College Sport

Athletics

Inter-High Athletics took place on the 5th of October, at Ruimsig Roodeport. The athletes took place in the A-league and placed 8th overall. Mrs Terblanche stated proudly that “The Five-S Principle of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; however, the greatest of these is spirit” – Ken Doherty. Not only did the athletes run, or throw, their hearts out, but they also made a concerted effort to support and their peers. Congratulations to all athletes who took part, and a massive thank-you to all the Grade 8s who went with to support them.

The following athletes placed:

Katelyn Middlewick: 3rd place – Shotput
Amkela Nksoi: 3rd place – 100m, and 2nd place – Long Jump
Eden Watt: 3rd place – 100m, 3rd place – 200m, and 3rd place: Long Jump
Lwandle Maseko: 3rd place – 200m
Nsika Masondo: 3rd place – High Jump
Danica Etheridge: 2nd place – Long Jump
Chesney Foster: 2nd place – Shotput, 3rd place – Discus
Kaylee Choate: 3rd place – Javelin
Kayla Honey: 2nd place – 1500m
Vuyile Zwane: 3rd place – 1500m
Amy Ackerman: 2nd place – Shotput
Vaughn Jabs: 2nd place – Javelin
Jared Chaplin: 3rd place – 1500m
Gianlucca Martinzizi: 3rd place – Shotput
Dumisa Mahlanya: 2nd place – High Jump
Fadize Matsa: 3rd place – Javelin, 3rd place – Javelin
Sinotando Nkunjana: 2nd place – Javelin

Basketball

This Basketball season opened with a most productive start. We hosted our first Senior Basketball tournament; both the boys’ and girls’ teams played well and showed grit throughout. The boys’ team placed 3rd and the girls placed 5th. At the beginning of the year, a girls’ mixed age-group team represented St Dunstan’s at the Old Petrain’s Tournament, which is hosted by St Peter’s College, and they placed 12th. The teams played challenging games in the school league, and showed great perseverance and determination. We would like to thank our coaches, Martin Hoffman, Michael Murerwa and Siphokazi Mutuila, for their commitment and great work.

Cricket

This past year’s cricket season was unfortunately plagued by insufferable weather conditions, as at least half of our games were called off due to rain or lightning. However, this did not stop our young cricket side from pushing their efforts on the field, and they became the formidable team they are today.

Albeit that they are a young team, without the experience of matrics, our boys worked hard throughout the season, and took narrow losses from the likes of Reddam and Christchurch, only to to redeem themselves with comfortable wins against Woodlands, Curro Wilgeheuwel and HeronBridge.

The highlight of the season is that the team placed in the bowl final of the Old Petrians T20 Cricket Festival. Unfortunately, due to the inclement weather, the match could not be played. Special mentions go out to Diego Ascencao, Thomas Rossman, Hamza Barufwalla, Jason Doyle, Ethan Meiring and Grant Lithgow-van Rooyen, whose continued performances have proven to be of the highest quality.

Equestrian

The St Dunstan’s Equestrian team had an excellent season in 2022 and outstanding results were achieved. The team captain, Nicole Marais, led the other members of this outstanding team, Margaretha van den Heever, Danica Etheridge, Kelly Richter and Stella Hornby to a number of accolades.

All of these riders were awarded their Ekurhuleni Colours, and all 5 were Ekurhuleni A-team participants. St Dunstan’s won the Ekurhuleni league, and was named the top school in its category. Nicole Marais was also awarded the Overall Top Achiever at St Dunstan’s. The team participated in the Gauteng championships in August, where all the riders were awarded SANESA Gauteng colours, and were chosen for the Gauteng A-Team, where they placed third in Gauteng. These riders also participated at Nationals in October, where they again proved their commitment to the school and their team.

Nicole Marais competed at Level 5 Stadium Event, where she placed first. She also placed first and second in Level 2 Dressage. Danica Etheridge competed at Level 6, where she placed second and third. She also placed third and fourth at Level 7 Showjumping. Margaretha van den Heever competed at Level 7 Working Riding, and placed fourth. She also placed second in Level 5 Handy Hunter. Kelly Richter competed in Level 5 Working Riding and placed third. Stella Hornby competed at Level 5 Handy Hunter and placed second. Nicole Marais was awarded the Arab Horse Society High School Multidisciplinary Champion Floating trophy; a prestigious award that she has held since 2018. St Dunstan’s, overall, has placed tenth at Nationals, where they competed against 218 schools countrywide.

Football

The 2022 season was a challenging year, because it was the first year that competitive games were played since Covid-19. It has almost been two years without any competitions. We set a few goals as a team, both on and off the field. The coaches demanded much from his players, and they thus worked extremely hard to achieve their goals this year.

The team’s goals, were to go as far as any St Dunstan’s first team has gone, and create a legacy and build traditions that they could leave behind for the next generation. They aimed to leave the next generation of players with a commendable example to look up to.

The team as a whole, had an attractive and aggressive style of football. They achieved some good results against worthy opponents. They may not have won any trophies, but they definitely won over the respect of many big sporting schools with various coaches and sporting staff, who congratulated and praised their sportsmanship. Football at St Dunstan’s is heading in the right by direction, and with respect and hard work, the future is bright.

Hockey

After two disruptive years, during the Covid-19 pandemic, St Dunstan’s College was back on the turf for the 2022 hockey season. 2022 was a year of rebuilding and consolidation for the Hockey programme. Notable achievements include a semi-final placing for our 1st Team boys at the Aiken trophy, which was an outstanding achievement for a team that had many junior players competing. We welcomed Njabulo Shongwe to the coaching staff, who has made an immediate positive impact. With many players who were selected for respective Eastern IPT teams, we look forward to continuing to grow the sport in terms of participation as well as performance.

Netball

The St Dunstan’s Netball players enjoyed a productive and exciting season this year. It was wonderful to welcome our players back to the court after two years of no play, due to COVID-19. 14 of the netball players kicked off the season by attending a netball camp where they were coached by former Protea Coach and player, Dr Elsjé Jordaan. The teams participated in various festivals during the year, and the D13 league during Term 2. At this tournament, they had an opportunity to showcase their skills and enjoy some competition. The teams had a challenging but enjoyable season. The First Netball Team won the Saheti Festival and placed third at the St Andrew’s Festival. The First Team also won gold at the D13 championship, after some outstanding play. The U14A team finished fourth overall in the league and competed in the quarter-finals at the D13 championships. The netball players honed their skills during various workshop events and practices throughout the year thanks to their dedication and hard work.

Squash

Squash at St Dunstan’s is growing. By developing players, as well as those who are already playing competitively, the school’s Squash team is thriving at an amazing rate. In boys Squash, Rayyan Rauf, Sihle Ntshingila and Letho Ntshingila participated in the Kempton Park League, and represented Easterns in Bloemfontein, where they competed at the South African Country Festival Squash tournament. They represented our school with pride. We congratulate Lethokuhle Ntshingila for achieving Easterns Half colours for Squash.

On the other side of development, our upcoming players are growing and developing, as they master their skills under the guidance of Coach Nick and Pano. We can say with pride that we are geared up and ready for 2023.

Swimming

The St Dunstan’s College swimming team had a very successful year. The swimmers trained hard and achieved remarkable results. St Dunstan’s College was proudly named the Inter-High champions for 2022. This is the sixth consecutive year that the swimming team has been named the champions for inter-high. The hard work and dedication and the early morning training sessions certainly paid off.

This year was comprised of some of the biggest competitors; the league has grown to an outstanding 14 impressive local schools, and St Dunstan’s College still managed to take first place at the Inter-High Gala.

Brett De Waldon-Holmes exceeded expectations this year. He ranked second in South Africa in the 50m Breaststroke, and he attended the SA Regional Junior Championships, where he received four gold and two bronze medals. Brett also participated in the EGA Senior Winter Championships and received five gold, one silver and one bronze medal. He has qualified for Junior Regional SARJ and was U15 Victor Ludorum for 2022. Scarlett Le Roux has reached SANJ swimming times and placed second in the 200m Freestyle event at The Seagulls Winter Championships. Scarlett was also named 2022’s U14 Victrix Ludorum. Lara de Beer achieved times that qualified her for Level 3 and has continued to build her momentum to reach SARJ times. Lara was also named the U16 Victrix Ludorum for 2022.

The following swimmers achieved times that qualified for Level 2: Jade Wannenburg, Megan Augustyn, Kayla Honey, Eryn Hastings, Katelyn Middlewick, Talisa Rademeyer, Kayleigh Rigele, Daniel Bennett, Aaliyah Young and Jade Otto. The following swimmers had times that qualified for Level 3: Erin de Montille, Denley McCulloch and Stacey McCulloch. The following swimmers had times that qualified for SANJ: Callum Millington and Max Lichtblau.

Congratulations to the following Victor and Victrix Ludorum recipients: U14 – Matthew Hintze and Scarlett Le Roux, U15 – Brett De Waldon-Holmes and Eryn Hastings, U16 – Lara de Beer and U19 – Callum Millington and Jade Otto.

Thank you to all the swimmers for their enthusiasm and commitment to swimming this season. On behalf of the team, we would like to thank the parents, teachers and our coach, Tara Barkley, for your support and efforts. A big thank you must also go to the swimming captains for 2022: Jade Otto and Callum Millington. Their encouragement and enthusiasm certainly made it a swimming season to remember.

Rowing Club Report

It was fantastic to be back on the water and to have a full season of racing, including hosting a successful regatta at Homestead Dam in February. Thank you to our parents for their support and hard work. The South African Championships were held at VLC, since there was hyacinth growth at Roodeplaat Dam that prevented us from rowing there. St Dunstan’s came second overall in the co-ed schools, even with our small team.

We entered 10 events and achieved A-finals in 7, and a bronze medal in the BU192x. The Roodeplaat course is now race-ready, and, upon its reopening, we hosted its first regatta there in September. The size of the club is slowly growing, with a number of juniors joining from grade 6 and 7. A number have entered their first regattas this year, and participated in the Gauteng Championships.

Rugby Growth

Although we have had a lack of numbers to form a reliable rugby team, and have struggled to confirm fixtures, this hasn’t stopped our boys from training hard and developing the mental and physical aspects that it takes to be a rugby player. All of the basics of play and structure are covered by our coach, Jean Ihlenfeldt, who has been equipping our boys with the necessary skills to enjoy the game of rugby.

Due to our numbers, like many other schools in our situation, we have decided to participate in 7s rugby for now. This opens up the opportunity for our potential rugby teams to showcase their talents in an extremely exciting environment. We are collaborating with like-minded schools to run a 7s league, which is based on the world 7s series. This will enable us to encourage students to participate in the sport of rugby in our schools, and our communities, which will (in turn) facilitate the undeniable lessons of the game that come with it. With time we will work towards a return to some 15s Rugby.

Tennis

We have had a full and eventful year of tennis. The players competed in the Johannesburg League, in the first term, and the Gauteng East League in Term 2. They did reasonably well and much excellent tennis was played. With great excitement from the players, we were able to take a girls and boys team to the Sun City Tournament this year, where the girls placed 7th and boys placed 4th respectively.

We were also able to host our annual mixed tennis festival at St Dunstan’s College this year, and our players enjoyed hosting other schools for the first time at St Dunstan’s College, as well as playing on our new courts. This year has been the first year, after two years of Covid-19, when our players were able to play all the leagues and events. We are so proud of all of them for their commitment to the tennis team. We look forward to see what next year has in store.

Water Polo

Michael Gruar, in Grade 10, qualified for the U16 Eastern Gauteng Water Polo team that will be participating in the Inter-Provincial tournament that will take place in Durban during the December holidays.

Julie Symons
College Director of Sport