School News

HBHS Athletes have featured among the medalists at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships, held at Porritt Stadium in Hamilton last weekend.  Performances of note include Christopher Goodwin (pictured, right) who won gold in the High Jump and improved on his personal best by an extraordinary 13cm, with a winning jump of 1.93m.  Other medalists include Alex Wood, who won the Javelin with a throw of 64m which was the best by a considerable margin.  Middle-distance runners Jacob Priddey and Theunis Pieters won silver medals, Jacob in the 1500m and 3000m events, and Theunis in the 800m with a new school record time of 1.52min.  These performances secured national representative honours for Alex, Jacob and Theunis.  Congratulations to these athletes on their excellent performances which have rounded off a stellar year for HBHS, and thanks and congratulations to Teacher in Charge of Athletics Mr Rodney de Klerk for his support of HBHS Track and Field.

The HBHS Athletics Team kept on their winning way, winning a total of 20 medals at the Waikato Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools Athletics Championships, held over the weekend. The team won 16 gold medals, 3 silvers and 12 bronze, with Year 13 student Jacob Phillips (pictured at right) winning a total of 5 gold medals.  The next fixture for the team is the North Island Secondary Schools  Championships, to be held on the weekend of April 4.  Congratulations to all of these boys on their fine efforts, and thanks and congratulations to Teacher in Charge of Athletics Mr Paul Ardern.

The Waikato Young Men in Harmony Regional Barbershop Competition was held last Monday.  It was won by the Hamilton Boys' High School Barbershop Quartet 'Four Reelz' which consists this year of Bass; Kent Russell, Baritone; Romana Graham, Tenor; Peni Fotu and Lead; Takiri Southon.

Each quartet had to sing two songs and communicate their themes to the audience.  Four Reelz' winning repertoire featured 'Son of the Sea' and 'Coney Island Baby', two time-honoured standards of the genre.  These performances were judged on their the quality of the singing, presentation and musicality.

The quartet will now prepare for the National competition in Wellington in August. 

More than 90 students and staff reported to the school hall today to donate blood.  HBHS is one of the largest donation 'stops' in the Waikato for the Blood Service.  The team worked steadily throughout the day to register and then collect this vital resource. 

It has been noted a by a number of commentators over the last month that New Zealanders are particularly responsive to calls for financial and physical support during crises like the recent earthquake in Christchurch.  The Blood Service has been particularly busy over the last month, and we are pleased to be able to contribute to their work in this way.

Jaden Wallace competed in the Waikato Secondary Schools Bowls competition on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  HBHS fronted two competitors, who contested the singles’ titles with eleven other schools.  Jaden played four games on both days, and beat the other HBHS competitor (Aaron Sullivan) in the final to win the provincial title.

Jaden has been playing bowls for two years, and has thoroughly enjoyed his involvement with this growing sport.  He has been pleasantly surprised by the number of other young people involved, and has used his sporting links to enlarge his social circle.  If you would like become involved in Bowls, contact Gary Braithwaite at the Hillcrest Bowling Club (07 856 6631) or ask Jaden for more details.

The following HBHS students were members of the victorious Waikato Under 15 Boys Side that took out the national title at the Junior Touch Nationals held at Papamoa in Mount Maunganui over the previous weekend.  The team defeated Auckland with a score of 5 - 4, and HBHS student and team captain Manaaki Heta scored the winning try.  Congratulations to the following students who made up the team: