Sporting News

On your marks, get set, go ... inside our Athletics Carnival 

The Preston High Athletics Carnival was a remarkable sight, with students walking, riding, cycling and driving to the field in Coburg last month. They crowded the Coburg Athletics Track in a flurry of sports uniforms and house colours of red, purple, blue or green as well as some creative costumes! 

For some students, it was their first athletics day, for some, their last. For Cohort 2024 it was a day of elaborate costumes. Students came dressed as chocolate bars, allegedly framed inmates, inflatable animals and even duplicates of PHS’s very own Ms Shae and Jess!

With many events to keep track of, students flocked to the high jump, long jump and the discus and shot put. Interestingly enough, the most popular place students gathered to was the canteen! The weather proved patchy, nothing less expected from Melbourne. It set up a battle that our gazebos lost but our runners pulled through, jogging, sprinting, and powering through the sometimes bitter wind. The was a general buzz through the air as people set up picnic rugs, snacks and games they brought to fill the spaces in-between events.

The event was a tremendous success, even for the houses who didn’t quite reach gold. Every run, jump, and throw counted. A student only gets six Athletics Day Carnivals during their high school years so taking full advantage of them is key, whether that’s competing in every event, running, and cheering alongside the lane of a competing friend or just playing cards in the sun to take a break from schoolwork stress.

We hope you all enjoyed the day.

Darcy Griffin, Cohort 2024, Marbled Gecko House

Preston students make a splash at Victorian School Regional Swimming Championships

On Wednesday March 28, while the rest of the student population slept in and took advantage of a day at home for Student-Led Conferences, eight Preston High School students braved the chilly morning to venture out to WaterMarc in Greensborough to compete in the Victorian School Regional Swimming Championships. 

When we entered the pool, the place was alive with activity; everyone finding their places, nervous students calling out to friends from other schools and training squads, teachers corralling their groups and swimmers warming up in the lanes. 

Leah Betson, Emma Dodsworth, Claire Lewis and Ellis Weisert competed in their individual events, with outstanding performances. Claire came 2nd in her 50m butterfly, Emma came 3rd in her 50m freestyle, Ellis came 3rd in his 50m breaststroke  and Leah came 1st in both 50m breaststroke and 50m backstroke, clocking multiple PBs on the day too! The whole team cheered for each swimmer and really supported each other.

Then came the relays. The boys group (Ellis with Egan Greenwood, Flynn Payne and Ziggy Thomson) performed admirably in the 200 medley but unfortunately it wasn’t their day. Not so for the girls. Leah, Emma and Claire, with Erin Horne as their fourth teammate, won both the 200 Freestyle and the 200 Medley relays. Emma was the standout for her exhilarating last lap of the medley, during which she made up some 20 metres on the first placed swimmer to clinch the win by 0.01 seconds!

Congratulations to all our swimmers for their efforts, and good luck for the next round!

Ms Johanna Healy, Teacher

Interschool sports round-up

Our sporting program got off to a cracking start in Term Two, with dozens of students vying for the chance to represent Preston High in competitions against other local schools.  It was great to see so many students coming to team tryouts at lunchtime or after school for a chance to pull on Preston colours and pit their sporting skills against our rivals.

So far this term we have had Year 11/12 Football, Year 11/12 Badminton (pictured above), Year 11/12 Netball (all divisions) and Regional Year 8 Baseball/Softball. Unfortunately not all the teams progressed to the next round. However, the Year 8 baseball and softball teams did brilliantly in the division comp in Term One to qualify for the regional competition. The next month is another busy one for sport. I will keep you updated with how they all get on in coming newsletters.

Jack Fowler, Sports coordinator and PE/ Health teacher