We wish you all a time of rest, reflection and perhaps a little rebirth, over the Easter break

The photo above is of the La Salle House hostel staff as of this year. You can see it takes a lot of good people to run a good hostel and we are very fourtunate in that regard. Old hands will also note just how much things have changed since the days of the Brothers and one Matron.

With the Hurricanes having a bye last week it was great that Beaudy Barrett was able to call in to the College and help a number of guys out with their kicking skills. The boys are all working hard at the moment to try and make the 1st XV so any help is much appreciated.

Not content with the past Athletic glories we posted on Friday we have news today of current Year 13 student Kyle van der Merwe taking out the national men's javelin title during the weekend. The Daily News had this brief report.

Can any one think of a past student who won a national athletics title while still at FDMC?

With the round up of the Athletics Sports we took some time to have a look at the school records as they currently stand. It is interesting to see that there remains a good spread of record holders from many eras in the College's 50 odd years. The following may stir some memories.

Senior 100m   C. Zawodney   11.10         1978

Senior 400m   R. Vavasour    51.10         1969

Senior 5000m  M. Roycroft    14.53.00     1993 

Senior Triple Jump   M. Walsh   12.95m   1979

Int A. 100m   M. Hancock   11.31            1999

Int A Long Jump   J. Coleman   6.00m      1970

Int B Shot Put   L Jackson   12.90m         1975

Jnr 100m Hurdles   N. Eliadis   15.50       1984

Jnr Shot Put   L Vickers   13.36m            2001

Y8 Discus   S. Toss   28.80m                  1977

Y8 800m    S. Rapley   2.22.00               1982

Y7 100m   B. Hart   13.69                      1994

Y7 800m   G. Phelan   2.29.20                1983          

We received news this week of the sudden death of recent old boy Regan Stanners. Regan (21) had left FDMC in Year 11 when his family moved to Auckland and was currently in his third year of study at Dunedin University.

Regan's funeral is to be held in Auckland and we ask that you keep him, and his family and friends, in your thoughts and prayers.

Today we had a visit from the new Brother Visitor Br Mark McKeon. Br Mark is well know at FDMC having taught here for a number of years in the 1990's. Despite the weight of responsibility he has in leading the Brothers in Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Papua New Guines, he is in good form and hoping to be back later in the year for a longer stay of at least a few days.

Yesterday's Academic Colours Assembly recognised a record 36 students who attained an Excellence endorsement in their NCEA exams in 2012. We were fortunate to have distinguished FDMC old boy Dr Michael Kelly give a key note address and make the presentations. Michael is currently on an extended stay in New Zealand before heading back to the UK, so it was a great opportunity for students to hear his thoughts on science in the modern world.

The photo above is of our 1st XI and there counterparts from St Pat's Town, Wellington. The teams played a two and a half day fixture with the following result

To make up for there disappointment our lads went on to play, and defeat, NPBHS on Friday of last week in their Gillete Cup fixture. We restricted NPBHS to 159 in their 50 overs before scoring the runs with the loss of three wickets in 34 overs. The guys now go on to play Wanganui Collegiate for the right to advance to the national level.

As if that wasn't enough cricket the team is also playing Inglewood Premier Men at the college next week end for the right to play in the Taranaki 2 day final. Watch this space for results.

Closely following on from the Swimming Championships came the Athletics Championships on Friday 8 March . 

The competitors and staff all handled the hot weather well and as always there was some great races and top class field event competitions throughout the day. The highlight being the Senior High Jump after lunch, which caused a halt in the track programme, while Matthew Codd and Karl Wright both broke the record, jumping 1.81m.

Other records set on the day: Chris Bryan (LS) Year 8 Shot Put 10.45m,

Kyle Van der Merwe (LS) Senior Shot Put 17.91m, and Senior Javelin 50.19m.

Solomon again proved too strong holding off a strong finishing La Salle, with Loreto again forcing Benildus to remain holding the wooden spoon until the next competition.

HOUSE POINTS

1st Solomon    1657
2nd  La Salle      1597
3rd  Loreto        1543
4th  Benildus    1275

Age Grade Champions

Year 7             
1st Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens (B)
2nd Jonty Hughes (L)
3rd Oscar van Hattum (B)

Year 8             
1st  Chris Bryan (LS)
2nd Liam Moore (L)
3rd Javaahn Taumoepeau (S)

Junior            
1st Caylem Cook (L)
2nd Palaiu’amea Kirifi (LS)
3rd Isaac Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens (B)

Int B               
1st Steven Snoxell (S)
2nd Jordie Barrett (L)
3rd Scott Chadwick (S)

Int A               
1st Thomas Wright (S)
2nd George Monk (B)
3rd Ben Moore (L)

Senior            
1st Simon French (S)
2nd Brent Harrison (L)
3rd Kyle van der Merwe (LS)


Steve Simpson
HOD Physical Education