COLLEGE SPORT
CROSS COUNTRY
The annual Katikati College cross country was finally held on the last day of term after a very disrupted term of sport. This was a fun day with senior students buddying up with younger runners to encourage them around the course, and with lots of great house colours on display.
Results: Year 7 Girls — Coby Taylor, Erin Arundel, Chelsea Finch; Year 7 Boys — Mike Rousell, Kyree Woodward, Eden Smith; Year 8 Girls — Tayla Frith, Charlotte Wright, Charlotte Tanner; Year 8 Boys — Edward Sukkel, Jonny Williams, Blake Furness; Junior Girls — Gemma Groenewald, Abby Eveleigh, Destinee Benge; Junior Boys — Baxter Anderson, Sam Taylor, Keegan HydeColtman. Intermediate Girls — Emily Ashley, Meg Harray, Isla Willacy; Intermediate Boys — Sean Nicholson, Elijah Byford, Lachlan McIntyre. Senior Girls — Sophia Spurr, Jordan Nicholson, Jess Harray; Senior Boys — Dandre Du Plessis, Reef Ainsley, Blake Pickering.
House points — 1st Stewart, 2nd MacMillan, 3rd Mulgan, 4th Gledstanes.
NETBALL
Katikati Senior A had a successful first day of netball for 2020, playing in the Paeroa Secondary School Tournament on July 4. The team beat Paeroa College and Mercury Bay Area School, drew with Hauraki Plains College and lost by two in a very tight match against Matamata College. Monique Brooks, Chantelle Weinzlick, Aylish Dunlop, Abby Corbett and Nina Briggs all showed why they were selected for the team with solid performances on debut. Sara Campbell and Janna De Graf were solid in the shooting circle. Queenie Martin and Jess Harray worked hard in the defence circle to pressure shooters and earn some well-deserved tips and rebounds.
Captain Jordan Nicholson led the team with athleticism and speed in the mid court, showing her experience to snatch some key intercepts.
Coach Anahera Mohi used the day to test out a range of combinations and to give the newest members of the team a chance to settle in and experience Senior A netball. She was pleased with the flexibility of the girls to play a range of positions and is excited to see what the team can achieve this season. The Development 1 team also played in the tournament, having a great preseason run.
HOCKEY
Wednesday, July 1 was the last game of the term for the 1st XI girls hockey. They had a great game against Tauranga 1st XI who are a very strong team and currently one place above KKC in the pool standings. Although it was a 4-0 loss, the girls played competitively for the majority of the game with upcoming combinations using Grace Fotheringhame in the centre, to move the ball cleanly down the field and attack in the opposing circle. A penalty corner taken by Katie Templeton and a shot from the top of the circle by Aylish Dunlop, nearly resulted in points on the board for Katikati. While Tauranga had many attacking chances against Katikati with six penalty corners, the defensive end including goalie Eva Freeman, did a great job keeping them out, with Tauranga only managing to create one of these in
the fourth quarter. Overall the girls enjoyed the game and worked together well for a great match.
The boys 1st XI played a bye match “friendly” against the other bye team from Pool 1, top of the table Bethlehem College. It was a very competitive match and the work that this new team have been doing showed in the way they took on the league leaders, with newbie Anton Turnwald playing strongly in defence and Year 9 Lucas Moka making great runs. Griffin Fraser was busy in goal with BC garnering two early PCs, but he pulled off some great saves. The pressure told though and BC were 3-0 up at half time. The boys kept at it, switching the point of attack and working hard before BC scored one more in the second half. A mistake on the goal line by a BC defender gave Beau Moka the chance, with a penalty stroke that he converted well. 1-4 being the final score.
RUGBY
A pre-season 10s tournament was held in Paeroa on July 4. KKC sent both the 1st XV and the new U14 Junior team to have a run. This was the 1st XV’s third run out but the first for the Juniors who were keen to play, even though it was an U15 tournament. The 1st XV had pool matches against Forest View (Tokoroa), their hardest match of the day, winning 22-17, before beating Whangamata 34-0. The semi was against Hauraki Plains where they prevailed 49-0.
The final was against Paeroa College and they ran out winners 34-7. With only 14 points on the sheet against, it was a clinical exhibition by Katikati in the new 10s format, enabling halfback Sione Kivalu to dominate the field and giving hooker Griffin Fraser the opportunity to stretch his legs, scoring a couple of tries and taking home Player of the Day.
The U14s had three matches playing in the older U15 division so didn’t win any, but it was a great opportunity to play their first games as a team after training for several weeks. They were very competitive against Mercury Bay, just going down 5-15 in a very rough match, losing three players to injury including a serious one to Kingston Drewery, which is a huge loss. They also played Thames High and Waihi College.
BOP BADMINTON
KKC sent two teams to the first of only two BOP inter-school competitions held in Term 2. The top team of Taurian McConnochie, Xingan Wang, Depp Bolingford and Tarundeep Singh had a good day coming out in second place in Division 2 and going through to the finals in Term 3.
The other team — Ahbi Modi, Ben Jenkins, Alex Lund and Jacob Smith — also had a great day, with those new to the game getting some experience.