PARKES HIGH SCHOOL NEWS

Parkes High School's year nine student Henry Kross and year 8 student Max Jones recently competed in New Zealand representing NSW Combined High Schools and Australia in their chosen sport of squash.

The boys competed against under 15 students from Queensland and New Zealand at the Trans Tasman Tri Series.

"The first three days was individuals where players ranked number 1 for their team versed the other other teams 1 player and so on," Henry said.

"On the second day 1 played 2, 3 played 4 and on the last day it was the same as the first."

Henry was player number one for the CHS NSW team and Max was player number three.

"I played a lot better on the second day of competition compared to my first day but I still won," Max said.

"I played alright but I could of played better," Henry said.

"I just couldn't really get used to the courts at NZ since it was very rainy. The courts were very slippery and the walls were wet when you wiped your hand on the wall."

A highlight for the week for both of the boys was that NSW claimed the shield in the Trans Tasman Tri Series against Queensland by 11 points.

After this competition both Henry and Max were selected to play for the Australian team against New Zealand in the test series.

This was Max's first time representing Australia and Henry's third.

"I was very excited and proud of myself," Max said.

The Australian team was selected from both the NSW and QLD teams that competed earlier in the week and five players were selected for the boys under 15s team.

"I played the same person from the New Zealand team that I played in the Tri Series, but I played better than I did the last time and the game still went to 5"Max said.

Henry only lost to one person during the whole competition.

"We played each other five times and I can say I beat him once," Henry said.

"I beat everyone else pretty comfortably."

In a couple of weeks both of the boys will be heading to Sydney to compete in the Australia Junior Championships.

"Max and I both got selected in the U15s state team.

"We will play individuals first and them go into team events."

As well as this the Parkes High School's boy's squash team will be headed to Newcastle as they have won their way into the top four teams in the state.

Henry and Max are a part of this team and they are joined by Tom Rix and Max's brother Lochie.

"We made the top four after we beat Yass a couple of weeks ago," Henry said.

The team will play against the other three teams teams in one intense day of squash.

"if we win that we are state champs which Parkes High hasn't won for a while."

The boys are looking forward to representing their school against the best school squash teams in the state.