game each week. One of the real strengths of cricket at St Margaret’s is the positive and encouraging culture that sits at the heart of our programme. It has been so good to see our girls growing not only as cricketers, but also as teammates and young leaders both on and off the field.  A special congratulations to our 1st XI, who finished top of the table at the recent Regional Tournament. Unfortunately, their final was postponed due to the weather, and we wish them all the best when that fixture is played later in the year.  A big thank you to Rich Lough, Maggie Martin, Bindy O’Callaghan, and our fabulous group of student coaches for the support, time, and energy they bring to the programme. Their contribution continues to help our girls grow and make their moments matter on the cricket field.

GOLF

Our St Margaret’s golfers delivered a standout performance at the Christchurch Secondary Schools (CSS) Golf Championship recently. Despite being the youngest team in the entire field, our girls held their own against much older and more experienced players. Out of 32 competing teams, St Margaret’s secured 15th place. This is a wonderful result for our team's first appearance at this tournament. A massive congratulations to Olivia Guan (Year 7), who took home the 1st Place Girls’ Net Prize. Her consistency and poise under pressure were a highlight of the day. We are all looking forward to the games next year and beyond. The future of golf at St Margaret’s looks incredibly bright.

KORFBALL

Korfball continues to grow in popularity at St Margaret’s College, with strong participation from our students and an increase in male players joining from Boys’ High. It’s been great to see the sport expanding and gaining momentum within our community. Our Junior A team had an impressive season, finishing 3rd overall. Many of the players were new to the sport, and it was fantastic to see their development, confidence, and consistency improve week by week during our Friday night competition. The Senior A team also had a successful campaign, finishing 2nd in the Friday night competition and placing 3rd at the Senior Secondary Schools tournament.  Overall, it has been a fantastic season for korfball at SMC, with strong performances, growing participation, and exciting potential for the future.  A massive thank you to Tayla Hardy and the team of coaches and to Deb Scott and Michelle Brennan for being amazing managers.

POLO

Congratulations to Bree Kitson (Year 11) and Omega Spencer- Berry (Year 10) who competed in the Christchurch Schools Polo tournament, representing St Margaret’s in Div 2 coming 2nd and Omega Spencer-Berry (Year 10) competing in Div 3.

ROWING

It has been another successful season for our rowing crews. With success at a number of regattas and lots of development at camps, the squad has had a busy but exciting year.  The season finished with the Maadi Regatta in Twizel, where the team came away with 2 bronze and 3 silver medals and an impressive 14 boats in the top ten, a truly massive achievement.  Scout Phiske (Year 13) was rewarded for her hard work with a New Zealand U19 trial, along with Taylah Davis (Year 11) and Josie Kennedy (Year 13), who were also selected to trial for the South Island U18 team.

SWIMMING

We were treated to a beautiful day for the SMC annual school swimming sports. The Year 7–10 girls kicked off the morning with impressive displays of swimming and some highly competitive races. The session wrapped up with the loudest and most exciting event of the day, the blue mat race, which was tightly contested and came down to the final seconds.  In the afternoon, our senior students took to the water. Our competitive swimmers demonstrated why they are among the best, delivering outstanding performances, while our non-competitive swimmers had a great time racing their friends in a variety of stroke styles.

Thirteen swimmers from St Margaret’s College competed at the Canterbury Secondary Schools Swimming Championships, held for the first time at the new Parakiore Aquatic Centre. It was a great team performance, with all swimmers qualifying for finals.

The girls produced excellent results across the meet, including a number of first-place finishes. Standout performances came from Kathy Gai (50m Breaststroke), Mia Stevens (50m Freestyle), Madeleine Tapper (50m Freestyle), Olivia Vivian (50m and Open 100m Breaststroke), and Lyla O’Sullivan (50m Backstroke). Charlotte Dunne also delivered strong performances, placing second in both the 50m Backstroke and 100m Freestyle.

The relay teams were equally impressive, with the Open Freestyle Relay finishing second, and both the Open Medley and U15 Freestyle relays placing third.

Overall, it was an excellent championship, showcasing the talent of swimmers at St Margaret’s College. 

Our Junior School had some amazing results at Canterbury Primary Schools Swimming Event

Year 8 Mixed Relay with Medbury - 1st (won by 12 seconds!) this was Jessie and Penny

Penny O'Sullivan (Year 8) 1st - 100m open Freestyle, 2nd - 100m Open Backstroke, 3rd - 50m Year 8 Backstroke

Jessie Scott (Year 8)  2nd - 100m open IM, 3rd - 50m Year 8 Freestyle

Isla Carter (Year 8) 3rd - Year 8 50m Breaststroke

Amelia O'Connell (Year 8) 7th 50m Backstroke

Inka Somerville-Smith (Year 8) 7th - 50m Breaststroke

Maddie Mackie (Year 6) 3rd - Year 5 50m Backstroke, 4th - Year 5 50m Breaststroke

TENNIS

Term 1 has been a busy and rewarding season for our school tennis teams. We entered two teams in the Wednesday Premier competition, alongside another seven teams competing in the School Sport Canterbury Wednesday competition. This strong level of participation highlights the continued enthusiasm and commitment to tennis across the school. The season did come with its challenges, as a number of disruptions due to school camps and illness affected team consistency and availability. Despite this, players showed great resilience and adaptability, stepping up when needed and maintaining a positive attitude throughout.  At the Canterbury Senior Championships, Aliyah Daly won the Year 11 girls' championship. Later in the term, we competed in the annual Quad tournament, where our team delivered an excellent performance to win overall. The season concluded with a team travelling to Wellington to compete in the NZSS North Island Cup, where they finished an impressive 6th place against strong opposition.  Overall, it has been a successful term for school tennis, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the coming terms.

TOUCH

Super Touch finished the season in 4th place, an outstanding result for a young group. The team showed significant growth across the season, improving week by week and really coming together by the end. This progress was evident at the South Island Secondary Schools tournament, where they placed 7th overall, highlighted by a thrilling 7th/8th playoff against Craighead. The match was tied at full time and again after the initial drop-off period, eventually going down to three players per side in a score-to-win finish. It was a fantastic display of resilience and composure in a high-pressure game. The team’s positive culture, work ethic, and support for one another have been a real strength throughout the season and set a strong foundation for the future.

ULTIMATE FRISBEE

The St Margaret’s Ultimate Frisbee team capped off a fantastic season with some high-profile silverware at the recent regional championships. St Margaret’s was named the Overall Most Spirited Team. In Ultimate Frisbee, "Spirit of the Game" is a core tenet that rewards sportsmanship, fair play, and respect for opponents. Winning this award across the entire field is a testament to the integrity and positive attitude our girls bring to every match. Further congratulations go to Ida Van Kan, who was named the Joint Winner of the Most Valuable Female Player (MVP) award. This is a significant achievement, recognising Ida as one of the top athletes in the competition for her skill, leadership, and impact on the field.

VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball has had a fantastic first term, finishing on a real high with our senior girls placing 2nd at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Nationals in Palmerston North last week. Three players were also named in the tournament team—well done to Delilah Brown, Julia Mitchell, and Hannah Millar (Year 13) for this outstanding achievement.  This success followed an equally impressive performance at the Canterbury Champs, where the Senior A team claimed 1st place in Division 1. Congratulations again to Julia, Delilah, and Lucie Davis (Year 13), who were recognised in the tournament team. Our Senior B and Junior A teams also delivered outstanding performances at their recent tournaments, with the Senior B team finishing 2nd in Division 2 at the Canterbury Champs. Our Monday night teams benefited from fantastic opportunities throughout their competition, showing clear improvement while enjoying the experience along the way.

A massive thank you goes to our coaches, managers, parent managers, parents and players for their dedication and support during what has been a full-on, hectic, but highly successful term of volleyball.  A special thanks to Seb and Paula for your work with the senior A team over a number of years. We wish Seb the very best of luck for his next adventures as he takes up a professional coaching contract in Sweden later in the year.  

WATER POLO

Our water polo team has had an outstanding season, showing significant improvement in both skill and teamwork. The dedication and effort put in by every player have really paid off, with the team achieving an impressive second place at the South Island Secondary Schools tournament.  Throughout the season, everyone contributed to a positive and supportive team environment, making it an enjoyable experience both in and out of the pool. The team has also performed strongly in the weekly competition and is now preparing to compete in the final.  With such strong momentum, the team is looking forward to Nationals this weekend, ready to build on this success and continue improving.