On your marks, get, set, GO!

On quite possibly one of the hottest days of the year in Dunedin, Queen’s High School held their annual Sports Day on 14 February. The day started with house chants, with Dawson just taking out 1st place, followed by a stacked schedule of competitive and novelty events. An array of costumes, chants and words of encouragement filled the air as students battled it out to earn points for their houses and put themselves in contention for placings in our competitive events.

Sports Day 2024 was a day of successes, with stand out performances in the competitive events. In our U14 age group, Ora Winkleman had a particularly fine day, breaking the 800m record with a time of 2:46:00 (previously held by Ella Scott 2014 - 2:51:53) and the 1500m record with a time of 5:32:81 (previously held by Eve Kellher 2023 - 5:51). Bella Smith (U14) broke the shot put record, throwing 8.86m (previously held by Mereani Taana 2016 - 8.82m). Aurora Wills also broke the U15 shot put record, throwing 10.33m (previously held by Mereani Taana 2017 - 10.02m). A huge congratulations to these competitors, and the students that competed against them to push them to achieve these results.

Last but certainly not least was the most anticipated event of them all: relays. Staff vs Prefects, houses vs houses, it was all on at the tail end of the day! In the junior race, Pickering took the win, while the senior race saw Ballard triumphant. The Prefect team of Manea Renata, Billie Askerud, Sarah Donaldson and Jorja Gibbons were just too good for the staff this year, and saw them take the win (just!).

We are already counting down for 2025, thank you to the staff behind the scenes who made this day magical, and to the enthusiasm of the school!

Overall Age Group Winners

O16

1st Jorja Gibbons (1st 100m, 1st 200m, 1st Long Jump, 3rd High Jump)

2nd Manea Renata (2nd 100m, 2nd 200m, 2nd Discus)

3rd Billie Askerud (1st 400m, 1st 800m)

U16

1st Mila Tarasiewicz (1st 200m, 1st Long Jump, 2nd 400m)

2nd Madi Glossop (1st 1500m, 2nd 800m, 3rd 400m)

3rd Molly Stumbles (1st 100m, 2nd 200m)

U15

1st Seddah McGregor (1st 100m, 1st 200m, 1st 400m, 1st 800m, 1st Long Jump, 1st High Jump, 2nd Discus)

2nd Aurora Wills (1st Shot Put, 1st Discus, 2nd Long Jump)

3rd Kotomiyo Cowell (1st 1500m, 2nd 800m, 3rd 400m)

U14

1st Sylvie Haig (1st 100m, 1st 400m, 2nd 200m, 2nd 800m, 2nd High Jump, 3rd Long Jump)

2nd Bella Smith (1st Shot Put, 1st Discus, 2nd Long Jump)

3rd = Ora Winklemann (1st 800m, 1st 1500m) and Brooke Wilson (1st 200m, 1st Long Jump)

Overall House Results

1st Place: Rae

2nd Place: Dawson

3rd Place: Pickering

4th Place: Ballard

House Chant Winners

1st Place: Dawson

2nd Place: Ballard

3rd Place Equal:  Pickering and Rae

Athletics

A huge congratulations to our very own Seddah McGregor who secured second place at the Dunedin Heptathlon meet in the weekend. Seddah is a regular competitor in athletics and was amazing to watch at Sports Day, looking forward to watching your progress Seddah!

Surf Lifesaving

Southern Region Junior Champs

On the 10-11th February, Sylvie Haig competed in the Surf Lifesaving Junior Championship in Christchurch and came away with three medals. She secured gold for beach sprints and 2k beach relay, and a silver for beach flags. Amazing effort Sylvie, well done.

Southern Region Senior Champs

Claudia Haig, Eve Kelleher and Matilda Dunn also competed at Warrington Beach in Dunedin and all came away with medals. Claudia claimed silver in beach flags, Eve achieved gold in the 2k race, and Matilda secured silver in the 2k race. Claudia and Eve’s beach relay team also came away with a silver medal.

An excellent performance by four of our young athletes, well done on your achievements!

Staff Sports Corner

At Queen’s, not only do we have a fine selection of student athletes, but we also have some excellent staff members who go above and beyond in their chosen sports. From competing, to coaching and officiating, we are incredibly lucky to have great teachers and support staff who are enriching our sports department with their knowledge and passion for sport.

This year, a new section will be implemented where we will share with our school community the wonderful achievements from our staff members. We are looking forward to sharing the achievements of our staff over the course of the year with you.

Miss McKay-Wright - PE and Health

Miss Mckay-Wright will be swapping out the football boots for basketball shoes this weekend in a new “Sports Stars Showdown” basketball game. At Queen’s High School, you can find Miss McKay-Wright helping with our football team during the winter.

Sport Otago has a funding initiative called Sporting Chance, where students who require financial assistance can apply for funding for sporting opportunities. We have a number of students at our school who apply for Sporting Chance every year, and by going along to support Miss Mckay-Wright, part of your entrance fee goes towards the Sporting Chance funding.

Awesome stuff Miss McKay-Wright, good luck on the temporary code switch!

Kirsty Mason and Georgina Beck - Pathways Administrator and Student Counsellor

A huge congratulations to Ms Beck and Kirsty Mason in their recent Masters 10km walking competition. Kirsty has worked hard to be able to compete in this event, and secured 2nd place! Kai pai on your amazing efforts Kirsty.

Ms Beck topped her age group with not only 1st place, but 11th place overall in the combined male and female times and age groups. When Ms Beck is not training for walking, you can find her managing netball teams in the winter, and touch in the summer. Congratulations on your placings, we are so lucky to have you at Queen’s setting a great example for our rangatahi!

Community Sporting Opportunities: