Sport News

Mr Derek Lennon, Head of Sport

It was another huge week in sport last week. It started on Tuesday with our swimming team doing a wonderful job at the AIC Swimming Championships, finishing second overall and winning the 14 years and 15 years age groups. It was pleasing to see such a high-quality performance from our team and a strong indicator of the community spirit and sense of team that our swimming community has. Congratulations to all swimmers who did a PB, won a race or broke a school or AIC record. There is a breakdown with more detail in the swimming section of the report. Well done to St Peters for taking out the AIC title, the program there is one of the benchmarks in Australia. We dust ourselves off, we get in the pool again, and we go again.

I thank our Head Coach, Mr James Boyce, who is clearly one of the very best young coaches in Queensland, if not Australia. James works tirelessly for Marist, both AIC team and the swim club, and the results that his swimmers continue to produce is a credit to him and the program. Thank you also to Assistant Head Coach Damien Bromley and all of the coaches involved in the program including Ziggi Jacks and Lachie Gough. Thank you also to the staff who have contributed to helping the boys develop as swimmers and as young men - Roxanne Rosenberg, David Meehan, John Lambourne, Anntoinette Restell, Pierce Hardy, Lucy Hislop and Cath Geraghty and all staff who have assisted. A huge thank you also to Christine Baillie, who as our Swimming Coordinator went over and above in preparing all of the details, organised the staff, coordinated all the events and logistics and did a terrific job hosting the awards function.

Friday night was a bye for the 1st XVIII who now have it all to play for with two matches in 48 hours this week against St Peters and St Edmunds. These boys have worked hard for two terms now and have shown significant growth as a team under the coaching of Mr Matt Beattie, supported by Mr Brett Gillett and Mr Andrae Mackay and manager Mr Michael Travers. Good luck boys, we are right behind you.

Our 1st VI volleyball had a very good 3-set victory against St Laurence’s College in one of their best overall performances against a tricky opponent. The boys aim to finish hard and claim a top 3 finish against St Edmunds this Saturday.

The 1st XI cricket team were dominant from start to finish against St Laurence’s, with Will Nickelson claiming his second century of the season, averaging over 100, and the bowlers all performing well in a very strong team performance. This team has worked hard to get into first place and will hope to finish the season off well against St Edmunds. The leadership of Mr Michael Abbott, Mr Tom Gibson and Mr Mitch Reid has been a really positive factor in the success of this team, and the whole College is behind them as they seek to return the premiership trophy back to Ashgrove.

Swimming

Last Tuesday, the Marist College Ashgrove Swimming Team attended the AIC Swimming Championships at the Sleeman Sports Complex.

Firstly, we must congratulate St Peters Lutheran College on their victory and seven in a row. While it’s another second place for our swimming team, it's hard to discourage all the boys’ efforts on the day.

It’s important that we take this opportunity to reflect on our team's results.

Under 15 Boys Medley Relay (Archer Mellifont, Joshua Mason, Ryan O’Toole, Isaac Farrelly) setting a new AIC and College Record in a time of 1:52.46.
Under 15 Boys Freestyle Relay Div. 2 (Xavier Clarke – Bates, Taj Cook, Jack Purcell, Jackson Skinner) setting a new AIC and College Record in a time of 1:46.21.
Under 15 Boys Freestyle Relay Div. 1 (Ryan O’Toole, Archer Mellifont, Joshua Mason, Isaac Farrelly) setting a new AIC and College Record in a time of 1:41.19.
Opens Freestyle Relay Div. 1 (Bailey Skinner, Spencer Mahoney, Noah Coco, Thomas Hicks), setting a new College record in a time of 1:35.09.
Under 13 Freestyle Relay Div. 1 (Nicholas Osborn, Sam Mapledoram, Thomas Bedggood, Dustin Miller) setting a new College record in a time of 1:52.35.

Congratulations to all these boys who broke AIC and/or College Records.

We also had some wonderful individual achievements from the meet.

Ryan O’Toole broke the Under 15 Div. 2, 50m Breaststroke AIC Record in a time of 32.35.
Ryan O’Toole also broke the Under 15 Div. 1, 50m Freestyle AIC Record in a time of 24.57.

Congratulations Ryan.

James Leigh equalled a long-time College record from 2004 set by Michael Brunton in the Under 16’s 100m Butterfly with a time of 57.43.

Well Done, James Leigh

Overall AIC Swimming Results

St Peters Lutheran College – 661.50

Marist College Ashgrove – 621.75

Villanova College – 440

Iona College – 427.25

St Laurence’s College – 386

Padua College – 278.50

Ambrose Treacy College – 272.50

St Patrick’s College – 224

St Edmunds College – 155.50

Primary AIC Swimming Overall Results

Villanova College – 388.5

Marist College Ashgrove – 335

St Peters Lutheran College – 327

Iona College – 306

Padua College – 304

St Patrick’s College – 249

St Laurence’s College – 232.5

Ambrose Treacy College – 191

AIC Age Group Aggregate

Opens – 2nd Place.

Under 16’s – 2nd Place

Under 15’s – 1st Place

Under 14’s – 1st Place

Under 13’s – 2nd Place

Under 12’s – 2nd Place

Overall – 2nd Place

Primary AIC Aggregate Results

Year 5 – 4th Place

Year 6 – 3rd Place

Overall – 2nd Place

I want to thank all the coaches, teachers and parents who help out throughout the year. I know you all give up your time to ensure all the boys are well looked after, so thank you.

To all the boys who didn’t make the final swimming team, I want to thank you. You guys are the heart and soul of this team's competitiveness. I continue to ask you, boys, to hold in there and continue your training, as your chance is not far away.

To this year’s team, while it’s great to come second to such a champion swimming program in St Peters, we, as a program must continue to be better at what we didn’t execute well enough this year, if we want to go one better next year.

Swimming will continue for all boys, so please keep an eye out on the College app for What’s on at the Pool.

AFL- Mr Adam Earnshaw and Mrs Tara Franklin (AFL Coordinators)

While our 1st VXIII team had a bye this week our juniors had a tough round this week against St Laurence’s College. Both Year 7 teams fought hard and were well disciplined. The 7B team narrowly lost but 5 points. 8As commitment to the game was good but are still developing discipline. 8b’s took a while to warm up and had 2 great quarters, in particular, they left the opposition scoreless in the 3rd quarter. Both 9/10 played well and displayed grit and determination.

Congratulations to Bryce Franklin for his first game goal umpiring. It was great to see 10 students participate in the AFL Queensland umpiring course last week. This course will continue for the next 2 weeks on a Wednesday afternoon at the College.

Thank you to Mr Craig Chapman who took these amazing action shot photos of the 7A’s.

We wish the 1st VXIII all the very best with their two games remaining this week- St Peters Lutheran College and St Ambrose Tracey College. They are currently in a three-way tie with Villanova College and St Laurence’s College for first place on the ladder. GO ASHGROVE!!!

Cricket - Mr Mitch Reid (Cricket Coordinator)

1st XI Match Report - Ben Ferguson

St Laurence’s travelled to Marist in an attempt to derail our premiership campaign with us needing to win every game on the way home to either be co-premiers or perhaps outright premiers if results go our way. Marist lost the toss and was sent in on a rain-affected pitch. Water had snuck under the covers during the night and play was delayed 30 minutes whilst the groundsman did their best to dry a wet patch sitting just short of length with mowers and blowers.

Play finally commenced but the pitch soon delivered SLC some result losing our first wicket at 19. Wex took advantage of some free hits early before being caught on 13 and suddenly we were 2 – 31. Nickelson (Bradman) was then joined by Ferguson and together they batted through to the 30th over before Ferguson was dismissed. Nickelson was then joined by Brandon who once again delivered some fast runs through his aggressive batting scoring 29 off 41 deliveries.

However, it was Nickelson who continued to apply pressure on the SLC bowlers bringing up his century in the 50th over in the toughest batting conditions of the season.

SLC were then sent into bat with rain predicted and the possibility of Duckworth Lewis deciding the result of the match. With 15 overs constituting a game, we hit SLC with a short burst of pace with Tom Davies bowling 3 maidens in a row. However, we then turned to the spinners to race through the 15 overs required to get a result. The spin cartel would then do the majority of the heavy lifting and pave the way for our victory. Lewis and Morris were unstoppable as the rattled through the top-order batsmen. As they have done all season they tied down their opposition and took wickets at regular intervals. The quicks backed them up beautifully with Whitten claiming the prized scalp of the captain and Laner cleaning up the tail.

The season now marches on to St Edmunds where a win will guarantee a shared premiership.

Runs

Nickelson 100

Brandon 29

Wickets

Morris 3

Lewis 2

Laner 2

Track and Field - Mr Rob Martin (Head Coach)

At the recent Queensland Track and Field Championships, Marist was again represented well with 20 athletes participating. There were some excellent results across the 4 days with 11 medals and at least 13 athletes qualifying for the National Titles in April. All competing athletes should be congratulated for their incredible efforts with many of them training since after AIC championships in 2022. The experience will carry them all into the school season which will start training in Term 2 this year.

Medal winners -

1. Joel Drew –

a. Gold Medal - 400m Hurdles u18 54.40s (PB)

b. Gold Medal – 110m Hurdles u18 13.97s (PB – new school record)

2. Lee Martin –

a. Gold Medal - Shot Put U18 (15.83m) PB for 5kg Shot (National Qualifier)

b. Silver Medal – Shot Put U20 (14.16m) PB for 6kg shot (National Qualifier)

c. U18 Discus 40.88m (5th), U18 Javelin 48.26m (6th) (Qualified for both via 2022 All Schools)

3. Connor Campbell -

a. Silver medal - 200m Hurdles u15 27.27s (PB) (National Qualifier)

b. Silver Medal – 400m u15 53.95s (PB) (National Qualifier)

c. Silver Medal – 100m Hurdles u15 15.12s (PB) (National Qualifier)

d. 4th Place – u15 200m 24.29s (PB)

4. Shea Caminiti –

a. Gold Medal – 90m Hurdles u13 16.79s

5. George Daly - Silver Medal - 400m Hurdles u20 (65.0s), Finalist 400m 51.81s

6. Isaiah Burgess - Bronze Medal shot put u17 (11.97m) (PB)

7. Zac Milligan – Silver (9.11.42) QLD u16 3000m Championships, u16 1500m 4:12 (5th) (National Qualifier)

* All medallists also automatically qualify for the QLD state team to compete at the Junior Nationals (u13-u18) or u20/Open Nationals in April along with those who have managed Australian athletics automatic qualifying standard times throughout the season.

Additional National Qualifiers

1. Sam Brassington – 4th Javelin 49.72m (Qualified via 2022 All Schools titles)

2. Jonah Miles – 4th Javelin 43.96m (Qualified via 2022 All Schools titles)

3. Isaac Ting – 200m hurdles 28.75s (7th) (National Qualifier), 14.49s 100m hurdles (6th) National Qualifier)

4. Xavier Simms 4th u18 100m (11.29s), 4th 200m (23.02s)

5. James Prole 5th 800m 1m57s (National Qualifier)

6. Asher Parkin – 3000m (Bettered Qualification time and medal at 2022 All Schools)

* Also some other excellent performances making finals at state level and others working their way up the QLD State Track and Field rankings – well done.

1. Perry Croft – u15 1500m 4m37 (6th), u15 800m (7th) 2m15 (PB)

2. Lyndon Maynard - u16 High Jump (5th overall on countback - same as 2nd place getter height) (1.70m) (PB)

3. Ben Caughley – u18 Long Jump – 6.11m (7th), (u18 High Jump (9th on countback) (1.75m)

4. Charlie Campion – u14 90m Hurdles 15.7s (5th)

5. Zander Bird – u13 200m 29.15s (5th), 100m 14.4s (13th)

6. Josh Dempsey – u17 Discus 33.31m (6th)

7. Nick Bray – u13 1500m 5m25 (14th)

Well done: Special mention to new medallists George Daly, Shea Caminiti and Isaiah Burgess who were new to this level of track and field competition, took an opportunity to compete regularly after training and performing well at AIC in 2022 and have now all made the QLD team. Hopefully, some other athletes look to follow their path in 2023.

Based on results, Marist Track and Field will have at least 13 QLD representatives at the upcoming National Championships to be held in Brisbane with U20/Open Championships (30 Mar - 2 Apr) and National Junior Championships (U13-U18, 13-16 April). We wish all athletes the very best as they start to finalise their training and preparations.

Rugby Union - Mr Richard Graham (Director of Rugby/Track and Field)

Trials

The rugby union trials are fast approaching and it is fantastic to see the majority of boys will complete the Rugby Ready Program by the end of this week. The 4-week program is mandatory for students to play rugby union at the College.

If you are recently injured or have been a part of the AIC swim team, please see me if you have any concerns so we can support you through the necessary 4 stages of the program.

Beginning next Monday 20 March, the rugby union season will start training in age groups in preparation for the internal trials on Saturday 25 March. The 1st XV, 10As, 8As and 7As will play the Sunshine Coast Grammar School, whilst the rest of the school will play internal trials.

Other trial opportunities include the Marist Rugby Easter Camp and a full school trial in Term 2 against St Laurence’s College. Every student will have the chance through training and games to put their best foot forward for selection.

Marist Rugby Easter Camp

Tickets for the camp have been selling fast. For those wanting to attend the camp, please see the Marist app – Rugby Union – All Ages Rugby Camp for the confirmation link. It will be a great opportunity to improve skills and game understanding, catching up with your teammates, and be ready for the Term 2 rugby union season.

Marist Rugby Coaches

Thanks to the coaches who gave up their time on the weekend to attend Rugby Australia’s Level 1 and 2 coaching accreditations. It is important for all coaches to continue to develop their skills and understanding, and these courses provide a valuable insight into coaching the modern game.

A huge thanks also for those coaches that have committed to coaching the students in Term 2. The College has the largest player and coach representation of all the AIC schools. This season the College will have over 700 students pulling on the Bumblebee jersey each weekend and close to 60 coaches who will support their participation, development and enjoyment.

Student Achievements

Congratulations to Michael Garske, Tom Davies and Joe Whitten who represented Met North Team at the Queensland School Sport State Championship on the Sunshine Coast last week.