Many SMC individuals and teams were busy with great achievements and results during the holiday break and start of Term 2. Here are some highlights.

Archery – Katie Ellis travelled to Victoria in the holidays to compete in the Australian National Youth Archery Championships in the 20 & Under age category of recurve archers. Katie received a bronze medal in the Australian National Short Distance event successfully shooting 72 arrows at 70 metres. In addition, her three-person mixed team which included two Australian male archers, was placed 4th after an exciting match-play shoot off for the mixed team bronze medal.

Athletics – Athletics New Zealand has announced the 16 athletes selected to compete at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games Compulsory Trial in Vanuatu from 9-11 May. Congratulations to Anoushka Chiswell on her selection to trial. Due to academic and hockey commitments Anoushka is unable to travel to Vanuatu.

Cricket - Niamh McKenzie, Year 9 competed in the Under 14 Cornwall Cup Cricket Tournament as a member of the Under 14 Girls Canterbury Team winning the final by one run.

Equestrian - Mimi Dyer and Millie Harris competed in the Sydney Hufglocken Grand Nationals held at the Sydney International Equestrian Center where top horses and ponies from Australia and New Zealand compete for top positions and prizes. Mimi and Millie were selected as part of the New Zealand showing team, competing in their age group. Mimi was awarded the ‘smartest on parade’.
Well done Mimi and Millie - what a great experience.

Football – Emily Lambie, Year 9 has been selected into the Mainland Pride 14th Grade Girls Futsal team who will compete at a national tournament in Palmerston North in the July holidays.

Hockey – During the holidays we had two teams travel to the North Island, competing at tournaments, gaining valuable pre season competition and team bonding.

14 girls headed off to the ANZAC tournament in Auckland. This proved a great opportunity for coaches Sunjay Ganda and Jordy Grant to see how players coped against the North Island style of play before final selection. Ruby Spencer and Pieta Surridge were selected to play for the Festival Team.

Wendy Shannahan and Kim Englebretsen took another group of players to the Wairarapa and were hosted by Wairarapa College. Ably led by our Captain of Hockey, Charlotte Lee, this team was a mix of players with some experiencing their first tournament. With Charlotte leading from the front the girls made their way to the final, rounding off a great few days with a 4-0 win over Wairarapa College 1st XI.

Karate – Nadia Edmond competed in the NZ Open and came 3rd in the 16/17 years Female Kata and 1st in the 16/17 years Female +59kg kumite. Nadia was selected to compete for New Zealand in the 16/17 years female +59kg kumite at the Karate Oceania Championships later this month.
Jamie Marshall won the U13 kumite title at the same competition.

Kayaking – Pieta Luthi will travel to Bulgaria in July as the youngest athlete in the New Zealand U18 Junior Team to compete at the World Championship Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint event for U18’s and U23’s. This is Pieta’s second time representing New Zealand. In February she represented New Zealand at the Canoe Sprint Oceania championships and Grand Prix 2 in Sydney.

Netball – The Netball season kicked off in full swing this week with a total of 28 teams playing in the Christchurch Netball Centre competitions.
In addition, our Year 9-13 teams will compete on a Wednesday in the School Sport Canterbury competition.

 After joining SMC last year Lina Pale has worked hard within the senior netball environment and has been rewarded with her selection into the Aotearoa Maori Netball International Secondary School team and will contest the International Schoolgirls Netball Challenge on the Gold Coast from 28 May – 1 June.

A group of 19 players were fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to Australia during the holidays. Our teams played against Aquinas College and Helensvale State High School before competing in the International Netball Festival on the Gold Coast. Harriet Kitchingman, Jem Vaughan and Lina Pale received ‘Most Valuable’ awards for their contribution both on and off the court. The A Team won the U18 tournament with the B Team in 4th place. Pre-season tournaments are a big part of our build up to the competition season and are invaluable for player development. As well as having two games of netball each day the group had a fun filled day at Movieworld and managed to hit the shops and beaches on a couple of occasions. An amazing bunch of girls who were all wonderful role models for SMC.

Rowing – Congratulations to Gaby McKellar and Claudia Bethell (both Y12) who were selected into the South Island U18 Rowing Team. Gaby was in the winning eight and Claudia was cox of the quad that also won both races for the South Island. The South Island team were the overall winners of the North vs South U18 Regatta with the South Island claiming honours courtesy of winning 10 of the 16 events contested over two days, amassing 71 points to their rivals 61.

Volleyball – Mia Thomson attended a selection camp during the holidays and was named as a non-travelling reserve for the New Zealand U19 team. She was selected into the New Zealand U19 Development team and will compete at the Oceania event in Auckland during the year.

Water Polo – Following on from a successful South Island championship win our Water Polo team travelled to Rotorua at the beginning of the holidays to contest the Div 2 Nationals. With some big wins over the weekend the girls qualified for the final against Epsom Girls. Scores were even at full time forcing a penalty shoot out. Epson Girls eventually claimed the title 6-4. Josie Persico and Violette Perry were named in the tournament team.

Water skiing – Emily Milner was up at Lake Karapiro during the holidays at the Water Skiing Nationals. Despite a horrible crash on the jump on day two Emily still managed the following medals including the U14 Overall Champion award:
U14 Girls Slalom – Silver Medal
U14 Girls Tricks – Gold Medal
U14 Girls Jump – Silver Medal
NZ U14 Girls Overall Champion – Gold Medal
Emily has been named as non-travelling reserve for the Junior Worlds team who compete in Spain during the year.