Achievements & Results
Hackathon 2019 | The University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne's annual Hackathon brings over 100 students together to solve problems through the lens of Humanities and the Arts, and this year's challenge tasked students with responding to the final lines of Shakespeare's great political tragedy, "Julius Caesar". SCHS Year 12 student, Mehul K, staged his response as an inventive short film, and was amongst six finalists shortlisted to take out the top prize! Voting has now closed, but you can check out his nominated entry above. Congratulations, Mehul, and to all the SCHS students who participated in this fabulous event!
National Swimming Championship | Malta
Year 11 student, Sean G, recently competed at the Swimming Nationals in Malta. At this swimming meet he managed to win a number of medals at age and opens categories. These include Gold in the 200 Butterfly and 400 Medley with Bronze in the 100 Butterfly. He also managed to break the age national record in the 400 Medley, establishing an Age Group D Record of 4:58.68 seconds.
This is fantastic achievement for Sean, and a wonderful example of our students representing Suzanne Cory - and Australia - on the world stage!
Victorian Schools League Fencing | Suzanne Cory at State Championships
As many members of the school community are aware, 2019 saw the beginning of the Suzanne Cory High School Fencing Club. Fencing has been running as a co-curricular activity since 2016 and many students, past and present, have had the opportunity to have a go. Some of those students enjoyed their co-curricular lessons so much that they approached me about starting a club - and here we are!
Over the course of the year, the club has grown both in numbers and the quality of the fencing. Our students have been regularly attending lunch time and after school training sessions, and have taken advantage of the opportunities offered to represent the school in the Winter Schools League competitions, which are held on Sundays at the State Fencing Centre in North Melbourne.
Our school has sent students to four competitions, including two individual events and two team events. The students’ results have continued to improve with the experiences gained at each competition, and the subsequent reflection and recognition of areas of improvement, which we worked on at training.
The two most recent competition results demonstrated some outstanding performances, both from individuals and as teams. In particular, I would like to make special mention of some of the highest ranking results. The students who achieved these results trained regularly, up to two hours a session, and their results reflect the hard work and commitment they have shown throughout the year.
Individual State Championships (66 entrants)
Nathan D (Year 11) – 10th place
Aaron V (Year 11) – 12th place
Team State Championships (18 teams entered)
Suzanne Cory HS – 9th place (Aaron V., Eugene C., Nathan D., and Hayden T.)
Congratulations to all of the students who have committed themselves to training and competitions this year, and who have all made significant progress throughout the course of the year. You should all be very proud of your efforts. For anyone interested in having a go at fencing, please join us for training on Wednesdays after school.
Ms. Alexandra Carroll
Fencing Coordinator
Victorian Schools League | Weight Lifting
On July 26th Suzanne Cory sent it’s first weight lifting athlete to the Victorian Schools League championship. Hugh T in Year 12 achieved amazing results and has motivated many other students to give the sport a go, here is his thoughts in weight lifting.
Weightlifting is a new sport for me. Last year, I got into the sport by meeting a former Victorian Weightlifting Association (VWA) referee and coach at Maribyrnong Aquatic Centre. He asked me to give it go and showed me how to Snatch & Clean and Jerk. At first, I wasn’t interested and lifted only once in a while as cross-training for swimming. However, last month an opportunity to represent Suzanne Cory High School at the Victorian School League Round 2 Weightlifting championships appeared. I gave it a go.
The competition was exhilarating. It is a state-level competition and is held in Hawthorn. I competed in the 61kg bodyweight category and totalled 116kg (50Kg Snatch + 66kg clean and jerk), placing me first in Victoria for my weight division. This sparked my new interest in lifting weights. The feeling of the momentarily weightless barbell flinging straight over your head is satisfying and addictive. In addition, we also got to witness an attempt in breaking the Australian School Boy Record by another student which was exciting for the audience.
Contradicting many parents’ beliefs of weightlifting being adverse on height and joints, it actually increases bone density and strength. Doctors, Chiropractors and physiotherapists cannot agree on the effects of weightlifting. However, a report on the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine concludes that “protocols with weights and resistance machines and with supervision and low instructor/participant ratios are relatively safe and do not negatively impact growth and maturation of pre- and early-pubertal youth.”
As a result of attending the competition, Suzanne Cory High School now offers weightlifting training after schools on Mondays from 3:30 to 4:30. The training sessions are run by weightlifting coaches Kate and Peter from the VWA. After attending only a few sessions, many have picked up the technique of the lifts. Kate and Peter’s feedback is insightful and extremely helpful.
So come along and support starting a weightlifting culture at Suzanne Cory.
Hugh T
High School Dance Competition
This year our High School Dance group was bigger and better than ever! The 30 students worked hard all year in both Co-curricular classes and lunchtimes to prepare for the dance competition. The students created their own choreography and were very committed to rehearsals. The group finished 3rd overall and won best choreography winning them $350 to put towards next year's costumes. The group performed at assembly which was a big hit. A huge congratulations to all involved. The students are so determined to continue to improve in this competition they are already preparing for 2020.
Ms. Claire Breed
Director of Co-Curricular & Student Engagement
Youth World Goalball Championships
Suzanne Cory student, Thientuoc A, was selected and represented Australia in the Youth World Championships for Goalball in Penrith, Sydney. I had the opportunity to watch and support Thien as he played against Poland and Brazil.
The objective of the game is to roll the ball into the opponent’s goal while the opposing players try to block the ball with their bodies. All players are blindfolded due to different degrees of visual impairment and a bell is placed in the ball to indicate the position of the ball and the direction it is moving. The goals are extremely hard to defend because they are 9 metres wide and the ball is heavy. The crowd is completely silent during play and on the edge of their seats! The cheering and encouragement between points is electric.
The athletes require great spatial awareness, concentration, communication and coordination skills to compete in this sport. Throughout the week, Thien’s team competed against Korea, Brazil, Poland, Thailand and Sweden. They were defeated in goal points however they are a young team and the experience they gained from these matches will hold them in good stead for future matches.
The Australian Girls’ team finished 3rd, a very impressive effort.
Congratulations to Thien for proudly represented Australia, and I wish him well for his future participation in this sport.
Ms. Lisa Guastella
Sports News | Term 3 Wrap-Up
Cross Country Report
Suzanne Cory has had excellent participation in the Cross Country events this year. Our school had 38 students completing at the Wyndham Division Cross Country with many place getters, and individual personal bests. Congratulations to the 20 students who progressed to the Western Metropolitan Region (WMR) Cross Country.
We also had strong results at the WMR Cross Country:
1st WMR championship 16 girls
2nd WMR championship 15 girls
3rd WMR championship 17-20 girls
Six students made it through to the State Championships in Bundoora. Congratulations to the following STATE Runners:
Sophia A
Anushka A
Mehak C
Erin C
Alana M
Ashviqha Su R
Every one of our participants gave their all! Well done.
Ms. Lisa Guastella
Cross Country Coordinator
Intermediate Basketball
This year, eight girls participated in the intermediate basketball competition held on Friday at Eagle Stadium. We arrived at the stadium early and eager to get the day started. The first game, out of our four back-to-back games, was against Al-taqwa. It was a challenging one, the girls’ unfamiliarity with each other’s strengths and weaknesses, paired with the great talent from the opposing team, lead to our first loss. In our second game against Baden Powell, Suzanne Cory worked as a team to secure a win. Our third game was against Tarneit, despite being aware of their close game against Al-taqua, the Suzanne Cory basketball team went into the game ready to give it their all. With less than two minutes left, we managed to drop a two pointer, resulting in a tie. That left our final game. Unfortunately, the girls lost by 15 points but the effort put in was thrilling to watch. Overall, the girls intermediate team played a number of fantastic games, showing great sportsmanship and teamwork. Well done!
Sam T and Glianna G
WMR Senior Boys Hockey
The 31st of July saw the senior boys’ hockey team venture to Geelong to participate in the Western Metropolitan Region competition. The first game of the day, against Maribyrnong Sports Academy, put our players to the test, resulting in an unfortunate defeat for the SCHS team. However, the boys were not disheartened by the loss, as they bounced back straight into another game. The match against Melton Secondary College ended in a 6-0 margin, earning Suzanne Cory its first win. The SCHS team achieved another victory in the game against Northern Bay College, winning in a 2-1 game. In each of the three consecutive games, the boys utilised the field to their advantage and displayed impressive stick skills. It was great to see the boys’ hard work pay off when the team took home Suzanne Cory’s first ever pennant flag for hockey.
Isaac O
Senior Girls Hockey
The senior girls hockey team played against Oberon and Strathmore at the Footscray Hockey field. It was a bit of a challenge to get there with all the road closures but at least the sun was shining. The girls hadn’t had a lot of training with lots of lunchtime interruptions and inclement weather. As a result the girls took a little while to find their feet and needed a lot of guidance of positioning and team strategy. As the games progressed the girls became more confident in their hits and were applying more tackles. In our second game against Oberon the girls almost scored a goal. The ball went over the baseline past the goalie however the ball hadn’t left the D on the short corner. The girls celebrated the goal regardless. The students are keen to continue training and return to the competition stronger next year. It’s always a pleasure taking out students out on sport because they are so respectful and enthusiastic.
Ms. Claire Breed
WMR Badminton
Our intermediate girls and boys badminton teams entered the WMR badminton competition after a series of confident victories in the first round at Eagle Stadium. The girls faced tough competition in their pool, including the likes of Braybrook, which resulted in a 3rd place finish within their pool.
Our well-rounded boys team advanced to the semi-finals as the 1st seed of their pool, but not without going through a close win against Braybrook (3-3 set score, winning by a few points overall). The boys encountered Sunshine in the semi-final, who had shown up to be a strong opponent even for Maribyrnong Sports Academy. Despite some hard earned sets, the boys went down narrowly with sets tied and losing by points overall. Great hitting from all players with some nail-biting performances!
Mr. James Lam
Senior Girls Badminton
The SCHS Senior Girls Badminton team yet again performed outstandingly during the WMR competition. Despite competing against the toughest and well-trained schools, for the first game, we tied with Belmont in terms of wins, won a victory against Braybrook - resulting in us entering the semi-finals. In the semis, we tied with the third school (equal wins AND equal points) - and had to play another two doubles games. We won these games overall - giving us the chance to enter grand finals. In the finals, we played against Belmont again, but got defeated by 2 points, earning us the runners up position. Overall teamwork and effort was exceptional. Well done girls and thanks to Mr Lam for training us!
Sneha N C
WMR Intermediate Boys Netball
On August 8, the intermediate netball team made their way to Altona netball and basketball centre to compete against the top netball teams in the region. Coming off a strong first round performance, the boys were very enthusiastic and determined to exhibit to other schools what they were capable of. The first game was against fierce competitors; Geelong High School. It was a long, hard battle with each team trading basket for basket until Geelong High School just came out on top. With the result not going our way, the boys persevered and went on to win the next two games against Creekside P-9 and Williamstown High School. The boys finished the day with a 2-1 record, which placed us 3rd overall. All in all, it was a great effort by all the boys and it was also the furthest a Suzanne Cory intermediate netball team has made it in the school’s history. Special mention to Ms. Ruddick for giving up her lunch times to help us train and providing us with words of wisdom throughout the day, assisting us in performing at our best.
Karan S and Bishoy K
Further to Karan and Bishoy’s words - it was an absolute pleasure taking this group of students out. Not only did they demonstrate outstanding athletic ability against students twice their size, but their respect and sportsmanship is to be commended. Well done team!
Ms. Laura Ruddick