Pearson High School’s sports teams produced a memorable series of performances on the national stage, with the first girls’ water polo and cricket teams both returning home as champions.
The Pearson first teams travelled to the National Co-Ed Water Polo Tournament hosted by Thomas More in Durban, where the girls went unbeaten throughout the competition to claim the title.
They made an emphatic start, beating Alexander Road 21-0 before overcoming hosts Thomas More 9-5.
They continued their strong form on the second day with a 13-1 victory over Merrifield to top their pool.
In the quarterfinals, Pearson edged Stirling 8-7 in a closely fought encounter before producing another composed performance to defeat St Peters 8-6 in the semifinals.
They saved their best for the final, defeating Thomas More 8-3 to be crowned champions.
The boys also made an impressive start to the tournament, drawing 6-6 with Curro Hillcrest before winning the penalty shootout 3-2.
They followed that with a convincing 17-5 victory over Fish Hoek.
A narrow 8-6 defeat against Hudson Park left them second in their pool, but they remained competitive in the knockout stages, eventually finishing eighth among the 16 participating teams after an 11-4 quarterfinal loss to Glenwood and a 6-5 defeat against Reddam Bedfordview in the qualification match.
Pearson also received significant individual recognition, with Milan Janse van Rensburg, Olivia Attwell, Sarah Whitehead and Tatum Dace selected for the tournament team.
Janse van Rensburg was further honoured by being named defender of the tournament.
The success continued in Worcester, where the Pearson first girls’ cricket team won the Inni-Vallei Krieketfees in impressive fashion.
Pearson opened their campaign with a 53-run victory over Stellenberg, scoring 124/8 in 18 overs before restricting their opponents to 71/8.
Sienna Claassen top-scored with an unbeaten 51 off 50 balls, while Peyton Scheepers and Zanè Swanepoel claimed two wickets apiece.
The bowlers then produced a stunning performance against Bredasdorp, dismissing them for just 20 in 13.2 overs.
Scheepers took 6/2, including a hat-trick, as Pearson won by 10 wickets.
Against Reddam, Pearson dismissed their opponents for 52, with Swanepoel taking 4/10 and Taylor Knight 3/8.
Pearson chased down the target to win by four wickets, with Aerin Labuscagne contributing an unbeaten 25 off 19 balls.
In the semifinal, Pearson scored 120/3 against Somerset, with Kayla McLagan leading the way with an unbeaten 62 off 50 balls.
Somerset were restricted to 72/9, giving Pearson a 48-run victory.
McLagan, Knight and Claassen each claimed two wickets.
The final against Reddam was another disciplined performance.
Pearson posted 109/7 in their 18 overs before restricting Reddam to 78/7 to secure a 31-run victory and the tournament title.
Claassen and Scheepers each took two wickets, with Claassen named player of the final and Scheepers receiving the player of the tournament award.
There was further national success for Pearson’s U15A netball team, who competed at the Fast5 SASN National Netball Championships.
The team finished 10th in SA after a competitive tournament which included victories over Noordheuwel (29-20), Welkom Gim (29-13), Ben Vorster (25-23), Rustenburg (25-19) and Witteberg (31-14).
They also suffered narrow defeats against Secunda (23-22), Milnerton (34-30) and Drostdy (22-21), underlining the competitiveness of the tournament.
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