BADMINTON
CYCLING
Back Row, left to right: Stephen Barkley, Shaun Keightley, David Sutcliffe, Andrew Kinsella, Rhys Alexander, Alistair Hunt, Mr Heaps
(Coach).
BADMINTON 1989 again saw badminton in the school fall into two distinct areas of activity: a small, but keen group of students playing for enjoyment and relaxation under the guidance of Mr Grimwood and Miss Scott each Wednesday after school in the gymnasium (we are very grateful to those two staff members for the time given throughout the winter season) and the school team which practised every Monday night under the guidance of Mr Heaps. The school team, chosen from trials held in mid-March, was: Shaun Keightley, Rhys Alexander, David Sutcliffe, Stephen Barkley, Alistair Hunt and Ward Amer. Even though some of the team members had had some experience at inter-school level , the team was young and this year was to be seen as one of learning and consolidation . The first inter-school match was against Hamilton Boys' High School. Only David Sutcliffe was able to win singles giving a one to eight loss overall. Wellington College. With Andrew Kinsella replacing Ward Amer, we managed a comprehensive win nine to three in the singles and three to nil in the doubles. Rhys Alexander played very well to beat the top Wellingtgon player in his reverse single, and David Sutcliffe survived a very long, gutsy struggle in his singl~ . ten to fifteen, fifteen to thirteen , eighteen to sixteen. However, all team members played well with everyone registering at least one win . Taranaki Secondary Schools Badminton Championships: Shaun Keightly and Rhys Alexander in the senior singles and doubles and Stephen Barkley and Alistair Hunt in the junior events. Rhys Alexander reached the finals of the singles losing twenty-one to eight to Stewart McDonald of Spotswood, and the two reached the final of the doubles losing twenty-one to seven to the Spotswood combination. In the juniors Barkley and Hunt were losing semi-finalists in the singles and lost in the doubles final to the pair from Francis Douglas twentyone to nine. Whilst not a return to the performances of a few seasons
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ago when we dominated these events, it was certainly an improvement on last year's record. The New Zealand Secondary Schools Badminton Championships (Taranaki Division) was played at Stratford in July. The only other team entered was Stratford High School, and in our match with them the team played above themselves, with Sutcliffe and Alexander winning their singles, and both doubles pairs beating Stratfords number two combination giving a match score of four all. Our team won nine to eight on a games countback. This win entitled the team to represent Taranaki at the Central Zone Final in Rotorua. Here, unfortunately, inexperience did show. First up was Rotorua Boys' High School, representing the Bay of Plenty, and here we lost six to two with Sutcliffe winning his singles and Alexander and Keightley winning their reverse doubles. However, Barkley only lost eighteen to fifteen in the third game of a very long match. The afternoon tie saw us against the Waikato representatives , our old foe, Hamilton Boys' High School who were the eventual winners of the competition . Here we were outclassed eight to nil. Matamata College , representing Thames Valley were the last opponents, and we lost seven to one. At the beginning of the third term, the school championships were held . Winning the Cook and Lister Cup for the senior singles was Rhys Alexander defeating Shaun Keightley and Stephen Barkley defeated Alistair Hunt to win the Isaac Cup for the junior singles. The following players represented Taranaki at junior level in 1989: Under Sixteen Number One team : S. Keightley and D. Sutcliffe; Number Two Team: A. Hunt, S. Dingle, A. Kinsella, S. Barkley, P. Meredith . Results from Taranaki Age Group Championships in 1989: Runner-up Under Sixteen Singles: S. Keightley. Winner Under Sixteen Doubles: S. Keightley. Runner-up Under Sixteen Doubles: S. Dingle and A. Hunt. Shaun Keightley, Rhys Alexander and David Sutcliffe received honours awards this year. It has been a mixed season, but the experience gained will be of good value to all team members when they return in 1990.
Competitive cycling covers quite a variety of contests including Mountain Bikes, BMX, Sprints, Pursuits, Time Trials, Track and Road Racing and even Slow Races. One of the newer forms of racing is the cycling Time Trial section of the Tri-athlon and School has been well represented here with Todd Wolfe, Tim Pratt and others. The more conventional cyclists were prominent in Road Racing and School had several enthusiastic riders who turned out at Thursday U.P. to gain extra experience and to explore some of the lesserknown roads. Cottam and Ewington Ltd were generous in allowing School cyclists to leave their expensive machines in their display room rather than risk them in the school bike racks . They also allowed the use of their smoko room as a changing room . One of the aims of U.P . was to coach and select the riders to ride in an inter-school teams' Time Trial at Levin for the Sir Bernard Fergusson Shield. At one stage we considered selecting two teams because of the enthusiasm displayed but transport for the extra bods and bicycles proved a major problem and we reverted to a squad of seven- Brent Herdson , Chris Avery, Paul Rosser, Allan Rayner, Paul Rust, Allan Murray and Chris Flay. It would be nice to be able to say that all the training paid off at Levin but that was not so. Although a minute quicker than School's 1988 team , they were still three minutes slower than Auckland Grammar, the winners. We will have to hope for better results in 1990. A dozen or so pupils competed in the New Plymouth Amateur Cycling Club's Road races. The most successful was Chris Flay who raced in the Under Fourteen group and recorded the fastest time regularly each week. However, he lost some of his zip towards the end of the season and in the Central (Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu) Championships had to settle for fourth place. One of the three who edged him out of the title was Nigel Wood (School) who was competing in only his sixth cycle race and who filled second place. Next year both these riders will be moving up to the fourteen and fifteen year old group and should have no trouble holding their own there . Other riders from School to acquit themselves with credit on the local scene were Chris Avery and Brent Herdson in the Junior Grade and in the fourteen/fifteen year group, Paul Rust, Alan Rayner and Allan Murray were among the Club's strongest riders . Allan Murray was selected to ride in the National Boys' forty-four kilometre Championships where he finished in the main bunch a mere sixteen seconds behind the winner, Mike Moulai of Nelson . Old Boys of the school have set a good record for present-day riders to emulate. The best performance would have to be Tony Walsh's third place in the Brisbane Commonwealth Games Road Race of about twenty-eight years ago, while the best all-round cyclist must be John Dean who during his career in the 1 960s won both Track and Road titles in all three grades - Boys', Junior and Senior -over distances from five hundred metres to one hundred and sixty kilometres . Probably New Zealand's most versati le cyclist he also won the Six-Day Tour of Noumea against international competition. He now owns a cycle shop in Queensland . DAVE MITCHELL.
The cycling team at Levin.
SURFING On February 7 forty surfers from the school took part in the Annual School Surfboard Riding Championships at Fitzroy Beach . Conditions were far from ideal due to lack of a solid swell, but the competition continued , over the next three days and six competitors made it through to the final. Fortunately the 'gap' at Fitzroy Beach produced a quality wave and the finalists , Daryl Waswo, David Stevens, Jody Joseph, Dawson Tamati, Tao Wells and Gareth Jolly took to the water, Daryl Waswo picked the right waves and took out first place followed by David Stevens second with Jody Joseph , Dawon Tamati and Gareth Jolly all tied for third place. From the school champs Dawson Tamati, Gareth Jolly, David Stevens, Daryl Waswo and Jody Joseph were selected to repre&,ent the school at the Taranaki Inter-Secondary Surfboard Riding Champs held at 'Back Beach' . The level of competition was high , but the small wave conditions played a major role in the results . In the five-man final Dawson Tamati , Gareth Jolly and David Stevens all found themselves. in contention for first place . Gareth and David attacked the waves wifh a fast radical approach , both pulling off some high scoring manoeuvres. Dawson with his constant aggression took second place with David and Gareth third and fourth respectively. A consistent team effort ensured that the school retained the 'Whittaker Memorial Trophy' for the top school in Taranaki , a position the school has held for every year except one that the event has been held . The depth of talent evident in the contests ensures that the future of surfing in the school looks bright.
CYCLING Back Row: Allan Rayner, Alan Murray, Chris Avery, Paul
Rosser, Graeme Hendry. . Front Row: Paul Rust, Mr Smith, Brent Herdson, Chns Flay.
G. JOLLY
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