Sports News

Celebrating Sports@Dio

A reminder if you or someone you know has anything that should be shared with our community, to please fill out the Sports Recognition Form, so we can celebrate all the awesome sporting achievements out there!

Cross-Country 

On June 5th, 11 Cross-Country superstars competed at the Waikato Bay of Plenty Secondary School Cross-Country Championships, held in Kihikihi.

Below are some awesome results from the day. A few athletes made the top 12, qualifying them to compete at the NZSS Cross-Country Championship in Christchurch. 

Year 9 Girls 3km

•  Lucia Leith 10th

Junior Girls 3km

• Tessa Scott 4th

• Brooke Devaney 7th

• Bella McLauchlan-Hillary 12th

Senior Girls 4km

• Ruby Wilson 6th

The team also returned with the Top Junior Girls 3-Person Team (Tessa Scott, Brooke Devaney, Bella McLauchlan-Hillary) and the 2nd Senior Girls 3-Person Team (Ruby Wilson, Fleur Street, Maclaine Stuart).

Congratulations to all the athletes who competed.

In other Cross-Country news, Year 11 student Brooke Devaney flew to Christchurch to compete in the NZSS Cross-Country Championships from 15 to 16 June. Brooke competed as an individual athlete representing Waikato Dio and came a credible 42nd out of 90 Junior Girls 3000m runners. Brooke also competed in the WaiBop Junior Girls 4x2km Relay team, which came 7th overall. Awesome work, Brooke!

Equestrian

On June 9, St Peter's Equestrian hosted the first of two secondary school show hunter competitions for the calendar year. The first competition was the North Island Secondary Schools Show Hunter Carnival, which we had the following riders attend:

• Grace Buckley

• Lily Sandy

• Isla Sarty

• Olivia Stone

• Ruby Wilson

Congratulations to Isla Sarty, who rode her young mare, Adelphia, finishing 2nd and 4th place in the Hack 90cm Equitation and Hack 90cm classes respectively.

Congratulations to Olivia Stone, riding her pony, Camberley Shilar, who finished 6th place in the Pony 80cm and 4th in Pony Equitation 90cm.

Thank you to Equestrian Code Captain Libby Street for the photos.

Football

Congratulations to the following Dio 1st XI Football players, who were all nominated by their external football clubs to attend training and a game as part of the New Zealand Football pathway. These sessions begin an ongoing identification process for our future U16 and U17 NZ Teams. Excellent work!

• Freya Douglas

• Zoe Duggan

• Mia Humphrey

• Iona Macdonald

• Tyla Webster

• Lola Williams

Further congratulations to the following footballers who were selected for the Wahine Toa programme run by the WaiBOP Football Federation.

• Olivia Gilberd

• Niamh Meyrick

• Harper Pilcher

• Nelly Freemantle

• Charlotte Johnstone

• Millie McPhail

• Laura Barton

• Aoife Whaley

• Danica Fell

• Bella Graham

• Isabelle Stratford

The prerequisites were a love of football or futsal, a great attitude, and a keen desire to learn.

Participants can expect to experience the following:

• Fun and challenging Football & Futsal sessions.

• Football and Futsal festival games.

• Goalkeeper station.

• Referee station.

• Guest speakers.

• Nutrition and the Female Athlete workshop (which covers RED-S Syndrome and menstrual cycles).

• Leadership, self-confidence and Te Whare Tapa Whā workshops (understanding your holistic health needs).

• Coaching stations, giving the opportunity to design a football or futsal training station and deliver this to their peers during the programme.

Each cohort for the programme has a maximum of 50 participants, with a general age range of 13-14 years old, nominated by local schools, football and futsal clubs. This programme had 95 nominations across 12 schools and is being run over the school holidays on July 11 and 12 at Rototuna High School.

Well done to everyone who put their name forward for this opportunity, and to those invited to attend, have a great time!

Sport Climbing

Congratulations to our Dio 1 team, which made Dio history on June 26 by winning the Top Overall School title at the Waikato Secondary Schools' Team Climbing Championships.

The team included Renna Park (Code Captain), Sophie Carmichael, Eva Hallett, Grace Walden, Caitlin Stratford and Poppy Park.

It wasn't only our Dio 1 team that displayed some strong climbing; our Dio 2 team also had some incredible climbs that challenged and developed them. The Dio 2 team included Caitlin Willetts, Ella Blomfield, Ava Jones, Aoife Whaley, Ashleigh Darby, and Pippa Melville.

Sport climbing requires endurance, power, problem-solving, and overall body strength.

Congratulations to everyone, and thank you to Karen Carmichael and Alan Park for managing the team.

Hockey

A big shout out to Year 11 student Addison Carruthers, who has been selected into the Waikato U16 11 a-side Girls' Hockey team and will compete in the Waikato Invitational Tournament next month.

If you are keen to come along and support the team, the Tournament is being hosted here in Hamilton at the Gallagher Hockey Centre from 15-18 July. Epic stuff, Addy!

Rowing

Isabelle Melville, who was named to the New Zealand U19 Rowing Team, has entered her six-week training camp to prepare for the 2024 U19 World Championship Regatta in St Catharines, Canada, which will take place from August 21st to 25th.

Train well, Issy, as you prepare to represent New Zealand. 

Swimming

Year 13 student and Swimming Code Captain Sophie Hay competed at the NZ Open Water Championships, placing first place female overall. This placing allowed her to represent NZ at Italy's September Junior World Open Water Championships. This is Sophie’s second international opportunity, and she is one of four junior swimmers for the NZ team. As Sophie will be self-funded for this trip, she is exploring all fundraising opportunities. If you would like to or are in a position to help Sophie follow her passion and achieve her long-term goal, please touch base with her at sophiehhhay@gmail.com. All the very best, Sophie!

Upcoming Sports@Dio Events

• NISS Track Cycling Champs 9-10 July @ Cambridge Velodrome

• NZSS Swimming Champs 25-28 July @Auckland

• Central North Island Hockey Tournament 26-28 July @ Whanganui

• NISS Show Hunter Cup 3-4 August