From the Director of Sport – Peter Finch
Recent events have prompted the writer to consider how we as a school are doing in the area of co-curricular activity and whether having one or two outstanding achievements each year is better than consistently performing across a myriad of activities
Most recently was the outstanding performances of our Super Eight cultural competitors. Hosting this event challenges the staff to plan, organise and oversee a competition that involves about 500 competitors and a large support pool of tutors, coaches and adjudicators. Performances across 15 different formats tested the diversity and depth of most school’s and to have walked away with four first places and as many seconds and thirds emphasised our ability to host major events and demonstrate the commitment and calibre of culture at PNBHS.
Winter sports provide a major focus to a great many students and challenges the staff to be able to cover well over 100 teams. At the time of writing we have received 1685 student registrations for winter codes, granted many boys are registered for more than one but a fantastic statistic in a climate where nationally, numbers are dwindling. Staff involvement sees currently 135 involved in supporting a winter code which indicates quite a few are contributing to more than one sport, a fact that must be the envy of schools all over the country. Additionally, two of our coaches come from our ancillary staff and 12 more coaches are from our extended community.
I was fortunate enough to be present when our school cross country relay teams took on the best of Wellington and some other invitational teams. We picked up the Senior Boys’ title and ran in second in both the Intermediates and Juniors with a course record as a bonus. Most of the opposition teams had one or more national level competitor but the difference was our depth from runners one to six.
A rugby initiative this year following on from successful models in cricket and football, has seen the resurgence of the mid week U65Kg competition that offers the smaller lads an even playing field with arguably the most experienced coaching team in the country. Many of these boys have weekend work, play other sports or find the jump into Saturday morning Rugby too daunting. This initiative only adds to the character building opportunities the school supports and to the depth of that particular code.
Sporting success in first teams has become big business and there are several routes to achieving this. Rather than picking the plums from other schools as many choose to do, I would support a model that invests in all who want to be here and wish to be their best.
An architectural perspective may support the fact that the potential height of a building is constrained by the integrity of the foundation and size of the footprint. At Palmy Boys’ the history, traditions and ethics provide the most solid foundation available and the combined efforts of staff and students create a substantial footprint or base.
I wish all involved in arts, culture and sport the very best over the winter terms.
Annual Cross Country
Well done to all our young men who took part in the Cross Country race at the Keebles Farm. Congratulations to the following young men on their placings:
Senior: (right above)
1st – Benjamin Wall
2nd – Andre Le Pine-Day
3rd – Luke Scott
Intermediate: (left above)
1st – Liam Wall
2nd – Nelson Doolan
3rd – Luke Brown
Junior: (centre)
1st – Reuben Duker
2nd – Fergus Doolan
3rd – Max Connor
Wellington SS Cross Country Relay Championship
NEW RECORD: Congratulations to the Senior Relay Team of Benjamin Wall, Liam Wall, Andre Le-Pine Day, Samuel Phillips, Robert Norman and Luke Scott who came first and broke the record previously held by Whanganui Collegiate for 10 years at the Wellington Secondary Schools Cross Country Relay Championship on Wednesday 8 May with a time of 39 mins 10 secs.
This is the fourth time PNBHS has entered teams into this competition. With around 300 runners, consisting of all the top Wellington and Kapiti Schools, this event gives our runners top competition.
The race was held at Karori Park on a course of mixed terrain from flat to a technical ascent and descent with a total distance of 2km per lap. Each team had six runners, running a lap each.
Clay Target Shooters make a promising start
The clay target shooters got their season off to an encouraging start at the Murray Luke Memorial shoot in Taupo in early May. A bumper crowd of 42 teams turned up and our ‘A’ team finished 6th– 10 points (out of 500) behind the winners. Glenn Stringer was our top shot finishing on 98 / 100 points. What was most pleasing was that our shooters shot steadily throughout the day, rather than the ‘feast and famine’ approach they have had the last couple of years. Also encouraging was that a couple of our ‘B’ team shooters (Tom Greig and Greg Wood) put up numbers that matched the ‘A’ team. This puts genuine pressure on selections as the season progresses. So, while not perfect, there was a lot to be happy with.
Manawatu Secondary School Orienteering Championships
Top Juniors:
Sam Lohrey 1st
Fergus Doolan 2nd
Lachie Nevill 3rd
Top Seniors:
Caleb Botcher 1st
Ben Irvine 2nd
Sam McFadzean 3rd
Our PNBHS team won the Secondary Schools trophy.
St Pat’s Classic Junior A Basketball
On Friday 26th and Saturday 27th the Junior A basketball team attended the Annual St Pat’s Invitational in Wellington. Friday saw the team top their pool with a 78 – 46 victory over Rongotai College and a 55 – 28 win over Wellington College. Our semi-final on Saturday was a rematch against Wellington College. We won this game 43 – 35 putting us into the final for the 5th year in a row. The final again saw us matched against a previous opponent, Rongotai College. The first quarter was a close affair with the junior A’s having a slight edge at 14 – 13, but we pulled away in the remaining three quarters to finally win 55 – 36 to round off a great two days of basketball.
Term 1 Water Polo Report
Term 1 was a very busy time for the school’s water polo players. In a first, we had two teams playing on Thursday nights in the Wellington league. The young Premier A team also headed to Division 2 Nationals in Rotorua.
The Senior A team played in the A grade and performed with distinction, winning five from six games to finish top of the table in the round robin. In the final against the ever strong St Pat’s Town, the team tried valiantly but could not find the back of the net with regularity. The 10-4 loss did not reflect how close the game actually was.
The Senior B team stepped up in the B grade against other schools’ top teams. They team managed to win all six of their games in the round robin which was a very impressive effort. The final against St Pat’s Silverstream was an enthralling encounter. Ultimately, a poor second quarter where we forgot to shoot the ball proved costly. Despite a massive fightback the team could not close the gap and lost 5-4.
A combination of players from the Senior A and Senior B team headed to Rotorua during the second week of the school holidays with high hopes for a good finish at the Division 2 Secondary School Nationals. The team won their first round robin game against Mt Roskill Grammar comfortably 17-0. Against Long Bay College, the team never really got out of second gear in winning 5-2. The third game was a 5 all draw against John Paul College from Rotorua in a game where the outcome didn’t really matter. This put the boys into a quarter final against Tauranga Boys’ B team. To say we dominated the game everywhere except the scoresheet is an understatement. The 6-4 loss was extremely disappointing as we had taken 4 times as many shots as our opposition.
In the Semi-final for 5th – 8th we were comfortable in beating St Kentigern’s College B 7- 4. The 5th – 6th playoff game against Rosmini College was a great game, with neither side being able to establish dominance. The 6 all draw was a fair result. The 5thequal finish was certainly not what was hoped for, but, given that all but two of the team are back next year, and four are still juniors, the lessons learnt will be very valuable.
North Island Secondary School Swimming Championship Report
On Saturday the 11 May, 13 young men competed in the North Island Secondary Schools Swimming Championships at Freyberg Pool in Palmerston North. The level of competition was high and the team performed very well. We finished as the 3rdschool overall and 2ndschool in the boys section.
Individual highlights
Jake Thompson: 1stin the 15 and Over 100m Breaststroke and 3rd50m Breaststroke.
Alex Odom: 2ndin the 14 and Under 100m Freestyle (School record), 2ndin the 50m Backstroke and 3rdin the 50m Freestyle
Connor McKay: 2ndin the 14 and Under 200m Breaststroke
Levi Holman: 2ndin the 15 and Over 200m Breaststroke
Arahan Pilkington: 3rd in the 14 and Under 50m Breaststroke and 3rdin the 200m Breaststroke
Reid McDowell: 3rd in the 15 and Over 200 Freestyle
Marcus Blok: 3rdin the 14 and Under 200m Backstroke
The A relay team of Reid McDowell, Jake Thompson, Alex Odom and Levi Holman
Photos of School Swimming Sports
1st XV Rugby to Date
- vs Lindisfarne: 36-19
- vs St Paul’s Collegiate: 15-38
- vs Auckland Grammar: 13-61
- vs Francis Douglas: 5-19 Facebook Report
- vs Scots College: 31-35
- vs St Pat’s Town: 31-14
- vs Wellington College: 33-12 Photos of Match
- vs Gisborne BHS: 32-25 Photos of Match