EDUCATION: WESTLAKE GIRLS
Sizzling Success
at Summer Tournament The National Summer Tournament was an outstanding week of achievement for Westlake Girls High School. Congratulations to all of our students who competed in tennis, rowing, volleyball, softball, 3x3 basketball, water polo and triathlon. Here is a rundown of our top successes... Tennis Our premier tennis team retained the New Zealand National title for the fifth time in a row at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Tennis Championships held in Christchurch in late March. The final was a closely fought match against St Kentigern College and the match ended 3-3, but Westlake won more games in the final so were the eventual New Zealand title winners. Elys Ventura also recently won the Senior Girls Champion of Champions Singles Trophy.
The team (managed by Linda Clouston, left) from second left: Amily Suga, Deshma Weerapperuma, Elys Ventura, Sadheera Weerapperuma, and Vivian Yang.
Volleyball The WGHS Premier Volleyball team completed another exceptional season, winning every game and every tournament they have been entered in. They were the North Harbour Super League Champions, the Auckland Premier League Champions, gold medallists at the Auckland Champs tournament, and recently finished the season off winning Gold in Palmerston North at the NZSS Indoor Volleyball National tournament.
Rachael Webster-Vindiri, Emme Shearer, Tamara Otene and Kaila Ru-Tearoiti were all named in the Tournament Team. Emme was the team captain and was also named as MVP for the tournament. Maadi Cup Westlake Girls High School competed at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rowing Championship (Maadi Cup) held on Lake Karapiro from 25 - 30 March. The regatta is the largest school sports event in the Southern Hemisphere with 2,166 athletes from 131 schools competing. Westlake’s squad of 37 athletes performed beyond expectation with seven first-time
Gold medal winners in the Girls U17 4x+ from left: Nyla Bunyan, Devon Thorpe, Jamie Whittaker (cox), Olivia Anderson and Sylvia Leadley. Photo credit: Conrad Blind – Picture Show Ltd.
medallists and 14 first-time A finalists. The highlight was our Girls U17 squad who secured their first ever title in the event, comfortably defeating the field finishing a full three seconds ahead of nearest rivals Timaru Girls High School. Nyla Bunyan was recently selected to trial for the North Island Rowing Team for the annual North vs South Regatta. 3x3 Basketball Westlake Girls High School teams won three Grades at the 3×3 National Secondary Schools Basketball Tournament. The Senior Girls Open Grade team beat Tauranga Girls in their final to win the New Zealand Open Grade title, the Junior Elite Grade team beat Tai Wananga in the final to win the Junior Elite Grade title and the Junior Girls Open Grade team beat Mt Maunganui College in the final to win the Junior Open Grade title.
Champion volleyballers from left: Rachael Webster-Vindiri, Kaila Ru-Tearoiti, Elizabeth Howard, Tamara Otene, Emme Shearer, Juliette Vukets and Kaia Pola. Photo credit: Julie Maree Photography.
A total of 98 girls teams from across New Zealand were entered in the tournament and at the end of the week the WGHS team finished in first place after winning all nine of their matches. They won the quarter-final 3-1 against Aorere College, won the semifinal 3-0 against Trident High School, and won the final 3-1 against Otumoetai College.
86
Issue 98 - May 2019 www.channelmag.co.nz
The Junior Open and Junior Elite Champs, from back left: Rebecca Moors, Sarah Moors, Izzy Pugh and Jaelah Kapsin. From front left: Mackenzie Chatfield, Holly Williams, Holly Maddix and Amiya Fotu.