SPORT NEWS
YEAR 8 BOYS TABLE TENNIS FINISHED 3RD AT THE STATE FINALS
The McKinnon Year 8 Boys Table Tennis Team, consisting Kevin Zhou, Kanato Sato, Matthew Kwong and Bastien Meric, travelled to the Melbourne Sport & Aquatic Centre on Friday 29 November to participate in the State Finals after claiming the Southern Metro regional championship a month earlier.
The boys began their pool matches against the very solid team from Yarrawonga College, and needed to win their 6th rubber in order to secure the eventual 4-2 win. In Round 2, they were up against Wonthaggi SC. After losing the 1st singles rubber, the team bounced back and won the next 3 singles before wrapping up the match 5-1 by taking the doubles. With two wins in the bag, the team was guaranteed a Top 2 finish in the pool, and shifted their focus to topping the group. In the last match, the boys comfortably defeated Mercy Regional College who was already eliminated by that stage. The final score was 6-0 in favor of McKinnon.
The boys qualified for the semi-finals as group winners and their opponent was the very competent Northcote High School. Very quickly, the McKinnon boys had found themselves behind 1-3 after the four singles matches and must win the double rubbers convincingly in order to progress. Unfortunately, Northcote was too strong in the end and McKinnon lost 1-5.
Overall, the McKinnon boys claimed 3rd place in the State as Wonthaggi SC (the other losing semi-finalist) finished behind McKinnon during the group phase. Congratulation to the boys for their tremendous effort and special thanks to Timothy Nicolaides (Year 7), Aaron Zachariah (Year 9), and Zong Yu Li (Year 9) for helping in the team practice sessions.
Sandy Law
Coach
AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019
During the week of 2 - 6 December the Australian Schools Basketball Championships were held in Melbourne at the State Basketball Centre and Dandenong Basketball Stadium. This was the 8th year McKinnon has sent a team to this tournament.
The Intermediate Boys team represented the school this year and started off with a win 107-28 against Avondale (NSW). We then went on to beat Trinity (QLD) 67-40 and Mt Clear (VIC) 73-44. Our last pool game against an undefeated Bonnyrigg (NSW) team McKinnon won 58-48 to finish 1st in our pool.
In the Quarter Final McKinnon defeated Lilydale (VIC) easily 107-41 and the Semi Final McKinnon defeated Cheltenham 84-71. The final was played at 8am Friday morning with McKinnon up against an undefeated St Augustine's (NSW) team boasting 2 MSW Metro state players. McKinnon fought hard in the first half to be level with our opponents who ran away in the 3rd quarter to finish with a 68-48 victory. McKinnon finished with a 2nd place Runners Up medal.
The team consisted of Year 10s - Lucca and Padua Beaves, Adam Hatchuel, Harrison McPhee, Charlie OBrien and Tait Pascoe. Year 9s - Matt Day, Michael Aminov, Lewis Barclay and Year 8 - Oliver Ledger.
Thanks to Liam Adlington and Ryan O'Meara for scoring and the parents for your support throughout the week,
James Bridges
Coach
VOLLEYBALL VICTORIA JUNIOR OPEN
McKinnon Volley finished the year off with The Volleyball Victoria Junior Open, entering five teams into the four-day tournament. Our teams all competed in the top divisions for their respective age groups. McKinnon Volley achieved great success with three out of five teams receiving medals at the event.
The Under 14 Girls achieved a Silver medal in their division, a spectacular result for the conclusion of their first year of volleyball. Coming into the Gold medal playoff, the girls were undefeated. But, ultimately went down to Monbulk in a nail biter five-setter, with some close calls the final score was 16-18. This young team has a lot of potential and are excited to see what comes in their near future!
This tournament was the first time the Under 15 Boys had played together as a team, and many of the boys were Year 7s playing against competition a full year older. They showed a lot of improvement and perseverance throughout the four-day event. Culminating in their first victory as a team in their final game of the tournament.
The Under 16 Girls had a great tournament and finished with a Bronze medal. The Under 16 Boys were in a competitive pool of only four teams, and after playing every team twice they progressed to the Gold medal match, ultimately going down in a tough five-setter.
The Under 19 Girls had a pretty gruelling tournament starting the first day with three games. The girls finished 5th. But looking ahead to next year six out of nine players will be returning to play in the same division. This is the last school tournament for Sienna Beaves, Ally Manev and Arwen Vernik. We would like to congratulate them on finishing Year 12 and look forward to keeping them a part of the McKinnon Volley family.
Thanks to all our coaches and helpers for all the work they’ve done this year and we are excited to see what 2020 has in store for us!
Maree Taig
Volleyball Assistant