Sports at Dio

This is a reminder to our parents/caregivers to keep an eye on our Enrolmy page. If you want to learn more about what sports are being offered this term, visit the sports section of the school website and read through our Co-Curricular Sports Guide. This is your one-stop shop for sports, fees, uniform requirements, and season dates. We are continually adding sports that are upcoming in Term 2/3.

Also, a reminder: if you want to have a recent sporting achievement celebrated on our Sports@Dio social media, create a submission through our Sport Recognition Form, which can be found on the sports section of the school website.

Celebrating Sports@Dio

Below is a collection of individual and team sporting achievement updates from various codes we offer here at Dio, including students participating in their chosen code at a representative level or codes we don't offer but support.

Badminton

Twenty-plus students are coming together each week this term to learn the game of badminton, play socially, and train for their weekly competitions. Three teams are playing in the secondary school competition each week. Dio Blue is currently in the top spot in Division 1, while our Dio Red and Dio Blue remain competitive and are in great spots. Watch this space to see how the season progresses!

Cross-Country

On Tuesday, 21 May, our Cross-Country team competed in the Central Zone's Cross-Country event, held here in Hamilton at Tauhara Park.

Despite the weather, our girls dominated and came away with some awesome results in their respective age groups.

Year 9 Girls:

• Lucia Leith 4th
• Annabelle Mills 17th

Junior U16:

• Tessa Scott 2nd
• Brooke Devaney 3rd
• Bella Mclauchlan-Hillary 4th
• Ava Jones 7th
• Sophia Chaney 10th
• Olivia Gibson 11th

Senior Girls:

• Ruby Wilson 1st

Congratulations to all of our athletes who competed!

On Wednesday, we had 11 Cross-Country superstars compete at the Waikato Bay of Plenty Secondary School Cross-Country Champs, held in Kihikihi.

Following are the awesome results from the day with a few athletes making top 12, qualifying them to have the opportunity to compete at NZSS Cross-Country next weekend 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

Congratulations to all athletes that competed 

Get2Go - Hillary Challenge

On 19 May, a brave group of eight senior students (Years 11-13) competed in the 2024 Hillary Challenge in Taupo.

The team had to complete navigation-based outdoor team challenge activities alternating between foot and mountain bike stages. They had a 6-hour time limit to find as many of the 58 checkpoints around the course as possible.

The students had an awesome day out in the sun, coming away with the top Girls' team title and 10th overall out of 21 teams. Well done, girls!

Gymnastics

Congratulations to Year 9 student Mila Rastrick on her silver medal win in the Level 8 Aerobic category at the Tier 1 Competitive Event for NZ Secondary Schools Gymnastics.

Mila's final scores also qualify her to compete at the New Zealand Gymnastics Championship in October.

Awesome stuff, Mila!

Equestrian

The following riders made up our 2024 North Island Secondary School’s Horse Trials team, which competed at the two-day event on May 18 and 19 at the National Equestrian Centre in Taupō.

• Jasmine Berejoni riding Scarred
• Grace Buckley riding Galaxy Rif Raf
• Felicity Jones riding Zabu
• Libby Street riding Just Rocky

The weekend brought some stunning weather, which helped make for a great weekend at a spectacular venue. All four riders completed a nice dressage test before jumping courses on the indoor show. Unfortunately, we had the odd rail and a couple of stops. The cross-country course on the second day also presented a couple of stops, but our riders came home with a smile and a happy horse.

The competition was a nice challenge for both riders and horses, and the team again received great support from their parents. Well done to everyone.

Hockey

Congratulations to Year 13 student and 1st XI player Samantha Taylor for being selected for this season's Waikato Wintec U18 Team. Old Girl Isobel McNally (Class of 2023) has also been selected for this team. The team will compete in the national tournament later in July. Congrats, girls!

Netball

Our teams played in three weeks of competition. All our teams are playing great netball and displaying great sportsmanship. All teams have been graded and now move into competition games. Good luck to all our teams as they play their games over the coming weeks.

Our Premier team is into week 5 and has had some great games on the court, with two wins up their sleeves. They have focused on strength and conditioning this season, and the results show. Players are hitting their targets in testing, which has meant extra work. But when you ask the girls how they feel when hitting their targets, they feel great. They never thought they would do it. How awesome is that feedback?!

Congratulations to the following players who have made representative teams across the Waikato:

Hamilton City Centre

• U18 - Amy Thomas
• U16B - Klaudia Horsfall
• U16B - Maclaine Stuart
• U16 Development - Grace Fuller
• U16 Development - Amy Bryant
• U14 Development - Ruby McMahon
• U14 Development - Peyton Cruickshank
• U14 Development - Pippa Bushell
• U14 Development - Paige Aylward
• U14 Development - Lucia Leith

Eastern Waikato

• U18 - Tia Lord

Te Awamutu

• U16 - Indy Furniss
• U16 - Olivia Wrathall

Cambridge

• U16 - Ryan Woods
• U14 - Cayla Buitendach

Squash

On 30 May, four students, Charlee Gubb, Emily Gubb, Indy Furniss, and Parascheva Motofelea, entered the Waikato Secondary School Individual Champs. All the girls had a great day and improved their games as the day went on. Congratulations to Indy for winning Division 3 and Parascheva for winning Division 4.

Swimming

Congratulations to our swimmers who each put in a mighty effort at the Waikato Secondary Schools' Swim Champs on May 30, again taking the Top Girls' School in 2024.

It was an exciting day of team spirit and impressive racing, including personal bests. Well done to everyone, and thank you to Deahnn Tinsley for supporting the team as Team Manager.

Highlights

• Girls U14 100m IM Relay (A) - 1st
• Back - Sophie Mohacsi
• Breast - Gemma Hay
• Fly - Alanna Rawson
• Free - Tessa Scott

• Girls U14 100m IM Relay (B) - 4th
• Back - Nelly Freemantle
• Breast - Ruby Wiggins
• Fly - Taylor McCarthy
• Free - Cayla Buitendach

• Girls 15+ 100m IM Relay - 3rd
• Back - Indiana Riley
• Breast - Isabelle Blackmore
• Fly - Ariella Riley
• Free - Sophie Hay

• Girls U14 100m Free Relay (A) - 1st
• Taylor McCarthy
• Gemma Hay
• Tessa Scott
• Alanna Rawson

• Girls U14 100m Free Relay (B) - 3rd
• Sophia Mohacsi
• Nelly Freemantle
• Ruby Wiggins
• Cayla Buitendach

• Girls 15+ 100m Free Relay (A) - 1st
• Ariella Riley
• Sophie Hay
• Harriet Vellenoweth
• Indiana Riley

• Girls 15+ 100m Free Relay (B) - 6th
• Isabelle Blackmore
• Jacqueline Li
• Poppy Leyland
• Hayley McIntyre

• Girls U13 100m Butterfly
• Alanna Rawson - 1st

• Girls 14-15 100m Butterfly
• Ariella Riley - 1st
• Tessa Scott - 2nd

• Girls U13 100m Backstroke
• Gemma Hay - 1st

• Girls 14-15 100m Backstroke
• Hayley McIntyre - 4th

• Girls 14-15 200 IM
• Ariella Riley - 1st

• Girls 14-15 100m Breaststroke
• Isabelle Blackmore - 4th

• Girls 16+ 100m Breaststroke
• Sophie Hay - 3rd

• Girls U13 100m Freestyle
• Sophie Mohacsi - 4th

• Girls 14-15 100m Freestyle
• Indiana Riley - 2nd

• Girls U13 50m Butterfly
• Alanna Rawson - 1st

• Girls 16+ 50m Butterfly
• Harriet Vellenoweth - 2nd

• Girls 14-15 50m Breaststroke
• Isabelle Blackmore - 2nd

• Girls 16+ 50m Breaststroke
• Jacqueline Li - 5th

• Girls U13 50m Backstroke
• Poppy Leyland - 1st

• Girls 14-15 50m Backstroke
• Ruby Wiggins - 3rd

• Girls 16+ 50m Backstroke
• Jacqueline Li - 5th

• Girls U13 50m Freestyle
• Poppy Leyland - 2nd

• Girls 14-15 50m Freestyle
• Indiana Riley - 1st

• Girls 16+ 50m Freestyle
• Harriet Vellenoweth - 4th

• Girls U13 200 Freestyle
• Alanna Rawson - 1st
• Gemma Hay - 3rd

• Girls 14-15 200m Freestyle
• Indiana Riley - 2nd
• Tessa Scott - 3rd

• Girls U13 100m IM
• Sophie Mohacsi - 3rd
• Cayla Buitendach - 5th

• Girls 14-15 100m IM
• Ariella Riley - 1st
• Tessa Scott - 4th

Sport Climbing

Over the weekend of May 11, three of our climbers competed at the Waikato Climbing Regionals hosted by Extreme Edge, Hamilton. Renna Park, Sophie Carmichael and Poppy Park had a great day representing the Waikato Climbing Club and scoring some placings.

Renna placed 1st in the Open Lead category and 2nd in the Open top rope. Sophie placed 3rd in Open Lead and 9th in Open top rope, and Poppy placed 7th in U18 lead and 6th in U14 top rope. Thanks to Extreme Edge, Hamilton, for hosting such a cool competition!

The climbing team looks forward to the Waikato Secondary School Champs on June 26!

Upcoming Sports@Dio Events

• NISS Show Hunter Carnival 9 June @ St Peters, Cambridge
• NZSS Cross Country Champs 15-16 June, Christchurch
• WSS Weightlifting Champs 23 June, Hamilton