School News

The wins keep on coming in the 2013 winter sports season for the top three HBHS rugby teams, with the 1st and the 2nd XV notching up wins against their Gisborne Boys' High School opposition in Gisborne today. The 1st XV have wrapped up the Super 8 competition with a game in hand after their comprehensive 45 - 3 win, and the 2nd XV are on the verge of doing the same with their 27 - 7 victory. Meanwhile, the 3rd XV (pictured, right, as winger Christiaan Keyser scores the first try) finished off their regular season with a 34 - 19 win over Te Awamutu College 1st XV, and in doing so have booked their semi-final spot in the Waikato 1st XV competition with the exciting possibility of a home game, results dependent, next weekend.

On the last day of Term 1, the Service Committee, with the help of Mr Cheyne, organised the annual Run for Life.  This year the event was run to support Kidscan, a charity helping disadvantaged children in schools.  Kidscan help by providing goods such as footwear, raincoats and breakfasts to those that really need it.

This year the event was a great success.  A huge number of boys ran around a track along the banks of the Waikato River, with approximately $7,500 raised.  The run was a great way to end the term, with students and staff taking up the challenge to run or walk to help this worthy cause.

We would like to thank the team at Fulton Hogan for helping us with the logistics of this event.  Their support was greatly appreciated.

Scott Cameron, HBHS Service Committtee

HBHS Year 9 golfer Sam Brinkworth (pictured, right) achieved that most elusive of golfing milestones, a hole in one.  Sam hit the shot at the Ngaruawahia Golf Club on Saturday 23 November off the Par 3 12th Hole using a 4 iron.  The hole was 170m in length which is three times longer than the hole in one challenge held earlier this year at school.  His shot landed 15m short, and then rolled the rest of the way in.  A very impressed teacher in charge of golf, Mr Brendon Cooley, congratulates Sam on this impressive achievement. 

Sam Dobbs (Year 9) is a very promising junior member of the HBHS cycling squad.  He recently competed in the North Island Cycling Championships, where he beat a field of 40 competitors on a flat course to win a gold medal in his age grade. The race was bitterly contested, as few of the cyclists (apart from the Auckland contingent) had been practicing away from the open road.  Sam performed extremely well, and is now looking forward to the up-coming National competition.  He thanks Mrs Gaze, Mr Hardaker and his team mates for their support and guidance.
 

Sam Franicevic (Year 10) has won the 'Search For the Stars' National Final. The mature and self-possessed guitarist presented two pieces in a split final held in Hamilton and Auckland over two consecutive nights. He won the Open category as well as the overall prize of a $500 Farmers Voucher and a Search for the Stars trophy. He played a tapping piece called ‘Air Tap’ and a composition of his own.

Sam Gaze (Year 11) recently returned from racing in the Junior Tour of Camberra.  From a field of 91 Australasian competitors, Gaze won the King of the Mountains competition, making Scott Ambrose and Sam the only two New Zealanders to win jerseys in this decades-old race. 

 ‘King of the Mountains’ is the general classification for the fastest hill climb time in the Tour.  Gaze finished the first day of the competition in second place, and was aware that he needed to ‘pull something out’ to secure the top spot, going in to the final leg.  The hills are normally approximately five kilometers long, with three or four in each fifty kilometer race (stage).  The first day involved a time trial and a road race, while the next day involved a road race and a criterion (circuit racing).  Fellow HBHS student Corby Price placed 42^nd, while Scott Ambrose, a Year 12 Auckland cyclist won the overall Tour.

 Gaze’s next challenge is gaining entry to the Junior Mountain Bike World Competition in April.  The selection process begins at the start of next year.