Uplands comes up trumps against Penryn on Founders Weekend
The second Lowveld Derby of the year predominantly went the way of Uplands, whose first teams triumphed over Penryn in most of the sport codes that the schools participated in as part of the derby on May 24 and 25.
The Lowveld Derby also coincided with the 2024 Uplands Founders Weekend, marking a special celebratory occasion for Uplands.
It was the second Lowveld Derby of the year, the first being held at Penryn on April 19 and 20. There, Uplands dominated the weekend courtesy of wins in most of the matches played. Hoping to continue their Lowveld Derby dominance, Uplands welcomed Penryn for the second round of the bout on May 24 and 25.
The weekend started with the Uplands Founders Evening on Thursday May 23. The sport kicked off with the boys’ hockey, netball, chess and debating, which were contested on Friday. Uplands won all four of the boys’ hockey matches, but Penryn won both the debating and chess. The netball was evenly contested, as Penryn and Uplands won three games each, while two were drawn.
Uplands also won the Uplands Old Girls versus Penryn Old Girls game on Friday evening. On Saturday, the time for the girls’ hockey, tennis and the rugby arrived. The girls’ hockey also had an even outcome, the schools winning two games apiece and drawing one match. Uplands came out on top in the tennis, though. An Uplands Old Boys versus Penryn Old Boys game was played and also went the way of the hosts.
On the rugby field, Uplands dominated proceedings with three wins from five matches. But Penryn earned one win, and in the biggest change of fortunes between the two derby days of the year, the U16 teams drew. At Penryn on April 20, the outcome was 63-0 in Uplands’s favour, so a 10-10 draw last weekend was a major turnaround for the Penryn boys.
The Uplands Founders Weekend included a variety of other events such as dressage and musical classes at the Uplands Equestrian Centre. The weekend wrapped up with the Uplands MTB Classic at the MTO Trails Centre. The Uplands MTB Classic featured three distances – 15km, 35km and 50km.
The 15km was won by Christiaan Prinsloo and Lana de Vries was the first lady to finish. Michael Craigie won the 35km race, while Maya de Vries was the first lady. In the 55km, Dewald Coetzee was victorious and Laura Milne was the first lady over the line.
The scores for the first team matches were (Uplands’s scores first):
• Boys’ hockey: 4-1
• Girls’ hockey: 2-0
• Netball: 32-20
• Rugby: 34-21.
