Newsletter - Hauraki Plains College

Badminton
The Thames Valley Secondary Schools Senior &
Junior Badminton Championships were recently
held at Thames High School. Some tough
competition from the Valley this year resulted in
our Senior players making the top 8 but
unfortunately knocked out of top 4 titles.
Senior Badminton Team
At the Junior competition, the best placed HPC
students were Richard Tucker & Travis Luke who
placed Runners up in the junior boys Doubles
Plate division. Well done also to Reece Downham
who placed 4 th in the junior girls Singles.
Junior Badminton Team
New Zealand Duathlon Champs
Sophie Pulford has had more success recently at
the NZ Secondary Schools Duathlon Champs
where she competed on Sunday 14 th Aug in
Taupo. With shocking weather conditions, high
winds and hail, she competed in the Girls U14
2.5km run, 10km bike and another 2.5km run. She
had a small lead after the first run but opened up
on the bike leg and was well clear, going into the
second run. A fantastic win considering the
conditions. Well done Sophie.
Swimming
New Zealand Division I Championships
As mentioned in the last issue, Helena Gasson and
Joshua McCormack-Goeth competed at the NZ Short
Course Champs held in Wellington from Sat 6 th Aug –
Tues 9 th . This event attracted swimmers from all
over the country and was combined with the Open
champs this year, which meant our top NZ swimmers
were also competing. Entry to these championships
is by strict qualifying times and pulls in the top
twelve swimmers in each age group in NZ with this
event being the top NZ age group championship in
NZ.
Helena Gasson trains up to 10 sessions a week (each
session around 2 hours) and for the first time won a
National Title in the 200 Butterfly. In her age group
she also won:
Gold 400 Individual Medley
Silver 400 Freestyle
Bronze 200 Freestyle and 800 Freestyle.
She is ranked 4 th in NZ for the 200 Individual Medley
and 5 th in NZ for the 100 Butterfly.
Joshua McCormack-Goeth had just returned from
the Div 2 championships 3 weeks earlier in Rotorua
where he picked up 3 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze
medals in his age group. The times he swam qualified
him to enter 7 swims in the Wellington meet.
Joshua’s training of 7 sessions a week was not
targeted for this meet, however despite this, Joshua
competed, swam 7 races, qualified for 3 finals and is
ranked in the top 10 in NZ in 100 Butterfly, 100
Individual Medley and 50 Freestyle.
Well done to these swimmers who continue to juggle
school commitments with their training
programmes. Congratulations to you both –
Fantastic effort!!
Helena with her
NZ Medals
From DIV 1
10