How lucky are we that we have so much sport to watch at the moment and not just at St Margaret's. After the events of last year, everyone is soaking up all the opportunities offered to them to get to games and support their favourite teams across the country.

The Tuesday night Basketball competition was postponed so that players could attend the Breakers game in Christchurch which had a huge turnout. Needless to say, it has been a bit of a juggle to reschedule these games as the sporting week is very full. Our gym is pretty much fully booked throughout the week.

The last couple of weeks have seen many of our SMC athletes out and about enjoying this stunning weather. The timing has been perfect for the cross country and road races not to mention the adventure race. Basketball, badminton, hockey, football and netball are well underway as our teams battle it out in the first rounds.

It takes an immense amount of stamina and drive for everyone involved in sport at SMC, athletes, coaches, managers and of course, supporters are all working together this term to be the very best they can be. Good luck one and all.

Adventure racing
SMC had its first-ever team compete in the South Island six-hour Hillary Outdoors Challenge. The girls did an outstanding job navigating on foot and bike around Spencer Park to be the first all-girls team to finish placing 11th out of 21 teams in all categories. Well done Katherine, Anna, Anita, Hellen, Lauren, Hannah, Eve and Caitlin creating an endurance masterpiece.

Lauren writes; On Sunday the 16th of May, eight St Margaret’s students braved the early morning cold as the first-ever SMC adventure racing team took part in the Macpac Hillary Challenge, an adventure race that consisted of three stages. We set off from the start along with 20 other teams from around the South Island. After completing the first stage of an orienteering sprint we transitioned onto our bikes. The second part of the race was a mountain bike rogaine where the challenge was to bike to as many checkpoints as possible in the allocated time (just under four hours). After a quick lunch break, we carried on to the third and final stage which was a traditional rogaine format, to be completed in around two hours. We finished the course in just under six hours, a great effort from all the girls involved, placing 1st out of the three all-girls teams.” Lauren Warne

Basketball
Basketball is well underway this term and with 19 teams and over 150 players, we can say the sport is still going strong here at SMC. Our Senior A Basketball team had their first two games, with one win to Rangi and one loss to Rangiora. It has been great to see everyone in the senior team step up this year and work together as a team under the watchful eye of our coach Bernice Lough. Keep up the good work team.
We have a Year 5/6 basketball team who are playing together for the first time this term. Their amazing score of SMC Magic 12-0 versus Cotswold reflected an excellent game for them all. Well done to Isobella Blakely, player of the day, who was acknowledged for great dribbling, passing and even scored a goal. Everyone played exceptionally well making it a good start to the basketball season.

Cross Country
The ISSA Zone Cross Country was held on Monday 17th May at Roto Kohatu in perfect conditions. St Margaret’s College was represented by Years 5-8. Congratulations to all of those students that took part and especially to the following runners who finished in the top 10, Maisie Diver, Isobella Blakely, Leah Moore, Alice Murfitt, Emma Crawford, Poppy Blakely, Annabel Scott and Isabella Bridge. We are proud to say we have Leah Moore Year 6 and Issy Bridge Year 8 going to the CPS Cross Country on 23rd June. We wish them all the best.

Gymnastics
Last weekend 22nd and 23rd May Cherry Zhu Y7 took part in the 2021 Rhythmic Gymnastics South Island Championships hosted by Olympia Gymnastics Club at the Lincoln Event Centre. This is the last competition of this kind for qualifying for the National Championship competition in Auckland on 20 July. In the level 6 individual, Cherry won 1st in Hoop, 1st in Ball, 1st in Ribbon and 1st overall. She also, alongside five other girls, won 1st place in the Grade 6 group. 

Hockey
Congratulations to the following girls who have made it into the U18 Canterbury rep hockey teams.

Canterbury U18A - Issy Story, Niamh McKenzie, Mezzy Surridge

Canterbury U18B - Anneliese Millard, Poppy Williams, Molly Williams, Piper Smith, Chelsea Parrett

A huge congratulations to SMC old girl Charlotte Lee, who has just been named in the NZ U21 hockey team along with one of our coaches, Alice McIlroy-Foster. Watch this space for more news on Charlotte very soon.

Netball
We have an amazing total of 26 netball teams across the school. Our competitions vary from after school on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, the Saturday competition at Hagley Park and our Senior A team playing in the premier grade on a Tuesday night. Over the coming weeks, we will report on each team and their progress to date.

Road Race - Canterbury Secondary Schools
Hagley Park may well have been knee-deep in autumn leaves but the temperatures on the day of the road race were in the high 20’s. It was a great day out for all those involved, in the heat!!!

Congratulations to our Year 9 and U16 Teams who both came first,

Year 9: Margo Dalling - 5th, Gemma Sitjes - 8th and team of Margo Dalling, Gemma Sitjes, Lulu Inglis and Lily Beaven - 1st.

U16: Anna Babington - 4th, Samantha Lascelles -7th, and team of Anna Babington, Samantha Lascelles, Shylah Bateman and Phoebe Wilson - 1st.

We had two senior girls in the over 16 race, Evie Johnson and Katherine Babington, who both ran extremely well on the day. Many thanks to Sharon Lloyd who helped coordinate our runners on the day. Who knew you didn't need a jacket in Hagley Park in May?

Rowing
Following up on our story on Jemma Burrowes, in the last SMC sports newsletter, we are immensely proud to congratulate Jemma, who at the Canterbury Rowing Association Awards was awarded the Canterbury Rowing Association Female Novice Rower of the Year award. Fantastic work, especially for someone who had only been rowing for such a short time.