Sports Report Week-Ending 23rd June 2017

Squash

Westlake Boys Retain their Auckland Title

The Premier Squash team have retained their Auckland Team Championships title for the fourth consecutive year after defeating Auckland Grammar School in the finals, 5 matches to nil.  Prior to the finals, the formidable Westlake team reached the finals without dropping a game in all the rounds against Pukekohe College, Rangitoto College and Takapuna Grammar School.

The team hopes to carry on this strong performance as they aim to defend their 2-year reign at the National Secondary Schools Championships, to be held in Palmerston North this August.

Team members: Matthew Lucente (Captain), Gabe Yam, Akil Afghan, Tom Taylor, Jien Lim & Zonal Ali

Hockey

1^st XI v Rosmini College – June 21^st 2017

On Wednesday 21 June the 1^st XI faced North Shore rivals, Rosmini College 1^st XI in the Supercity round-robin. Rosmini had been the victors earlier in the season and claimed the North Harbour title, so the boys knew they had to be clinical if they were to upset the league leaders. Westlake started strongly and were awarded a stroke in the first minute, but a close miss let the pressure off Rosmini, who found the net from distance ten minutes later. Charl Ulrich responded with a goal to even the match, but a defensive lapse saw Rosmini regain the lead before the end of the half.

Rosmini never relinquished their lead and, despite several chances with the wind behind Westlake, it was the opposition who closed out the match better. The final result was a disappointing 1-4 loss. Next week the 1^st XI play Auckland champions Auckland Grammar at home.

Rugby League

WBHS 1^st XIII vs Manurewa 1^st XIII – June 21^st 2017

This week’s Rugby League fixture took place on Westlake’s home turf as the 1^st XIII went to battle against Manurewa High School. Westlake got off to a slow start, conceding two tries in the first 10 minutes. However, they managed to fight back into the back end of the first half with a great try by Jayden Atkinson-Dagg out of dummy half. Manurewa then struck back to lead the scoreboard 18 points to 6 at the half. Westlake seemed enthused from their half-time chat and came out firing in the second half, when they appeared to dominate the middle. A try to David Toia and a double to Lotu Inisi had the team back in the hunt. Westlake seemed to carry all the momentum but were unfortunately beaten by the clock with a narrow defeat 22-18. The team look to regroup for another big clash against Avondale at home next week.

Adventure Racing

Two combined teams of Westlake Boys and Girls travelled to Rotorua to compete in a 6 hour Adventure Racing Hillary Challenge on 17^th – 18^th June. This competition was extremely important, as the top 4 teams (out of 21 schools) qualify for Nationals in May 2018.

The following Westlake Boys’ students competed in Westlake RED and came in 2^nd place behind Trident College:

• Brahm Erdmann
• Ryan Zent
• Andreas Hamschmidt
• Taylor Haynes

Westlake GREEN came in 6^th. Although they didn’t qualify for Nationals, they had an outstanding result as they were one of the last teams to come in on their first run leg but made up for it hugely in the mountain biking. The Westlake Boys in the team were:

• Oliver Lawrence
• Ashton Philo
• Campbell Knowles
• Tim Rickards
• Blake Pavlovich

As is typical with winter adventure races it was wet, muddy and cold but very picturesque and adventurous, with events in Redwoods Forest and alongside the Blue Lake. The effort and determination of the students to qualify for the 2018 Nationals was evident in their performance. The training now begins for the big event which is a five-day competition held in Tongariro National Park next year. Well done to all of those that competed.

Football

1^st XI v Mt Albert Grammar School – June 20^th 2017

On Tuesday the 1^st X1 played Mt Albert Grammar School in the knockout cup. Westlake entered the game with a number of players unavailable and MAGS capitalised on this and  went ahead early in the game to a penalty. Soon afterwards Westlake was awarded a penalty but unfortunately missed it. Despite some very good attacking play the equalising goal was not there and MAGs went 2-0 up after a quick break. Westlake were very quickly back in the game with a successful penalty from Matt Conroy but this was soon cancelled out by a third from MAGS, who ended up with a 3-1 win.