National reps compete across a range of codes

NEW ZEALAND SELECTIONS

A number of Dio students have achieved sporting success this year, gaining selection to represent New Zealand in a variety of sports.

Chantelle May was selected to represent New Zealand at the World Junior Fencing Championships in Dubai in April. She said of her experience: “World Juniors was a challenging but fantastic opportunity to get back to competing internationally. While we have been isolated from the rest of the world, most of the other competitors had been competing internationally for the past 10 months. I drew a tough poule with five fencers ranked in the World U-20 top 25 and one in the top five. While challenging, there is no better opportunity to grow and learn as a fencer. Since World Juniors I have been selected to represent New Zealand in August in the U-20 and Open age groups at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in London. Back home, I was part of the Dio team that won the Auckland Secondary Schools’ Women’s Foil Teams competition in May, retaining the title for the seventh year in a row!”

Maddie Kelso-Heap and Lucy Shennan represented New Zealand at the Oceania Athletics Championships in Mackay, Australia, in June. Maddie reports: “Unfortunately I got COVID the week before I few to Australia, which made competing quite challenging. I didn’t get the results or times I was after, however the experience was amazing and I had a really great time! And it was super cool wearing the fern!”

Lucy Shennan came third in the U-18 Women’s 400m final with a personal best time of 56.08. Maddie and Lucy, with their other two New Zealand teammates, Marielle Venida and Kimberly Walsh, came second in the U-18 Women’s 4 x 400m relay. Also in June, Rebecca Hounsell represented New Zealand at the Australia Youth Climbing Championships in Sydney. We were delighted to hear that Rebecca defeated all the Australian rock climbers in the Youth A Female Bouldering discipline in front of their home crowd! We are waiting to hear if Rebecca will compete in the World Championships in Texas in August. Congratulations Rebecca!

Mackenzie Marlo (12MI) recently travelled to Melbourne with the New Zealand Equestrian Team for the Oceania Championships held in Victoria at the Melbourne International 3-Day Event early in June. After four hardfought days of competition, Mackenzie’s

Rebecca Hounsell Mackenzie Marlo

team won the competition against Australia, and Mackenzie was the youngest rider in the competition! Well done Mackenzie – we are all so proud!

Millie Quin was selected to represent New Zealand at the FINA World Championships in Budapest in June. Millie was joined by Dio Old Girls Morgan McDowall, Libby Gault, Sophie Shorter-Robinson and Isabelle Jackson as the travelling reserve. The Head Coach of the team is Dio’s Director of Sport, Angie Winstanley-Smith.

Sienna French will participate in the World Trampoline Cup series in Portugal and Switzerland. The competition is scheduled for June and early July. Championships in The Hague, Netherlands early in July, an event in which many of our sailing sporting heroes have been notable winners. Also in July, fellow Dio sailor Isla Barker will travel to Denmark to represent our country at the European Championships after picking up the national Opti title.

Millie Quin has also been selected for the World Youth Water Polo Championships in Serbia in August. She will be joined by fellow students Lauren Batchelor and Sophie Gardiner, with Kasey McDowall named as a non-travelling reserve.

We congratulate these girls and wish them well as they challenge themselves to make their mark on the international sporting stage.

Isla Barker