We wish our 3 WHS teams heading away to the NZSS Nationals this weekend the very best
WHS Athletics, Touch and Girls Rugby head to Nationals.
The WHS Athletics team of 20 athletes leaves this Thursday for the N.Z Secondary schools athletics champs in Tauranga, where they will be competing against 1285 athletes from 215 schools across the country. The standard of competition will be extremely high, but every member of the team has qualified for their spot on the big stage and is ready to perform to their very best.
As a team, they will be looking to consolidate WHS’s position as a top ranked school in N.Z.
WHS are returning with champions in three events from last year (Maggie Jones (2) and Nat Kirk) and although these athletes will move from the Junior to Senior ranks this year, they will look to make a very solid start in the higher grade.
We will also have the No2 ranked 4x100 and 4x400 girls relay team from last year.
In all we will have 7 relay teams performing all of whom will be looking for top 10 placings based on current performances.
We currently have athletes ranked nationally in the top 5 in several events so will be hoping to get on the medal table in some of these events.
Coaches Greg Fromont and Elaine Baker as usual are focused on making sure the whole team enjoys the occasion, follow’s their processes, and let’s the outcomes take care of themselves.
They are also excited about the fact that 75% of the team will be back at school again next year pushing the programme to another level again.
You can follow their progress on Sky sport Next channel or check results at nzssaa.org.nz/mm_results/nzsstfrr2020/
Our Mixed Touch team once again head to the NZSS Nationals this week. Its been 4 years since we were back to back champions of this grade at nationals. This time we see a new team with new opportunities. Eight of our players are multi-talented Year 13 students who represent WHS and Whanganui in many sports including touch, netball, rugby and basketball. This will be their last opportunity to represent WHS and captains Tyrese Herewini-Lama and Mikayla Heka will be leading the team and hoping they can perform well all tournament. We wish Coaches Sean Brown, Mike Lama and the team all the best for the tournament. Some games will be livestreamed on NZSS Touch link.
Our Girls Rugby 7’s team are heading to the NZSS Condor Sevens in Auckland this week. Four years ago, was the last time our Girls team qualified. The team has been working hard all year developing players and growing the numbers. With only Year 13s Riana Tamati and Kara Adrole finishing there is great potential for the team to continue developing. Leading the team as coach at the tournament is Whanganui Rugby Development officer and Ex Black Fern player Sosoli Talawadua. Coach Jordan Maraku has work commitments so will attend Fridays games only. We wish Sosoli, Jordan and the Girls all the best for the tournament. Results and draws can be found on the following website. www.condorsevens.com
Lisa Murphy
WHS Director of Sport 8/12/20
