Sports Corner

NSW CCC Tennis

On Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 March, Madison Jones travelled to Bathurst to represent NSWCCC in the Open Tennis Championships. The two-day tournament saw the best tennis players from across the state gather for a torrid tournament. Madison was outstanding in her efforts and determination and represented CCC well. Congratulations Madi!

Diocesan Swimming Championships

On Wednesday 26 March, 30 students represented SJPC at the Lismore Diocese Swimming Championships in Alstonville. This event was postponed due to the recent cyclonic weather, so the students were keen to attend the event and set off at 5.45am from the College. The day was highly successful despite the showers that surrounded the event and the long drawn out program. All students represented the College with integrity and pride and made us all proud. 

Of special note are the following results:

12 - 14 boys 4 x 50m freestyle relay placed 1st, earning them the right to represent the Diocese at the NSWCCC Swimming Championships in Sydney in April. Congratulations to Luke Wilson, Harrison Howe, William Backhouse and Cohen Straw.

17s boys 4 x 50m freestyle relay composed of Tristan Shih, Riley Woods, Ethan Dawson and Carlo Eiler swam a blistering race to finish 1st, also progressing to NSWCCC as Diocesan representatives.

Coco Becker placed 1st in 50m free, 100m free, 100m fly; 2nd in 50 breast, 100m back, 100m free, 200m IM; 3rd in 50 fly and 50 back. Coco’s performance resulted in her qualifying to represent the Diocese in 3 events.

Congratulations to the following students who finished first or second in an event:

1st > Holly Becker - 50m Back; Holly Tyler - 50m free, 50m back; Luke Wilson - 50m back, 100m back; Coco Becker - 50m free, 100m free, 100m fly.

2nd > Lily-Mei Wong - 50m fly, 50m back, 100m free; Tristan Shih - 100m free, 100m back; Luke Wilson - 50m fly; Coco Becker - 50 breast, 100m back, 100m free, 200m IM; Holly Tyler - 50m fly, 50 breast; Harrison Howe - 100m breast; Holly Becker - 200m IM; Hayley Woods - 400m freestyle and the 15 - 16 girls relay (Holly Tyler, Lily-Mei Wong, Danielle Atkinson and Shenae Pratt); 

From this event we have 11 students who have qualified to represent the Diocese at the NSWCCC Swimming Championships in Sydney on 2 April, more than any other College in the Diocese. Congratulations to Harrison Howe, Cohen Straw, Luke Wilson, William Backhouse, Coco Becker, Holly Tyler, Holly Becker, Tristan Shih, Ethan Dawson, Riley Woods, Carlo Eiler.

Thank you to Kirstin Binnie, Damien Wood (who jumped in at the last minute saving the day) and Brooke Dart, who accompanied our students.

Schools Cup Netball Round 1

Our 4 junior representative teams headed to the Coffs Harbour netball courts to contest Round 1 of the NSW Netball Schools Cup. A highly contested statewide event, our students came up against Bishop Druitt College, Toormina High, Coffs Harbour High, Christian Community, Bellingen High, Orara High and South Grafton High.

7/8 Girls - Commanding. There is no other way to describe the brutal strength of our 7/8 girls team. They came up against BDC 1, South Grafton High, Coffs High and BDC 2, without really being challenged. They are the local champions and have progressed to the Regional Finals in Port Macquarie.

7/8 Boys - Were an enthusiastic force who met every opponent with determination and tenacity. In the rounds, the boys defeated Orara High, BDC, Woolgoolga High and Coffs High to finish undefeated and progress to the Regional Finals in Port Macquarie.

9/10 Girls - The girls were dynamic and versatile, easily accounting for their opposition throughout the day. They won all their games against Orara, South Grafton, Toormina High and  Coffs High to be undefeated Champions of the Coffs Region.

9/10 boys - A spirited and often energetic crew, our 9/10 boys had flair but were not able to shut out the opposition at key moments, resulting in two narrow losses to place third overall. Unfortunately, the boys will not progress to the Regional finals.

Thank you to our coaches, Mrs Slaviero, Mrs Maybury, Mr Druzinec and Mrs Brokmann who coached the teams and encouraged their wonderful achievements. Thank you also to our school students who were umpiring officials on the day.

Diocesan Open Basketball

This year, we were lucky enough to have 3 teams entered in the Diocesan Open Basketball Championships held in Coffs Harbour. All three teams had trained hard for this event, making it to 7.15 am training each Wednesday morning as well as Friday lunchtime training sessions for about 8 weeks before the event.  This commitment from both coaches and players resulted in all 3 teams securing a place in the Grandfinal for their division - the only College to do so!

Open Boys Div 1 - The boys finished 2nd overall from the pool games, only dropping a game against a well-skilled and physical MacKillop 44 - 21. The boys advanced to the Grand Final, where again they found themselves up against MacKillop. Despite their best efforts, MacKillop came away with a convincing win, 52 - 26. The boys will now hopefully progress to NSWCCC in Sydney in June as the Lismore Diocesan Runner-Up Champions Division 1.

Open Boys Div 2 - The Div 2 boys also finished 2nd in their pool only losing to Xavier, 40 -15. They won their cross-over semi-final against the top-seeded team from Pool 2, Regional 26 - 21 in what was a very physical encounter. The boys once again found themselves opposing Xavier, who were too strong taking the game 43 - 16. However, by placing 2nd, the boys are Diocesan Runner-Up Champions for Division 2. 

Open Girls Div 1 - Unlike the boys, the girls went through the rounds undefeated and unchallenged which brought them up against the 2nd seed from Pool 2, Mackillop. Some great defense from MackIllop saw our girls required to lift and took the game in a clean and methodical manner, winning 60 - 15. This brought the girls into the Grandfinal against Xavier, who unlike most the teams competed against was a team of basketballers, who knew and played the game regialrl. This provided our girls with a challenge, testing their team work and tenacity to do the job without one of our best Lexi Plater. The girls determination and superior team work got them across the line to win 25 - 15, being crowned Diocesan Champions of Division 1. As a result, the Open Girls automatically qualify for the NSWCCC Championships in Sydney.

Thank you to our amazing coaching team, John Philip, Jessi Reeves and Steve Verbruggen who provide our students with a well-structured, high-performance coaching program.

Congratulations

Evie Hill (Year 10) and Thomas Joyce (Year 8) have been selected to compete in the 2025 Australian Track and Field Championships in Perth next week.

Evie is competiting in the U16 Heptathlon. This is a significant achievement and one well deserved. Evie is an amazing athlete, regularly achieving SJPC Age Champion, winning Diocesan in High Jump and sprints, and regularly representing the Diocese at the NSWCCC Championships. Last year, Evie was equal 2nd in High Jump at CCC and this does not reflect her many athletics achievements outside of the school pathway. Well done Evie!

Likewise Thomas is a rising star in the athletics arena, being selected in the SJPC to attend Diocese and then representing the Diocese in 2024 at the NSWCCC Athletics Championships. Thomas competed in the 200m and has been selected for the Australian Track and Field Championships in 200m and 400m. Good luck, Thomas!

Coming Up - Term 1 2025

Danielle McAra
Leader of Sport