Sports

Rowing Season 2022/23

By Anthony Edwards, Head of Rowing

The rowing season has officially come to a close for season 2022/23. The final month has seen so much happen with three major regattas, our end-of-season function and our Opens traveling to Perth for the National Rowing Championships. So much has occurred, yet what has been enjoyable to all is the spirit of community amongst the students, the volunteer coaches and the families involved.

The 2022/23 Head of River was held on March 18th. Our Open Girls recorded an impressive victory following their successes at the Schools Championships and also at the Tasmanian Club Championships (U19 Womens 8 & U23 Womens 8). Our Open Boys put in a wonderful effort with a strong fight, placing 3rd across the line. 

Well done to our Head of River Division 1 winners – Year 7 Boys Single, Year 7 Girls Single, Year 7 Girls Double, Year 7 Girls Quad, Year 8 Boys Single, Year 9 Girls Quad, Year 10 Boys Four, Open Girls Four, Open Girls 8.

It takes an enormous effort to prepare 130 rowers to attend the Schools Championships and Head of River across 4 weekends. We acknowledge the wonderful efforts that our 25 volunteer coaches have given to the growth of each rower and to the support they each give to the Friends' rowing program, you are all amazing people and we admire your dedication to our school rowing program. 

Our Open Boys and Open Girls crews attended the National Rowing Championships which were held in Perth WA from March 25th – April 2nd. This was an amazing experience for our Opens rowers who stood beside Olympians in the boat park and raced against the best in the country. With strong competition, our Girls finished 2nd in the B Final of the Schoolgirl 8’s and our boys 3rd in the C Final of the Schoolboys 8’s. 

There is so much that goes into a rowing season. We thank the parents who committed time in fundraising and helping to communicate information around each of the 10 squads along with those who contributed in many other ways through the Quiz Night, pasta events or regatta kiosk along with other little contributions around the regattas.

Enjoy the rowing break and we look forward to doing it all again for season 2023/24.

House Athletics Carnival

Our Year 7 to 12 students competed in the House Athletics Carnival in early March. Strong participation and competition were had on an overcast, but fine day. On a triumphant and momentous day, Ransome came out on top as the winners! Head of Ransome House, Louise Giudici, led a rousing rendition of 'We are the Champions' with the students, when Ransome was announced the final winners at the High School Assembly.

State SATIS Athletics Carnival

A team of 48 Friends' students participated in the SATIS Athletics Carnival on Tuesday 4 April 2023 in Launceston. Many ran, jumped or threw season bests in a highly competitive State carnival. There were some wonderful efforts on the day with eight Friends’ students winning events.  Well done to all the students for their dedication, effort and participation. 

Some result highlights included:

Oscar Bradford - 1st U14 Shot put & 3rd U13 Javelin

Oliver Thiessen - 1st U15 1500m & 3rd Open 3,000 

Cam Large - 1st U16 High jump

Marz Kwa - 1st U14 Discus, 1st Javelin & 3rd Shot Put

Ale Fisher - 1st U15 800m & 1500m, 3rd U15 Javelin

Maddox Day - 1st U13 Discus

Sophie West - 1st U13 Javelin

Jemima Lennon - 1st U16 1500m

Violet Bennett - 2nd U14 200m & 100m

Mitch Walker - 3rd Open 200m and 2nd Open 400m

Callum Wigston - 3rd U14 800m

Seb Fearn - 2nd U15 High jump

Fred Ansell - 3rd U13 Long jump

Hamish Edwards - 2nd U14 Discus

Bella Wells - 3rd U15 1500m

Will Mackinnon - 2nd U16 Discus

JSSATIS Swimming Carnival

The JSSATIS Swimming Carnival was held at The Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre on Monday 27 March. 41 students from Morris Primary Years were selected to participate in various events throughout the day. The children did a fantastic job with many achieving personal bests and lots of ribbons. Congratulations to all participants for their commitment and enthusiasm.

National Rowing Championships

Noah Haas and Henry Maning (Year 10) participated in the National Rowing Championships. Noah won the U17 single scull, making him a National Champion. Henry and Noah together came 2nd in the double skull.

Noah has provided an overview of his week below. This is certainly an incredible achievement. 

By Noah Haas, Year 10 student

Henry and I flew to Perth, WA on Sat the 25th of March and spent 9 days over there, we flew back on Monday the 3rd. Whilst over there Henry and I raced a double together, and each of us raced singles. We competed for Tas Uni Boat Club (TUBC). The weather over there was not ideal, it was a heavy crosswind which meant lane 7 was the preferred lane on the course. It was not too hot which was good for us Tassie rowers, it was just like a hot day for us but I think for the WA standards it was quite cool. Our first race of the week was on Monday morning the 27th and it was singles, I raced in heat 6 and Henry raced in heat 5. In the heats the first place went through to semi finals and the rest went to repechage. Henry placed 4th and I came first with the fastest time overall for heats, giving me the best lane in the semi finals. Later in the day Henry and I had our first double race which we were in heat 6 for, we came first and got the fastest time overall which meant we went straight through to the semi finals with the preferred lane. 

On day two, I did not have any races, but Henry had the repechage of the single where only the top two continued through to semi finals. Unfortunately he came fourth which meant he was eliminated. 

On Wednesday I had three races, in the morning I had the semi final for single, midday I had double and in the evening I had the heat for the quads. I was in the third semi final for singles and I came first which meant I was through to the A final. I also got the fastest time overall, but unfortunately because of how the draw works it did not mean I got the best lane, the winner of the first semi final gets the best lane, then second semi final gets second best lane and third gets third best. Henry and I won our double semi final, once again getting the fastest time overall and securing our place in the A final. Our quad heat did not go very well and it meant we had to race a repechage on Thursday. 

On Thursday morning I had the A final for the single and I was in lane 6. I was very nervous before the race. As the race started I got out in front early in hopes of making a large enough gap to stay in front for the whole race (my usual tactic). For the first 1000 metres I was leading by three boat lengths (5 seconds) but in the third 500m Luke Purdie caught up to me and made a hard push. Luke Purdie was ahead of me by 0.7 seconds with 500 to go, in my head I was telling myself to stay cool and don't tense up. I knew there wasn't much left to go and I just needed to grit my teeth and make a retaliating push now or never. I made the push and pulled away from him, and in the last 250m I regained a gap of about a boat length (2s). I finished the race becoming Australian Champion for u17 and it was an amazing feeling. To know all the hard work had paid off was a great relief, and I believe it is a testimony to the fact that anyone can make extraordinary out of the ordinary. The last time a Tasmanian won the u17 single was 5 years ago, at Penrith in Sydney. Later in the day we had the quad repechage which was a tough race but we won it going through to the semi finals on Friday.

On Friday morning Henry and I had our double final. We were both hungry for a gold medal and we wanted it badly. We knew it wouldn't be easy and that we would have to give it our all. We were leading off of the start of the race, at the 500m being 4s infront of second place and 5s in front of third. We kept this lead until the 1500m mark where we unfortunately dropped out of first place and lane 7 (Luke Purdie and Vaghuon Henderson) pushed in front and held the lead until the end. Henry and I came second place by 13s and we were both very happy, though we would've liked to win. 

The racing in the evening was cancelled so our quad semi final was moved to the Saturday. Unfortunately, we got eliminated the next day which concluded the week of racing for us. Overall it was a great week and Henry and I both learnt a lot. It has motivated us to train hard over winter and go back next year and race a pair together.

Sailing State Championships

By Matt Davis

The Schools Team Sailing State Championship was held on the 1st and 2nd of April at Sandy Bay Sailing Club. There was a huge turn out; 14 teams from 7 schools attended, ensuring that competition was fierce. Friends’ fielded 2 teams, and both performed admirably. Friends’ Red, skippered by Adelaide O’Donoghue, Charlie Pavlides, Eddie Read, and James Gough, crewed by Annie Pavlides, Fredi O’Donoghue, Isaac Archer and Olive Hooper, placed second to Hutchins Gold in a nail-biting finish that came down to a re-sail of the last race of the last series of the weekend! Awesome racing and an equally awesome result. Friends’ Blue, skippered by Charlie Salmon, Eirini Marios, and Harry Gregory, crewed by Hamish Manners, Jacqui Kus, James Reid, Lucy Clougher, and Stirling Moreton, placed sixth, an incredible effort for the fledgling squad. It was a fantastic weekend, with Friends’ students representing on and off the water.

Basketball

Our Seconds Basketball team won the Southern SATIS final on the last evening of Term1 in The Revell Centre with a comprehensive 41 to 15 victory against St Virgils. Congratulations and well done to all the players on a great game and season. Thanks also to Coach Ronnie Riggs and Team Manager Lynne Males.

2023 Tasmanian Schools Orienteering Championships

Two Friends’ students ran in the Tasmanian Schools Orienteering Championships near Bothwell on 2 April 2023. Tara Powell (Year 12) and Sean Carroll (Year 5) both won their age class.

2023 Australian Junior Athletics Championships

Congratulations to the Friends' students who competed at the recent 2023 Australian Junior Athletics Championships in Brisbane from 13-16 April 2023. Year 8 student Violet Owen flew home to grab a Silver Medal in the Under 15 800 metres in her second fastest 800 of all time. Violet continues to excel, blitzing the Under 15 1500m field to take Gold in 4:36.29. Another Year 8 student Marz Kwa claimed a Silver Medal for Tasmania in the Under 15 Javelin, throwing an incredible 40.63m. (Article courtesy of The Mercury).

2023 State Tennis Rafa Nadal Tournament

 (Article courtesy of The Mercury).

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