SPORT REPORT
YEAR 7 BOYS TENNIS STATE FINALS
Congratulations to Grant Sandler, Christopher Siang, Daniel Gershenzon, Ryoku Nishikawa, Christian Sjostrom and Oliver Lopez on a superb tennis season as members of the Year 7 Boys Tennis Team.
In February this year, the boys began an undefeated journey that would take them all the way to the State Finals, which were held on Friday 20 November at the Boroondara Tennis Centre.
The boys were dedicated and worked hard throughout each stage of the competition. In the lead up to the Finals, they trained on a weekly basis and were rewarded with an excellent result.
In the Preliminary stages of the Finals, they accounted for Notre Dame six sets to love, St Helena 5-1, and Trinity 6-0, topping their group and setting up a sudden death Semi-Final showdown against the mighty Box Hill Tennis Academy – winners of seven of the last ten State Finals. The boys needed to dig deep and they did. They defied their underdog status, playing their best tennis of the year, winning a nail biting Semi-Final 4-2 to earn their spot in the Grand Final against Maribyrnong Sports Academy, winners of two of the last four titles, and hot favourites for the 2015 title. The boys put up a brave fight, and were still in contention entering the last two doubles rubbers of the year, but an undefeated season was not to be and Maribyrnong won 5-1.
The boys’ effort to come second in the State was unbelievable. They displayed great sportsmanship and supported each other throughout, winning over many supporters on the day. Well done, boys!
Dean Weingarten
Coach
TABLE TENNIS FINALS 2015
On Thursday 29 October, the Year 7 and Year 8 Boys Table Tennis Teams participated in the Southern Metro Region Finals held at the Dandenong Table Tennis Centre.
The Year 8 Boys team was comprised of Ashley Hunter, Amit Samuni, Damien Ross and David Lu. The team defeated Alkira Secondary College, winning all six matches and also defeating Mornington Secondary College 5-1in the Round Robin stage. They played Albert Park Secondary College in the Final defeating them by 5-1.
The Year 7 Boys team comprised of Jihoon (William) Yang, Yifan Yang, Ryoku Nishikawa, James Liao and Rishab Kiran defeated all the schools in the Round Robin stage and the Final, winning all their matches throughout the day, 6-0.
After becoming Division Champions, the teams played in the State Final on Friday 20 November which was held at Melbourne Sport and Aquatic Centre.
The Year 8 Boys team, defeated by Wangaratta, Northcote and Warrnambool, being eliminated in the Round Robin stage, losing 4-2 two against all the schools.
The Year 7 Boys team defeated Galen Christian College 6-0 in the first round. They lost to University High School 14-10 after drawing three matches each in the second round. Upon defeating Mercy RC Camperdown 5-1 in the third round, they placed in the Semi-Final against Wellington Secondary College. It was a very tight Semi-Final, with each school winning three matches each. The final result came down to how many games each team won. The team lost 12-11. They came equal Third in the State.
Congratulations to both teams who performed exceptionally at both events and represented the school with pride.
On Friday 30 October the Year 8 Girls Table Tennis Team participated in the Southern Metro Region Finals held at Dandenong Table Tennis Centre.
The Year 8 Girls Team was comprised of Ashleigh Hoffman, Bianca Denisenko, Luciana Martinez, Gemma Brandman and Sades Kyrou. The team defeated Narre Warren South 6-0 and Rosebud Secondary College 4-2 in the Round Robin stage. After playing Glen Eira Secondary College, and winning 4-2 in the Final, they became the Southern Metro Region Champions.
On Wednesday 18 November the Year 8 Girls went on to play in the State Finals at Melbourne Sport and Aquatic Centre. This is the second year in a row that these girls are representing McKinnon in the State Final. Congratulations to the girls who performed outstandingly, also representing the school with pride.
Ray Braniska & Deon Weingarten
Coaches
SUPER 8s STATE FINAL
The Year 8 Girls Super 8s team played in the Cricket Victoria State Final at the MCG on Thursday 3 December.
The girls played some really good cricket and put up a strong fight for the state title but unfortunately were beaten by a strong bowling attack.
Congratulations to all the girls for making it to the ‘G’- Lilly Felder, Em Williams, Eloise Williams, Rose Evers, Tea O’Leary, Amelia Marino, Arwen Verdnik, Lara Ozenir, Lisa Winkler and Sabrina Humphry. Also part of the squad who played throughout the team's journey to the MCG were Katherine Hart, Tess MCartney & Jessica Ponsford.
Jennifer Pemberton
Coach
ALL SCHOOLS NATIONAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
McKinnon Secondary College sent two teams to this year’s event to play.
We travelled by bus to Canberra on Sunday 29 November and attended the Opening Ceremony at 6:00pm. The team stayed at Alivio Tourist Park and throughout the week played many games of basketball, completed a Canberra Tour, went to the movies, out for dinner and hung out by the pool! Games were played at Belconnen, the AIS and Tuggernong basketball stadiums.
The girls team played three matches in the qualifying pool games winning two and losing one to rank 2nd in their pool. They went on to win their quarter final on Thursday morning but lost their Semi-Final and the play off for 3rd position by narrow margins. This left the team in 4th place in their division.
The boys team played four pool matches winning three and losing one match. This ranked them 2nd in their pool and the boys lost their Semi-Finals and play off for 3rd place, also finishing 4th in their division.
A great week had by all.
James Bridges
Coach
NATIONAL ALL SCHOOLS KNOCKOUT COMPETITION
On Monday 7 December, at the early time of 7:15am, the Junior Boys Athletics team travelled to Albert Park, to compete in the National All Schools Knockout Competition.
The team, consisting of: Xavier Verdnik, Sam Kristensen, Jackson Hannah, Lucas Thompson, Jason Clayton and an injured Will Sharp, competed both for individually and for points in the team event. Across the day everyone performed well. Jason and Sam both had big PB’s in the 800, Jackson and Lucas did well in the 100, and Xavier ran a fast 100m hurdles. In the field Jackson threw the 5kg shot put and Lucas came second in the long jump. Will threw the javelin against boys who were twice his size. The day built up to the 4x200 metre relay. Tired and sore, we were runaway winners in our heat winning by 30 metres.
Thanks to Miss Carter for driving and organising the day and for Mrs Pemberton for coming along on her day off!
Xavier Verdnik
Year 8 Student