Sport

WINTER TOURNAMENT WEEK

HOCKEY

The Dio 1st XI hockey team competed in the Hawke's Bay at the Federation Cup for the top 32 teams in the country. The girls had a great week of hockey winning four games, drawing two and losing one game to a strong Wellington College team. Well done to our girls for persevering throughout the week and finishing 11th out of 32.

Team: Felicity Bannatyne, Liv Barker, Clementine Buchanan, Brooke Chandler, Shreeya Daji, Eve Finlayson, Anais Hamilton, Estie Hamilton, Grace HiltonJones, Holly Hilton-Jones, Sophie Johnston, Casey Lam, Lucy Pettit, Mackenzie Robertson, Sophie Ryan, Poppy Tingey The 2nd XI hockey team headed to Taupo to compete in the Chris Arthur Cup. The week was a huge success with the team winning the first four games and making it straight into the semifinals. A tough game against Rangi Ruru meant they narrowly missed out playing for first and second. Finishing in the top four overall was a tremendous feat – the highest Dio has placed in this tournament in over 10 years.

Team: Lucy Blanchard, Sammi Edgar, Amelia Elsmore, Alexandra Fletcher, Anna Hare, Juliet Harland, Isabelle Head, Sophia Head, Gemma Kelly, Amelie Moore, Mclane Parore, Zara Preece-Twose, Indigo Riley, Amy Shennan, Sophie Tierney, Kate Wyber Basketball Our premier basketball team competed at Basketball New Zealand’s Northern Regional Cup. The tournament saw our girls play six games over three days where they were challenged by their opponents but fought hard through each game to stay competitive, finishing seventh overall.

Team: Erin Zhang, Athena Oliver, Vita Yarrell-Stevenson, Evie Sleigh, Samantha Ford, Frankie Ashford, Olivia Hardie, Zoe Yin, Chloe Luo & Ava Leach

Hockey 1stXI at King's mid season

UNDERWATER HOCKEY

Diocesan sent both our junior and senior underwater hockey teams to Wellington for the 36th New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Underwater Hockey Tournament. The junior team placed ninth at the tournament and the senior team came 10th. Zambia Neely was selected into the Tournament Team, which highlights 10 of the top athletes from all over the country.

Senior Girls’ team: Hazel Faire, Rachael Griffiths, Ava Hanley, Ruby Hollister, Mila Hopwood-Craig, Lucy Kilgour, Sara MacGillivray, Zambia Neeley, Greer Newman, Demira Reynolds, Selina Yu. Junior Girls’ team: Sarah Bunbury, Ines Cullinane, Stella Grayson, Michaela Harding, Molly Hopwood-Craig, Eve Lambert, Savannah Mortimer, Emily Penrose, Gray Samuels, Olivia Tongue, Emily Wackrow

SWIMMING

Our Diocesan premier swim team travelled to Hamilton over the last weekend of the July holidays for the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Swimming Championships. The girls had a fantastic time competing against New Zealand’s top school-aged swimmers and were led extremely well by code captains Peta Clark and Eva Allan. Diocesan has had a history of performing well at this event and this year wasn’t any different. To have many of our swimmers placed in the top eight in the country is highly commendable and highlights the dedication and hard work these girls put into the pool every day.

Peta Clark – 6th 200m butterfly (17/18-year-old division). Eva Allan – 3rd 100m individual medley, 2nd 200m freestyle, 2nd 400m freestyle, 1st 100m freestyle and 1st 50m freestyle (16-year-old division) Alex Campion – 7th 200m breaststroke, 6th 100m freestyle, 4th 200m backstroke, 4th 100m butterfly, 2nd 100m individual medley, 1st 50m breaststroke and 1st 200 individual medley (16-year-old division) Anna Lepua – 7th 100m backstroke, 7th 200m backstroke, 7th 50m backstroke (16-year-old division)

Dio swim team in Hamilton

Grace Jeromson – 7th 200m individual medley, 5th 50m breaststroke, 4th 100m breaststroke and 3rd 200m breaststroke (14-year-old division) Frankie Dodunski – 2nd in the 50m butterfly and 4th 100m butterfly (13-year-old division). 15 and under relay results: 8th 4 x 50m medley relay – Emma Li, Grace Jeromson, Audrey Tse and Celest Vo 16 and over relay results: 5th 4 x 100m freestyle relay – Alex Campion, Peta Clark, Anna Lepua and Eva Allan 2nd 2 x 50m freestyle relay – Eva Allan and Alex Campion 7th 8 x 50m freestyle relay – Alex Campion, Peta Clark, Anna Lepua, Eva Allan, Grace Jeromson, Frankie Dodunski, Vita Yarrell-Stevenson and Emma Li 7th 4 x 50m freestyle relay – Vita Yarrell-Stevenson, Eva Allan, Alex Campion and Anna Lepua

Cycling

At the end of Winter Tournament Week, the Dio cycling team competed at the Northern tour in Mount Wellington. This consisted of three events – the individual time trial, the hill climb, and the criterium. The Dio Girls came away with some outstanding results:

Alice Wellington and Mika James achieved podium finishes across the three events ensuring a second place overall finish for Alice and third overall for Mika.

The Dio Cycling Club then ended their cycling season in style at the National Secondary Schools’ Championship in Palmerston North.

The Years 7/8 A team picked up first in the team time trial (Alice Wellington, Maddie Worral, Mika James and Olivia Bethell).

The Years 7/8 B had a great race, coming fifth (Emily Keene, Pippa Forman, Chloe Ulmer and Sienna Gormly). The Junior A came agonisingly close to a medal in fourth (Indie Williams, Molly Sherrard, Millie Ruddenklau and Annabelle Judd).

The Senior A had their best race of the season picking up fifth place (Jessica Finnegan, Juliet Harland, Lily Shanley, Nika Miller and Lily James).

In the individual road race, Maddie Worral had an epic race to finish third in the U-14 age grade, with Mika James and Indie Williams in fourth place in the U-13 and U-14 categories.

Well done to all the girls who raced over the weekend: Alice Wellington, Maddie Worral, Mika James, Olivia Bethell, Emily Keene, Poppa Forman, Chloe Ulmer, Sienna Gormly, Indie Williams, Molly Sherrard, Millie Ruddenklau, Chloe Xiao, Annabelle Judd, Jessica Finnegan, Juliet Harland, Lily Shanley, Nika Miller and Lily James.

Dio cyclists at the Northern Tour

1st XI in Taupo during Tournament Week

Netball code captain Clementine Dryden and deputies Maia Hunter and Kate SkinnerSpence with their trophy.

NETBALL

The premier netball squad attended the Upper North Island Secondary Schools’ (UNISS) competition held at the Howick Pakuranga Netball Centre.

Going into the B Grade final, having won against Auckland Girls’ Grammar in pool play, the team was unbeaten throughout the week and met AGGs for the second time in the final. A strong second half by their opponents meant that the premiers were in catch-up mode and were unable to reduce the lead, finishing runners-up in the B Grade. They have qualified for the A Grade for 2023 for the UNISS tournament to be held in Hamilton. We also congratulate Clementine Dryden who was selected for the Tournament Team.

Premier netball team: Boh Curran, Lauren Batchelor, Josie Christie, Clementine Dryden, Phoebe Duncan, Sophie Jamison, Madeleine Jorgenson, Meg McKinnon, Ellie Millard, Zara Preece-Twose, Karla Stevenson, Sophia Winstanley

Auckland Netball Centre held the end-of-season prizegiving in September, with 16 teams awarded winners and runners-up places. It was a proud sight to see all the Dio teams in full school uniform accepting their awards. Auckland Netball also announced Diocesan as the Top Overall School for the 2022 season based on results.

FOOTBALL 1ST XI

It was a beautiful week down in Taupo for the first NZSS Football Tournament in three years. After the first day, the team placed into the top 16 as second in their pool, putting them up against Saint Kentigern College, the second ranked Auckland team, and meaning they would move into the 9-16 placed bracket for the remainder of the tournament. After some tight games, the team finished 9th overall in the tournament, the best they have done in over 10 years!

Football 1st XI: Bella Cranefield, Lily Double, Eliza East, Olivia Erskine, Lara Flood, Sophia Haines, Ella Hanton, Mia Hanton, Georgia Headland, Gemma Kelly, Indigo Kirk, Sienna Kirk, Rita Price, Sydney Sparks, Anya Stephan, Maddison Tongue, Lola Wood (Captain)

Lacrosse

The lacrosse tournament team headed down to Cambridge to compete in a three-day tournament. With some strong opponents from around the country, the Dio team put up a strong fight, especially with having recent national champions St Peter’s and Cambridge High School in their pool! The team came 10th overall in their first appearance at nationals in at least five years and developed well over the tournament. Lacrosse tournament team: Stephanie Holden, Alex Brewer, Sylvie Brewer, Alyssa Richardson, Amelia England, Ella Millar, Saskia Collins, Gemma Kidd, Lauren Shorter, Gracie Thomas, Aimee Herrod, Martha O’Keefe, Madeline Robinson, Ellie McDonald, Lilly Freeman, Jamie Cottrell, Tyger Craggs

AIMS GAMES

After a two-year hiatus, Team Dio competed at the 2022 Zespri AIMS Games, the largest sporting competition in the Southern Hemisphere. The tournament-style competition event sees 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds compete in their age group against schools across New Zealand.

Hip Hop crew Queenie Lang

Chloe Rawlence Years 7 and 8 football

Years 7 and 8 hockey

Team Dio participated across 10 different codes – Hip Hop, cross country, swimming, gymnastics, tennis, golf, netball, hockey, football and water polo. The growth we saw from every student during the week was phenomenal, and we thank all our parents for their support throughout the week.

NETBALL: 8A netball team came up against some tough competition, finishing 51st out of 110 teams. An epic result for the girls. GOLF: Queenie Lang had a remarkable three-day competition on the golf course; competing in the 18-hole courses at Te Puke, Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. Queenie finished in third place in the Girls’ 18-hole category.

TENNIS: Chloe Rawlence had some fantastic matches on the court and finished eighth overall.

FOOTBALL: The Years 7 and 8 football team had some wonderful results throughout the week, with grit and determination shown by all girls, who finished 27th overall.

HIP HOP: The Hip Hop crew had two great performances, finishing in fourth place.

HOCKEY: The Years 7 and 8 Navy hockey team had a successful AIMS week with a total of four wins, a draw and only two losses, finishing 11th overall.

CROSS COUNTRY: Our cross country runners started the week strong for Team Dio, with Indie Williams crossing the line first in the Year 8 category. The three-person team of Indie Williams, Maddie Worrall and Tessa Lepionka gained first place too.

SWIMMING: Our swim team set the pool on fire. Channelle Huang placed first overall in the 200m and 50m breaststroke and third in the 100m breaststroke.

WATER POLO: Our water polo team had a fearless time in the pool. Gaining confidence with every game, they outplayed St Cuthbert’s in the gold medal match, winning 14-1 to become AIMS Games champions.

GYMNASTICS: The gymnastics team consisting of Georgia Pickles, Mikaela Fong and Alice Wellington had an extraordinary week. Georgia and Mikaela competed in the artistic category and Alice Wellington bounced her way on the trampoline. Well done to all the girls.

Water polo

Cross country Year 4 Opals netball team with student coaches Neve Cobham, Emma WIlson and Ruby Steel.

JUNIOR SCHOOL

SPORT

The winter sports programme was in full swing during Term 3 and there were no disruptions!

A record 16 Junior School netball teams were in action, with our Years 1-4 netballers participating at the Windmill Park Netball Centre in Mt Eden and our Years 5 and 6 netballers competing at the Auckland Netball Centre at St John’s. These teams were supported by 31 student netball coaches and an additional five adult coaches. Our coaches delivered the NZ Netball Future Ferns programme, which is comprised of progressive skills development modules designed to facilitate effective learning for younger players. All in all, our players progressed well, while some lovely bonds developed between coaches and players and there was lots of fun for all.

Eleven junior hockey teams played in the Auckland Hockey Junior League, supported by 15 student coaches and three adult coaches. Our four Years 1 and 2 FunSticks teams participated at the One Tree Hill College venue and our student coaches took the lead, hosting these sessions, running skills development modules and facilitating mini games. Our juniors had so much fun and just loved our student coaches. Our Years 3 and 4 MiniSticks and Years 5 and 6 KiwiSticks teams participated in the junior league, playing a modified game format on smaller turf allocations. Our programme was designed to maximise participation and development, we formed smaller teams and this helped to reduce redundancy. Our skills training modules used a multi-skill learning approach; we concentrated on lifting intensity, energy levels and the fun factor. We witnessed some great progress and the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

FunFerns netballers with their student coaches Year 6 Andersons with special long-standing coach Aprill Anderson and student coach Isabella Gasan

Year 6 hockey girls Jump Jam girls

Meanwhile, our ever popular flippa ball programme ran five teams through Term 3 and our futsal programme facilitated three teams. Unfortunately, our ski racing programme was once again derailed, with the late cancellation of the North Island Primary Schools’ Ski Championships competition, this time due to bad weather at Mt Ruapehu.

Our artistic gymnastics programme produced some great results, competing at the Remuera Zones Competition in August. The general ability levels were high at this event as many club gymnasts were competing. Our Year 3 team finished in first place and Miranda Lai (Yr 4) placed fifth in the individual rankings, while our Year 5 team finished in second place. These gymnasts qualified to compete at the Artistic Gymnastics Champion of Champions competition in September.

Our awesome Jump Jam girls had a fantastic season led by Eva Blush, our PE teacher. The Dio Dazzlers competed in the Auckland Primary Schools’ Freshman Competition finishing in third place; and our Dio Stars competed in the Open Competition, which they won. Both teams qualified for the National Jump Jam Competition in Tauranga in November.

The big news for Term 4 is the long-awaited launch of our junior basketball programme. We are very excited to open our brand new basketball court. We’re introducing basketball to our Years 5 and 6 girls and plan to roll out to our younger girls next year. Just over 30 girls have signed up for the Term 4 programme, which promises to be high energy and lots of fun; six weeks of foundational skills training along with three weeks of invitational games in the all-girls junior league held right here at Dio on Monday evenings.

Artistic gymnastics - Junior girls Junior basketball

NATIONAL REPS

UPDATE

Water Polo

Millie Quin was selected to represent New Zealand at the FINA World Championships in Budapest in June. Millie was joined by Dio Old Girls Morgan McDowall, Libby Gault, Sophie ShorterRobinson, and Isabelle Jackson as the travelling reserve. Morgan picked up three game Most Valuable Player awards throughout the week. The head coach of the team is Dio’s Director of Sport, Angie Winstanley-Smith. The team finished in 10th place, our best result in the modern era. As a result, the team was invited to the World League Super Finals event in Tenerife, Spain in November.

Lauren Batchelor, Sophie Gardiner and Millie Quin were selected to the New Zealand Youth Women’s team that competed at the FINA World Youth Water Polo Championships in August. The team placed eighth overall. Millie picked up two game MVP awards and was also voted into the Media all-star team – putting her in the top seven players in the world for her U-18 age group.

Millie Quin Rebecca Hounsell

ROCK CLIMBING

Rebecca Hounsell represented New Zealand at the Australia Youth Championships in July where she picked up the gold medal in the bouldering U-18 event.

Gymnastics

After two and half years away from international competition, Sienna French has been competing overseas. She first competed in a huge field at the Coimbra, Portugal Gymfest World Cup achieving her goal of making the finals (top 8) and placing fifth overall, (only 0.02 points behind fourth place). In Switzerland she competed at the 51st Nissan Cup, placing fourth in individual and third in synchro (Hors Concours). These amazing results have given her the perfect start to her international competition season this year and especially for her preparation for the World Championships later this year. Congratulations to Sienna on her outstanding international achievements.

Grace Wellington has been selected to represent New Zealand on a tour to Hawaii in January 2023. Here Grace will compete against other international athletes on the artistic gymnastics circuit.

Sienna French

FOOTBALL

Olivia Erskine (Yr12) has been selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ team in the Dallas International Cup from 4 – 9 April 2023. Teams from around the world will be competing at the event.

FIGURE SKATING

Year 9 student Christine Aixinjueluo recently competed in the NZ Ice Figure Skating National Selection Competition. Christine came second in the Advanced Novice Ladies’ division. Her placing means she has qualified for the NZ national team for the upcoming international competitions. Christine had to perform two different programmes in two days, the combined scores providing the final result.

Christine represented New Zealand in the Southeast Asia Open Trophy, an international figure skating competition in Singapore in early September. This was her first international competition as a member of the national team. She competed in the Advanced Novice Ladies’ Competition, which had the highest level of women’s single skaters in the competition, mostly from Korea, Taiwan and Australia. After performing two programmes, she finished in 12th place. Christine says that the experience has been a great source of inspiration and motivation for her future in the sport.

Christine Aixinjueluo Lizzie Shapland

SAILING

Lizzie Shapland represented New Zealand at the World Youth 29er Championships in The Hague, Netherlands early in July, an event in which many of our sailing sporting heroes have been notable winners. Lizzie ended up in 20th place – an awesome achievement.

Also in July, Dio sailor Isla Barker was to travel to Denmark to represent our country at the European Championships after picking up the national Opti title, but instead went to the international regatta in Noumea where she came in 12th place out of 70 boats and was the fourth overall girl competitor. Isla has been awarded a Yachting NZ award for her achievements in the Optimist class in 2022. This award was be presented to her at the NZ Yachting Awards gala in November.