by Tim Dunbar

Spearheaded by Alanah Tocker, the Rangiora High School girls’ squash team swept aside all opposition to win the South Island secondary schools’ championship in Christchurch.

Rangiora HS comfortably won all its pool games and then went on to beat Burnside HS, 3-0, in the semi-finals and Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, 2-1, in the final.

Tocker was unbeaten in the No. 1 slot, not dropping an individual game and conceding merely 26 points in her five matches.

A C2 graded player, Tocker’s strong points were her fitness and determination, according to team coach Paul Bilbrough.

“She’s developing drop shots — she’s got all shots really,” he said.

At No. 2, Adele Van’t Wout, graded D2, won all her three pool games, 3-0, and the coach said she was a very promising player.

He said their success reflected the well-structured junior programme at the Rangiora Squash Club, to which all five students belong.

Rangiora High School decided against tackling the secondary schools’ nationals this year, but Bilbrough thinks the players will be ready for the step up in two years’ time.

Tocker is a Year 13 student, but Briana Hurford is only Year 11, while Van’t Wout, Karli Hopkins, and Emma Cattermole are all Year 10.

The Rangiora team also has the chance to win the Canterbury secondary schoolgirls’ top team competition for the second year running. It meets Rangi Ruru in the senior final today.

Meanwhile, Christchurch Boys’ High School won the South Island boys’ championship title from a field of eight school teams, beating St Andrew’s College A, 2-1, in a tight finish.

Simon Slade, the Boys’ High No. 1, only kept his perfect five-from-five record by shading St Andrew’s opponent Matthew Thomas, 10-9, in the fifth game of their encounter. Slade was runner-up in the Canterbury under-19 boys’ championship this year. At No. 2, Jamie Smith was also unbeaten in the competition for CBHS.

The full CBHS team was: Slade, Smith, Winston Teear, and Jeremy Brown.