WCOBSERVER 2023 school news: sport

WAKA AMA: Wellington College had a very successful competition at the Waka Ama Regionals in March at Lake Henley.

The J16s won a Silver Medal in the Championship 250m Final and a Gold Ribbon in the 500m Plate Final (with a faster time that second place in the Championship Final). The J19s won a Gold Ribbon in the 250m Plate Final.

ROWING: It was a great start to the year for our Rowers with a Gold Medal for the Intermediate Octuple at the North Island Club Championships.

At the North Island SS Champs at Lake Karapiro, Wellington College had a great regatta across all age groups. Eight crews qualified for 'A' finals and four crews qualified for 'B” finals. After a great pep talk the night before from Mr Denham, who was lakeside with the squad over the weekend, the boys gave their all on finals day and did the school proud. Appearing on the medal podium were our U15 Quad winning a Silver, the U18 Quad winning Silver and the U18 Novice Quad taking out a Bronze medal. The U16 Quad missed out on Bronze by less than 1 ½ seconds. This was a fantastic end to the whole squad’s season.

Maxim Ericson (Y13) who on the back of a stellar season has been selected for the NZ U19 team to the World Rowing Championships in Paris in August.

Cox, Lachie Wall was selected for the North Island U18 team to row against the South Island.

Maxim took out the Silver Medal (by less than a second) in the U18 single sculls, and the U15 Quad (Ollie Wiig, Henry Jones, Harry Kavanagh, Tom Ward and Lachie Wall) won the Gold in their final.

CRICKET: The 1st XI won the Premier Youth Grade Title. In a rain-shortened final played at the Basin Reserve, the 1st XI beat HIBS and therefore qualified for the Gillette Cup later in the year.

On the back of 114 from Ari Bonar and 27 from Will Julian, 174/3 off 20 overs proved to be a touch too much for HIBS who posted 111/7 off their 20. This was a great way to finish an undefeated season in this competition. Well done coach Tyler Byers and the team

We were well represented in the Wellington teams at the Indoor Cricket Nationals in Auckland in April, culminating in five players being selected for the NZ team to compete in the Indoor Cricket World Cup, Dubai in October this year. They were: NZ 13 and Under NZ team: Leo Bridgman, Zac Bridgman, Harrison Mazey, Tom Wilkinson. NZ 15 and Under NZ team: Lucas Henderson.

The Junior cricketers, playing in the NZCT National Junior Champs finished a very creditable second

SWIMMING: At the NZ Open Champs, Finn Harland (Y13) won two Bronze Medals, a Gold Relay Medal and set a NZ record in the 17yrs backstroke. The NZ Age Group Champs have proved equally successful for Finn His performance in the Open 100m Backstroke qualified him for the Junior World Champs (U19) to be held in Israel later in the year (the only NZ male to qualify). Age Groups saw him win four Gold

Medals in the 17-18 age group setting five new Wellington records on the way.

Not to be out done , David Zhu (Y13) won thee medals (one Gold, one Silver and one Bronze) in the 16 year age group. Declan Broadfoot (Y9) won six medals (three Silver and three Bronze) in the 13 year age group. Zac Alexander (Y11) won one Bronze Medal (from six finals) in the 15 Year age group

ATHLETICS: A number of our students performed with distinction at NZ Track and Field Championships in December. McEvedy Captain, Leo Yousuf won a Gold Medal in the U20 Men's 4 x 100m Relay, a sixth place in the U18 100m Final in 11.16.

George Gray won a Gold Medal in the U16 2,000m Steeplechase in 6.55.90 and had an eighth place in theU16 800m (2.10.99).

Heath Abbot won a Silver Medal in the U18 (5kg) Hammer 52.17m (Personal Best) and a Silver Medal in the U20 (6kg) Hammer 50.80m (Personal Best).

Heath also performed exceptionally well at the highly competitive Australian Junior Champs in Brisbane to win a Silver Medal in the U17 Hammer.

This was a fitting end to his season after breaking local and school records while only 16 years old. Heath's progress at such a young age bodes well for the future .

FLOORBALL: The Senior A team retained their national title at the NZSS Floorball Champs at Atau Tangi in Wellington. They went though undefeated beating Rongotai College 5-3 in the final in a fast, high-scoring game befitting of the best two teams in the tournament. The juniors with a young team finished a creditable fourth

GOLF: It was a great couple of days for WC Golf! Our Y9 team of Aidan Wong and Ben Willocks won the Philips Cup. The first time for Wellington College since 2018

The following day at the CSW Team and Individual Champs, we had further success. Our top team of Charlie Jackson, Gethyn Healy and James Hargreaves came second in the team gross, just two shots back from the winners. This gives Wellington College a place in the NZSS champs later in the year

Our other team of Max Mitchell, David Peach and Jack Lancaster won the team net prize and David Peach won the individual net.

VOLLEYBALL: For just the second time, and over a decade and a half since their last win in 2007, the Senior A team are CSW Regional Tournament Boys’ Volleyball Champions.

SPEED SKATING: In what is thought to be a first for Wellington College, Y10 student Micky Zhang won titles at the NZ Speed Skating Championships in January.

Winning seven out of eight Golds raced in his grade, he also set a NZ record in his Cadet Boy's Grade and claimed the Aggregate Trophy for most points across the grade.

Stay up-to-date with WC Sports News on Facebook