Playing with Pride and Passion
Winter Tournament Week Wrap Up
We couldn’t be prouder of our sports teams as they competed across the motu at Tournament Week. Courts, fields, turfs, roads and arenas were awash with blue and gold as our athletes competed with passion and demonstrated exemplary sportsmanship.
Congratulations to all players for representing Rangi Ruru so admirably. A huge thanks to the coaches, managers and staff who supported our players – we couldn’t have done it without you. Also a big shout out to everyone who cheered us on from the sidelines and your couches – it was felt and it was appreciated. A summary of all tournament play is given below.
Badminton – Senior Koura and Junior Kowhai teams
This year Rangi Ruru had a junior and senior team contesting the Canterbury Secondary School Badminton Championships. The Rangi Ruru junior doubles placed second whilst Abby Fleming also placed second in the individual championships. Congratulations team.
Basketball – Intermediate A
Attending the Junior Girls Zone 4 Basketball tournament in Dunedin was a chance for our junior basketballers to gain invaluable tournament experience. Tough games throughout pool play were an opportunity for growth for these Year 9 and Year 10 players, and in cross over play, the team continued to fight hard, learning how to build a lead and hold it or fight back when behind. A solid final performance against Marian College saw the team place 15th overall.
Cycling – Southern Tour Squad
Our cycling squad headed to Blenheim to compete in the SKODA Southern Tour. The tour consisted of four stages across two days, with the National Championship honours being up for grabs on Saturday’s individual time trial and criterium stages.
The 14 strong squad did a great job to pick up many placings in the individual events and overall classifications. Special mention goes to:
- Mya Wolfenden – competing in the U20 events, earning 2 x silvers and placing 3rd overall
- Charlotte Chiles – competing in the U17 events, earning 1 x bronze, 1 x silver, placing 3rd overall and named winner of the sprint classification
- Vesper Woodfield – competed in the U15 events, earning 2 x silver medals and placing 1st overall
Football – 1st XI
The 1st X1 football team had a very successful tournament playing for the first time in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Nationals in Taupo. Although placed in a tough pool to begin with – they held their own, displayed excellent defence, team skills and endeavour. Our departing Year 13s – Natalya Flood, Georgie Gardner and Renee Maddigan, were excellent examples of what it means to be team players, leaders, and role models. Playing 7 games in 5 days, our players gave it their all to the very end. Placing 24th, the team gained 5-star ratings for their fair play in all games and were mentioned on more than one occasion for their perseverance, losing the last few games by only 1 goal.
Well done on your huge improvement over the season and especially in this tournament. Mahi tika ana. Great work!
Equestrian
33 riders from Rangi Ruru competed in the South Island Secondary Schools Equestrian Tournament from Year 7 through to Year 13. Nearly all riders managed to win or place in their individual classes with several riders competing in all disciplines – dressage, eventing, trail ride, show jumping and show hunter. We had 3 individual overall champions in their sections, Mikey Wildermoth champion Level 2 dressage rider, Rose Bowden champion 90-100cm jumping and Holly Bray champion 80-90cm jumping.
The Gold team were reserve champion dressage team, and the Stripe team were 3rd in arena eventing. The Year 7 & 8 team also performed extremely well.
Hockey – 1st XI
On the back of winning the Connetics Shield and SSP competition, the 1st XI was looking forward to contesting it with the best in the country at Federation Cup, hosted this year in Christchurch.
Solid round robins performances saw the team top their pool and lead the goal scoring, heading into the cross-over matches. Coming up against a strong St Cuthbert’s team in the quarter finals was always going to be tough, and this time the game went to St Cuthberts. While disappointed, the team bounced back to contest a spot in the 5/6 play offs before facing a spirited Villa Maria in a replay of the local semi-final a couple of weeks earlier. Like that game, this one also went to shoot-out and this time Villa Maria took the win.
Congratulations team on a great season and a ngā mihi nui to our Year 13s, Caitlin, Phoebe, Arabelle, Mila, Mary, and Lucy for their contribution.
Hockey – 2nd XI
The 2nd XI hockey team spent the week in Ashburton competing in the Chris Arthur Cup. Strong round robin performances saw the team finish 2nd in their pool, before heading into the quarter finals against Westlake Girls’ who they eventually lost to in a penalty shoot out. This put the team into the 5-8 play offs and two solid performances against Villa Maria and Whangarei Girls’ saw the team finish 5th.
This was the last season with coach Sian Fremaux, who has made a significant contribution to Rangi Ruru hockey over many years. A final thank you to our Year 13 “Lemons”, Bex, Emma, Ella and Sophia who also have made a huge contribution on and off the turf.
Netball – Senior A
The senior A team headed to Invercargill to contest the South Island Secondary Schools Championships. A predominantly young team, all season the players have been keen to learn and grow and there has been a huge improvement throughout the season. Although the team missed out on top 16 after the first day of the tournament, the overall win: loss ratio was 6:2, including convincing wins over teams that had previously beaten us earlier in the season.
A shout out to Year 13 players Zara and Eliza who played out of their skins in the final game against Rangiora High School to help the team secure the Georgie Salter Plate which is awarded to the team who placed 17th overall in A grade. Ka rawe to mahi team.
Composite Teams
This year we had several students taking part in composite teams with other schools.
Shout outs to:
- Tessa Langman and Lucy-Jane Hart who were involved in ice-hockey with two different schools, St Andrews College and Burnside High School
- Stevie Combes, Jessie Moffat and Zara Stewart who competed in a rugby 10s tournament in Buller with players from Rangiora High School and St Andrews College.
Congratulations to our entire winter sporting community for the achievements and participation across the board and a special shout out to our many Year 13s for whom this was a last outing in their winter code representing the blue and gold.