Sport

Bill Turner Cup Football – 2019

McCarthy Catholic College recently played Round 4 of the Bill Turner Cup competition against Armidale Secondary College at Gipps St fields in Tamworth. Armidale began the game with confidence and were clearly a well drilled and experienced team. They took an early lead, scoring a couple of quick goals with McCarthy unable to respond. It was a very fast paced game and the spectators enjoyed every moment of it. McCarthy has a young team, who show a great deal of potential and must be commended in making it this far in the competition.  In the end, Armidale secured the win. McCarthy played extremely well and must be congratulated for their sportsmanship on and off the field.   We look forward to another determined campaign next year! A big thank you goes to Mr Herden for driving the College bus for us.  The team consisted of Brayden Boonstra, Kilian Apen, Eion Shepherd, William Albertson, Jack Stanton, Brady Painter, Augustin Monet, Connor Budden, Benjamin O’Connor, Ethan Ross, Achille Monet, Seamus Shepherd, Edward Williams, Frederick Williams, Taine Mackay and Louis Johnson.

 

Mountain Biking Championships

On Friday 7 June Edward Bates raced his mountain bike and represented McCarthy Catholic College at the Hunter Schools MTB Championships at Glenrock Mountain Bike Park, Newcastle. There were 88 entries in his class of under 15’s. Edward performed exceptionally well to finish 3rd. Edward is part of the NIAS Mountain Bike Program, this being his second year with the team. The program is run at the Tamworth Mountain Bike park, most Saturdays with training, nutrition and development the focus. As a team, they are competing in the NIXCS series which is a 5 round Winter series with two races in Armidale followed by one each in Inverell, Tamworth and Walcha. Edward is currently leading his age category and he is off to Armidale for round 2 this weekend at the Sports UNE MTB Park.

 

Edward's focus this year is to compete in events that are XCO (Cross Country Olympic) and XCC (Cross Country short course). Edward competed at Nationals and Oceanias that were held in Bright Victoria with Edward finishing 6th and 5th respectively. He also competed in the State Championships in December last year, coming home State Champion. Edward is currently leading  the National Cup run by MTBA (Mountain Bike Australia).

Tamworth Mountain Bike Park runs a Winter Series most Sundays with registrations at 3:00pm - racing starts at 3:30pm.  These races are open to anyone who has a mountain bike, with categories for little dirt masters, recreational riders to elite. Congratulations Edward, these are wonderful achievements and good luck in the future. 

 

NSW CCC Opens Basketball 

On Sunday 23 June the Open Boys and Girls Basketball team along with Mr Wayne Northey and Mrs Natahlia Bryant, headed to Sydney for the NSW CCC Opens Basketball Championships. The boys' games were held at Penrith Basketball Stadium and the girls' games at Hawkesbury Stadium. Matthew Hobson from Tamworth Basketball had been training the boys for several weeks and he believed they were the most committed group of basketballers he had seen. The standard of competition was, as usual, very high and all games were tightly contested across the two day competition. The boys lost their first two games 24-36 to Patrician Brothers Fairfield and 31-47 to St Andrews College Marayong before bouncing back with a 45-27 win against St Francis Regional College Leeton.

This was followed by a very narrow 49-42 loss against St Edward's College Gosford. The boys retained their composure to finish the tournament with a 42-36 win against De La Salle Ashfield and  a comprehensive 60-34 win in their last game. A credit to the boys who gave their all and represented the College proudly. 

The girls were also very competitive playing their hearts out against formidable opposition. A first up loss to Angelo Mercy College of North Sydney 33-51 was followed by a 44-38 win against Stella Maris College Manly. The third game was a nail biting affair with the girls narrowly going down 46-52 to St Francis Regional College Leeton. The last game was against St Francis Xavier College Hamilton and the 24-56 loss was not a reflection of the tightness of the game as it was only in the latter stages that the game got away from the girls. 

 

Well done for another year, many of the players will be eligible to play again next year but for the Year 12 students especially Josie Chick and Emma Higgins it ends a long association with McCarthy Catholic College Basketball. Josie and Emma have played right through the juniors both on Wednesday night and at NSW CCC level. Last year they coached the junior girls teams as well.

Well done girls on your contribution to Basketball at MCC. 

Thank you to Matt Hobson, who has for many years helped with MCC Basketball, with his brilliant coaching of the boys teams and to Mr Wayne Northey for driving the bus and managing the boys team. A big thankyou to Mrs Natahlia Bryant for managing the girls teams and organising the food for the two days. Also a huge thank you to Jason and Karissa Kennedy, Stuart Larkham and  Nicole Lavu Lavu for all their help. 

The teams were; 

Boys: Izack Fuller, Jacob Shanley, Caleb Lavu Lavu, Cameron Harrison, Kody Collier, Thomas Sheppard, Dave Murrie, Archie Cruickshank, Cameron Holton and Jake Larkham.

Girls: Sienna Kennedy, Grace Salter, Josie Chick, Billie Mitchell, Ruby Murphy, Grace Whale, Emma Higgins, Krystal Booby and Anika Earsman.

 

Friday Night Rugby 2019

The Friday Night Rugby Union competition is in full swing with our McCarthy teams are thriving. The two Under 14 boys' team are performing very well and the Under 16 boys' team is building nicely, coming into the second half of the season. Last Friday night saw the finals of an abbreviated girls' competition. The Under 14 girls and Opens girls both qualified for the grand finals, with the Under 16’s girls just missing out. 

On a very cold night there was some great Rugby played. The girls 14’s team was made up of many students who had never played Rugby before, yet their athleticism and fitness were very good and their skills improved through the games. In the tier two grand final the Under 14 girls ran out comprehensive winners against Calrossy. Wunda Jaffer-Williams and Tomi Gavin have been stand out players all season, complemented by some great play from Amber Mitchell, Tarnee Ingram, Jayda Constable and Chloe Haworth. There was some great ball movement, long range tries with the girls improving immensely since the start of the season.

The girls 14’s team included; Wunda Jaffer-Williams, Sian Austin, Hannah Turner-Bourke, Riley Leys, Tomi Gavin, Tarnee Ingram, Grace Shanley, Jayda Constable, Chloe Haworth, Mackenzie Scott, Amber Mitchell, Savannah Barber, and Zoe Cosgrove.

The Open girls have been playing regular matches against Calrossy and Scone/Quirindi due to those being the only other teams in the competition. Calrossy have for a long time had a very strong girls' team and whilst our girls have narrowed the gap, it was not enough to get past Calrossy. Our Girls scored the first two tries and had Calrossy in trouble before they came back. Calrossy had many reserves and overcame our girls who were getting worn out.  Melanie Young played very well running strong and making breaks, as did Billie Mitchell and Kealy Lett. Keely Jameson and Annabelle Pegus have shown remarkable improvement and were key players in the team. The team included; Alina Swan, Keely Jameson, Hannah Dowden, Laura Robertson, Angelina Grogan, Annabelle Pegus, Sophie McCulloch, Kealy Lett, Safia Arranz, Courtnee Blanch and Kaylah Higginson.

 

There will be a girls Term 3 Friday night Seven a Side competition for the girls in the following divisions: Under 13’s, 15’s and 17’s. Please email Mr Mitchell on bmitche1@arm.catholic.edu.au 

 

Year 7-10 North-West Oztag Success

On Friday 28 June, 7 teams and 70 students represented McCarthy Catholic College at the North-West Secondary Schools Oztag Championships in Tamworth. The tournament involved schools across the Tamworth region and Quirindi High School. The Year 7/ 8 team and Year 9 / 10 teams went through the competition undefeated. The Year 7 / 8 team played against Oxley High School in the final and as was the case last year, the scores were tied at full time. In extra time teams are reduced to 5 a side in a thrilling game, fortunately we scored first to bring home the trophy for the 3rd successive year. 

Congratulations to Monique Corbett who won the Year 7/ 8 girls Player of the Tournament. 

The Year 9/10 girls was largely made up of the same players who won the state tournament last year. Despite the strong competition the girls again went through undefeated with some great play. Abbegale Ryan was named player of the competition and has played outstandingly. 

 

The Year 8 boys' team despite being short on numbers, did very well in finishing second overall. The boys showed amazing fitness, skills and team play. As a result the boys Year 7 / 8, girls Year  7 / 8 team and the Girls Year 9/ 10 team wil