It was a very busy weekend of sport for Maritzburg College. Our Inter-House Athletics Championship held on Friday 28 January, saw 4 long-standing records tumble in the 100m and high jump. The school’s team fixtures for the week were mostly against local rival St Charles College, with a number of very good results in the cricket, waterpolo, basketball, tennis and squash matches. College won 7 of their cricket matches against St Charles; and with some matches played against other sides; overall results saw College win 9 of their 14 games, drawing 1 and losing 4. Closely contested basketball games were the order of the day,  with College winning 15 of their 18 matches, with wins for all the top teams and a 1^st team victory of 81-66. In addition our U16 side took part in a basketball tournament, going through to the final and finishing in 2^nd place overall. College emerged the victors 6 – 2 in their Top 8 squash encounters against St Charles, and our 1^st Waterpolo team enjoyed a 12-2 victory against St Charles in the pool.

In addition, the boys of the RedBlackWhite also took part in Euro Steel Run the River (Cross country), the Euro Drak Descent (cycling), and the Drak Challenge (canoeing).

Athletics

Maritzburg College’s 2022 Inter-House Athletics Championship, held at the high quality Pietermaritzburg Msundusi Athletics Stadium, saw some long-standing records tumble with outstanding performances from boys who gave their all for their houses, with traditional College grit and determination.

One of the top performances came from 6th former Neo Mosebi, who left the rest of the field far behind when he broke Peter Kyle’s record (1974) of 10.60 secs in the U19 100m, with a time of 10.22 secs. Another talented runner, Ilunga Kayembe, won the U17 100m record in a time of 10.84 secs. The previous record was 10.90 sec set by Peter Kyle (1974) and matched by N Ndlovu in 2019.

Records also fell in the field events as Ryan Stockhil cleared an outstanding 2.10 m in the U19 high jump, breaking the record of 2.00m set by Brett Balmer in 1984. Luyanda Kunene won the U17 high jump clearing 1.92m, and breaking the long-standing record set by J Pienaar of 1.90m in 1997.

Cross Country/ Trail Running

The Euro Steel Run the Rivers 2022 was a muddy affair, however the beautiful trails of the KZN Drakensberg foothills did not disappoint.  Three College young men took part in the two day event participating in the junior male category; 14.5km on Saturday and 8km on Sunday – the latter became 10km for many of the runners as there was some confusion on the track.

Results:

• Scot Arnold – 2^nd in category/ 6^th overall
• Riley Kleinhans – 4^th in category/ 21^st overall
• Neil Deyzel – 5^th in category/ 34^th overall

Basketball

Saturday’s home games were fiercely contested encounters, mostly against local rivals St Charles College. College’s teams did very well to win 15 of the 18 matches, losing just 3, with wins for all the top teams and a 1^st team victory of 81-66. In addition our U16 side took part in a basketball tournament, finishing in 2^nd place overall.

College’s Nr 11 Connor Henman leaping to score

Credit: Justin Waldman Sports Photography

1^st team report (Zinhle Cele)

College’s 1st team came out with a lot to prove. St Charles is always a festive fixture, and this day was no different, with parents and fellow students out in numbers, the 1st team had a loud and lively support system. The first half of the game was a bit of a roller coaster with the lead changing hands between the two teams a few times. The team talk at half time seemed to unlock a renewed drive in the College boys which we hadn’t seen so far in the game. They played with urgency and gusto and quickly started to push a win further and further from St Charles’ view. Janse Van Rensburg and Henman both proved to be a problem for St Charles, dropping 12 points each. Onlookers were also treated to a superior performance from Mkhize who contributed the most points (16) to his side, as well as exemplary defence from Mthimkhulu. In the end, synergy and team spirit clenched the win for College.

Summary of Scores vs SCC:

• 1^st won 81-66
• 2^nd lost 17-25
• 3^rd won 31-30
• 4^th lost 23-29
• 5^th lost 11-13
• U16A won 32-12
• U16B won 22-17
• U16C won 26-18
• U16D won 29-5
• U15A won 33-21
• U15B won 27-12
• U15C won 28-4
• U15D won 30-0
• U14A won 45-7
• U14B won 29-19
• U14C won 37-2
• U14D won 13-3
• U14E won 28-0

U16 Basketball Tournament

College’s U16 team won all but one of their pool games in the U16 tournament;

• College vs SCC won 21-11
• College vs Kearsney drew 23-23
• College vs Michaelhouse won 21-11
• College vs Invitational Team won 105-6
• College vs DHS won 32-23

In the quarter finals they beat Westville 20-12, and emerged the winners against Michaelhouse 20-14 in the semi-final. In the final, they faced Kearsney and lost narrowly 25-29.

Cricket

College won 7 of their matches against St Charles this weekend; and with some matches played against other sides; overall results saw College win 9 of their 14 games, drawing 1 and losing 4.

1^st XI Report (Robert Coutts – MIC Cricket)

College 1^st  team Captain, Johnathan van Zyl, won the toss and elected to bowl on a wicket that had a good covering of grass. The decision looked a good one with the College opening pair of Bryn Brokensha and Matthew Ponter putting the opposition opening batsmen under some early pressure, and at 17 for 2 in the 8^th the decision seemed to be justified. The College bowlers lost their patience and the combination of bowling to straight and good batting allowed the 3^rd wicket partnership to flourish. At tea St Charles had recovered to 97 for 2 after 25 overs. At 144 for 2 in the 39^th over, the game was well set up for St Charles. College never allowed the St Charles batsmen to accelerate and took wickets at crucial times to limit the opposition to 216 for 6 in their 50 overs. Cayden Hohls and Matthew Ponter both picked up 2 wickets.

Delport was the first batsmen to be dismissed in the 4^th over. Creedon Smith and Caleb Thomas steadied the College innings with a 68 run partnership, before Smith was out in the 20^th over. At tea College were well placed at a 101 for 2, needing 116 runs in 25 overs. Once again the inability to rotate the strike in the middle overs ensured the required run rate climbed. College from being well set at 144 for 3 collapsed to 152 for 6 in the 42^nd over. Wickets fell at regular intervals as the pressure to hit boundaries intensified, the game ended in the 50^th over with the last College batsman being runout, College all out for 188.

• St Charles 216 for 6; Hohls 2 for 36, Ponter 2 for 43
• College 188 all out; Smith 36, Thomas 44, Brokensha 34
• St Charles won by 28 runs

Summary of results:

Canoeing

A number of our boys took part in the 2-day 2022 Drak Challenge, well supported by College’s new coach and Olympic star, Bridgitte Hartley.

Results:

U18

• Joshua Glyn Cuthbert 7^th
• Ian Hemmingway 12^th
• James Goble 13^th
• Kent Rhodes 14^th
• James Sharpe 16^th
• Chris Adam 22^nd
• Ross Finnie 25^th

K2

• James Odell 15^th

Ladies

• Bridgitte Hartley finished in 4^th place in the ladies race and was the first sub-vet lady home.

Squash

Match Report (Alan McGuigan – MIC Squash)

College came out the victors 6 – 2 in their Top 8 squash encounters against St Charles. There were a number of strong performances from the College boys; in particular Matt Mason (College’s no.2) & Shrivar Maharaj (no.1) who fought back from 1-2 & 0-2 respectively in their matches to both win 3-2.

In the KZN Junior Squash Tournament (Individual Event) held at Westville Country Club from Friday 28 – Sunday 30 January, College boys were placed in all three age categories:

U/19 Division:

• Shrivar Maharaj – 3rd
• Matthew Mason – 4th
• Nikhiel Moodley – 8th

U/16 Division:

• William Galliers – 9th
• Veer Premchund – 13th

U/14 Division:

• Talik Nana – 1st

Swimming

In the Hilton Invitational Gala, College’s A squad came 2nd to Kearsney by 3 points, while the B squad won their section of the gala. 

Tennis

College’s tennis teams had mid-week fixtures against Hilton College and Michaelhouse.

• U19 College A vs MHS B won 8-4; U19 College B vs HC A lost 0-12
• U15 College A vs MHS A won 7-5; U15 College B vs HC B drew 6-6

Waterpolo

College fielded 7 teams against St Charles and Michaelhouse over the weekend; and it was great to see our 1^st team secure a convincing win 12-2.

1^st team report (Darren Sherriff – Director of Aquatics)

The 1st team game against St Charles started in a competitive fashion and College had a small lead of 2 goals at the end of the 1st chukka. St Charles got onto the score board with a penalty in the 2nd chukka, but College then extended their lead to 6-1. In the 3rd chukka, College managed 1 goal and St Charles pulled 1 back as well to bring the score 7-2. College came out firing in the last chukka and scored 5 goals bringing the final score to 12-2 in College’s favour.

Summary of scores:

• 1^st vs SCC won 12-2
• 2^nd VS MHS lost 5-9
• 3^rd vs SCC 2^nd won 8-5
• U15A vs SCC won 12-0
• U15B vs MHS lost 0-14
• U14A vs MHS lost 0-14
• U14B vs MHS lost 0-15