Thursday 22nd March
VOLLEYBALL
A tough couple of days at the office with a stomach bug ripping through the event. So far we are holding on to our health and have had a great win today vs Waiopehu College. Avelia Nikorima has put her body on the line for some incredible plays and Emma Burnham’s positive contribution continues to impress. Every one of these girls has represented Aquinas proudly and we are looking great going into our final game tomorrow. Tonight we celebrated our AC spirit with dinner out at Gengy’s and a trip to the ‘sights’ of Palmerston North.
CRICKET
Playing the Tauranga Boys 1st XI for the first time, Aquinas College made the 2017 Northern District Champions work hard for their victory in the playoff for 3rd and 4th at the North District Gillette Cup Finals. In the end a superb batting display from TBC ensured an 8 wicket victory.
Winning the toss and electing to bat we started well with inform batsman Finn Dempsey combining well with Fergus Lellman to be 50 without loss after 12 overs. A mini collapse saw us then struggling at 100/5 after 31, with opening batsman Fergus Lellman holding the innings together.
Things didn’t look much better at 138/7 after 40 overs. A year ago, this team may have crumbled to be 150 all out. But a series of fighting partnerships, precision hitting and superb running between the wickets saw us post a competitive 208. The highlight of the day was Fergus Lellman’s century, a superb innings with shots all around the ground, against a very good Tauranga Boys bowling attack.
In reply, Aquinas started with a disciplined line and length which saw TBC at only 33/0 after 10 overs. However, we were unable to take early wickets which enabled them to build a good opening stand. Two quick wickets just before TBC reached 100, halted their momentum for a while but their strong batting line up showed their class and completed the victory after 40 overs. The result means we finish in 4th position and qualify for next years tournament.
Overall, this has been a superb tournament by our 1st XI Cricket team. Last year we went to this tournament, we were bowled out for 36 in one innings and failed to win a game. This year we won 2 games against the strongest 1st XI’s in the Northern Districts region and made two established teams, St Paul’s and Tauranga Boys work hard for their victories. Well done, boys.
Wednesday 21st March
BASKETBALL
An update on the 3×3 Basketball Nationals at ASB Arena Wednesday 21 March:
Senior Boys: Senior Girls: Junior Boys:
AC v St Thomas 12-4 Loss AC v Massey High 15-11 Loss AC v TBC 15-2 Loss
AC v Otago Boys 19-9 Loss AC v Hillcrest High 18-19 Loss AC v Rosmini 12-3 Loss
AC v TBC 22-10 Loss AC v Ashburton 20-18 Win AC v Te Awamutu 15-14 Loss
AC v St Kents 15-13 Loss
AC v Rongotai 17-14 Loss
ROWING
Frustratingly, the rain and wind has rolled into Twizel. After several delays and capsized boats (not ours!), racing finally finished around 8pm last night. Today will be another late finish as the racing is currently on hold. Weather conditions need to settle a little to avoid chaos and potential injury on the course. They can cope with the rain but it’s the high gusty winds which cause the problems.
Stella and Aoife have very busy day scheduled with three D/E Finals. Stella has also made it through to the semi-finals in the single where she will compete for a lane in the A Final. A huge achievement! She was set to race at 11.06 but that time will now be pushed back a couple of hours.
WATERPOLO
The water polo girls are off to a great start with a 11-3 win, followed by a draw (3-3) last night against Westlake Girls. It was a very physical game. Their first game today is against Howick College and they need to win this game to go through to the top 8.
CRICKET
Our 1st XI have ended pool play with a comprehensive 8 wicket victory over St Johns. Bowling first, Ben Woodrow took the top off the St John’s innings with 3 quick wickets to leave them reeling at 37 for 3. From then our spinners dominated to reduce them to 90 all out.
In reply our batters made light work of the total, reaching 91 in the 11th over for the loss of only 2 wickets.
Bowling – Ben Woodrow 3/23, Finn Dempsey 2/16, Louis Robinson 3/28
Batting – F Dempsey 42*, Carson Wills 21
The result meant that we finished pool play with 2 wins and a loss. Due to St Paul’s having a higher run rate we finished pool play in 2nd place and will face Tauranga Boys 1st XI tomorrow.
Tuesday 20th March
ROWING
Stella and Aoife are progressing well down at Lake Ruataniwha. The weather has been very kind so far although the wind did pick up a bit later in the day.
U16 Single
Stella will move straight to the QF after a 2nd place in the heat. After a 5th place in her heat, Aoife will need to win the repechage tomorrow morning in order to move into the QF.
U16 Double
After a tough heat, the girls managed 5th place in the heat. They will need to win the repechage tomorrow afternoon if they are to progress to the QF.
U17 Double
3rd place in the heat sees them heading straight to the QF.
A great start to their regatta, with another big day to come tomorrow. Aoife is first up at 9.20 in her single. Fingers crossed!
CRICKET
Our 1st XI had a 133 run loss to St Paul’s today. Bowling first we restricted St Paul’s 155/5 after 33 overs. However, some strong late innings hitting saw St Pauls post a formidable 284 for 9 after their 50 overs. In reply, we batted well and at 105 for 4 after 27 overs we were in a good position. St Paul’s bowled well in the final overs and in the end we were dismissed for 151.
Tomorrow the boys play St John’s and if they secure a victory here and results go their way can still qualify top of their group.
Bowling – Finn Demspey 3/50 and Louis Robinson 3/51
Batting – Fergus Lellman 24, Finn Dempsey 38
Monday 19th March
CRICKET
Our 1st XI got off to the perfect start with a confident 6 wicket victory over Whangarei Boys High. A disciplined bowling display saw us bowl out WBH for a modest 145 in the 43rd over. Everyone chipped in nicely with the ball with the wickets shared around. However, George Catto’s lively medium pace caused the most issues, as he claimed 3 for 21.
In reply Aquinas found themselves 8/2 and memories of last years opening game were we were bowled out for 36 against the same team could have surfaced. However, patient yet athuorative batting from Finn Dempsey and Louis Robinson built a strong foundation. When these two departed for 38 and 14 respecitively it was left to Carson Wills (41*) and George Catto (32*) to see us home for a well deserved victory.
VOLLEYBALL
Day one – the NZSS Volleyball champs started for AC with a narrow loss vs Marlborough Girls – nerves got the better of us but our day certainly improved from there. Two wins followed vs Mana College and Havelock North High School.
Strong performances from our awesome Libero, Olivia Hennesey and Gabby Williams smacking the ball from the middle. We’re managing some pretty serious injuries but the girls are looking forward to our game this morning vs Queen Margaret College – they are unbeaten so far.
SAILING
After our success last year and our success in the Tauranga Regatta 2 weeks ago we were placed in the Gold fleet for the start of racing on Sunday.
Unfortunately the competition was simply too strong and our young team came up against sailors who are competing internationally or have been sailing for a number of years.
We held our own in most races scoring valuable points but lost the first five races on Sunday.
The team remained upbeat and in their final race of the day thrashed Taupo Nui, the team who beat us last year for first place in the Silver fleet.
In a fleet of six boats we placed 1st, 2nd, and 4th.
Yesterday was an incredibly frustrating day with little wind for much of the day.
When we did get racing our team came out firing.
In the first race we placed one, two and three in the six boat fleet and absolute trouncing of the opposition.
In our second race we again placed 1, 2, and 4 anther resounding win.
In our final race yesterday the wind died away and we lost narrowly.
The second half of the races had to be abandoned.
We are here again this morning waiting with anticipation to get under way.
There is still a slim chance that we can get back into the Gold fleet which has been our goal for this regatta.
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