In what proved a busy weekend for the Pearson High sporting teams, the junior water polo and tennis squads embarked on tours to the Jason Murray tournament in East London and the Boland Landbou tournament in Paarl, respectively.
The Pearson U15 tennis boys were involved in some tightly contested matches on day one of the Boland tour.
They opened their campaign with a hard-fought 10-10 draw against Durbanville, followed by a tough encounter against Paarl Boys’ High, where they went down 17-3.
The boys bounced back strongly in their final match of the day with an impressive 16-4 victory over Stellenbosch High.
On the second day Pearson took on Charlie Hofmeyer and Oakdale Landbou in their final two pool matches.
The Pearson boys dug deep to turn on the style with a dominant 18-1 victory over Charlie Hofmeyer before backing it up with a massive 14-5 win against Oakdale, which saw them power their way to a second-place finish in the pool.
In the 3rd place playoff against Paarl Gymnasium, it all came down to the doubles, with Pearson needing a clean sweep to secure the bronze medal. Unfortunately they managed only two wins out of the three matches but still finished in a solid fourth place.
In East London, the U14A boys’ and girls’ water polo teams took part in their first tour away from home at the Jason Murray tournament at Selborne College and Clarendon Girls’ High School.
The Pearson girls ended day one in second position in their particular pool and faced hometown competitors, Collegiate Girls’ High, in the quarterfinals.
The path to the quarterfinals included a loss to Clarendon U14A (6-0) and wins against Merrifield U14A (8-3) and Hudson Invitational (9-2).
Following a strong win over Collegiate in the quarterfinals (6-1), they faced off against Woodridge in the semifinals.
After a hard-fought battle in the pool (3-3), the Pearson girls won on penalties (3-2) to secure a place in the final against Clarendon.
An early goal by Pearson gave the team encouragement, but the East London hosts proved stronger, securing the win 5-2.
Congratulations must go to Pearson’s Mataiah Smith, who was selected as the top attacking female player of the tournament.
Meanwhile, closer to home, the Pearson cricketers played time-format matches against Daniel Pienaar.
The first team claimed a win in the first innings, largely thanks to the bowling of James Fullbrook (5/47) and a well-struck 50 by Jaundre van Rooyen.
The Pearson 2nd team showed their grit with an outright win by 190 runs, with standout performances by Huzain Khan (5/29) and Wesley Steneveld (151).
Both the U15 and U14 boys claimed wins as well, with top performances coming from Aidan Schultz (91) and Daniel Faltein (59).
The Pearson girls’ team managed a good win against New Brighton Hub.
Pearson captain Cayleigh Wanckel showed her prowess with determined batting and bowling (77 runs and 2/5), ably assisted by Taylor Knight with 4/11.
The Herald
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