Sports News
Chess News - Tony Moran
Chess Club has been running since Covid restrictions were eased about a month ago. The Club meets in the Textiles Room every Monday at lunchtime. Students from all years and of all levels of ability are welcome to attend.
Last year, St Mary's came second in the North-West Region of the Country Schools Chess Knockout. Although we have lost some members of last year's team, we are confident of a good showing this year. The first round of the competition was held on 15 March, when we hosted Coonabarabran High School. The St Mary's team, comprising Mitchell Herden on Board 1, Cameron Byrnes (2), Ethan Tighe (3), and Clare Canham (4) came away with a convincing 4 - 0 victory, Congratulations, team members! The draw for the second round has not yet been received.
On the next Tuesday, 22 March, an in-school tournament was held for students in Years 7 to 10. 18 players competed.
The winner was Luke Jones, with 5.5 points (5 wins and a draw). Jack Canham was runner-up on 5 points. For third place, a countback was necessary to separate Tremain Markl-Beasley and Tom Carlyon, both of whom scored 4 points; Tremain was declared the third placegetter.
Congratulations to those four students, as well as to the other 14, all of whom competed keenly for their six games. Many thanks to Mr Ed Heap, who has been helping with the chess at St Mary's and St Xavier's for well over a decade. Ed used his expertise to manage the Swiss tournament with less than a minute between one round finishing and the draw being announced for the next.
Armidale Diocesan Swimming
St Mary’s College had twenty competitors & twenty student officials at the Armidale Diocesan Swimming selection trials held at Gunnedah last week. Congratulations to all competitors on the way they represented the school & swam their best on what was a challenging day given the extended program.
Special mention to our seven Armidale Diocesan Swimming Age Champions -
Harry Bennett [16 Boys], Darcy Gleeson [15 Boys], Tayla Nott [15 Girls],
Lachlan Davey [14 Boys], Zac Akinyemi [13 Boys], Will Jansen [12 Boys] & Katie Spinks [12 Girls].
They'll be joined by Ebony Berges, Angus Hobson, Tahnee Steele, Dana Campbell & possibly Liam Nott [additional entry pending] making a total of twelve students selected to go on to represent Armidale Diocese at NSWCCC Swimming at SOPAC Homebush on Wednesday, April 6.
Five school records were broken on the day -
Harry Bennett 16 Boys 50m Freestyle 25.50, 50m Backstroke 30.78
Tayla Nott 15 Girls 50m Freestyle 29.29, 50m Butterfly 32.82, 50m Backstroke 33.75
The relay team of Lachlan Davey, Dana Campbell, Tayla Nott, Harry Bennett, Lily Grist & Darcy Gleeson were successful in winning the Armidale Diocesan Secondary Sports Council Shield for the 6 x 50m Inter-School Freestyle relay.
Finally, a huge thank you & well done to the PASS students who were timekeepers throughout the day & helped with both the setup & pack up for the carnival. They did an outstanding job throughout the day.
Cross Country
The college cross country was run on Friday 8 April, results will be published next term.
Congratulations to all participants.