Sport

CCC Hockey

On Tuesday 31 May and Wednesday 1 June two McCarthy girls’ hockey teams competed at the NSW Combined Catholic Colleges Hockey Championships in Bathurst. Both teams played very well and achieved great results despite very difficult weather conditions, including rain and a top apparent temperature of -0.4°C on the Wednesday.

The McCarthy Junior (Year 7 to 9) team played their first game at 8.30 am on Tuesday and had a comfortable 3-0 win over St Joseph’s Catholic College, East Gosford. Lucy Pascoe scored two goals and Maggie Highlands one. Next McCarthy played McAuley Catholic College, Grafton and again won 3-0 (Lucy Pascoe 2, Anna George). To finish day one McCarthy had a big win over St Scholastica’s Glebe 11-2 in very ordinary rainy conditions (Anna George 3, Addison Reid 3, Maddison Frazer, Lucy Pascoe, Grace Palmer, Chloe Rex, Maggie Highlands).

Having finished first in their pool the McCarthy Junior Girls came up against the home school MacKillop College, Bathurst in the semi-finals. Two goals from Lucy Pascoe gave McCarthy a good lead, and even though Bathurst scored late McCarthy prevailed 2-1. In the final McCarthy met fellow undefeated team Mount St Patrick’s Murwillumbah. McCarthy goalkeeper Paige McMillan made a number of great saves in the early stages to keep the score at 0-0. Gradually McCarthy gained the ascendancy and two more Lucy Pascoe goals gave McCarthy a 2-0 win. This was McCarthy’s third straight Junior Girls' title, though COVID meant it was three years since the previous one.

The McCarthy Open girls’ team only played two games on day one. The first game saw McCarthy run out easy 10-0 winners over St Scholastica’s Glebe with five goals to Callie Michell and one each to Izzy Bramley, Ella Constable, Abby Wakely, Marley Pitt and Lauren Vella. The second game against St Mary Star of the Sea Wollongong was much tougher, with a Callie Michell penalty corner goal proving the difference as McCarthy won 1-0. The last pool game was played at 8 am on Wednesday morning and it resulted in a relatively comfortable 3-0 win over McAuley Grafton (Callie Michell 2, Lauren Vella).

Having also finished first in their pool, the McCarthy Open team played MacKillop College, Port Macquarie in a quarter final and had a solid 2-0 win thanks to goals from Grace Salkeld and Callie Michell. In the semi-final against MacKillop College, Bathurst, the score was locked at 1-1 before McCarthy scored a late winner to progress to the final (goal scorers were Lauren Vella and Marley Pitt). In the final McCarthy came up against Trinity Catholic College, Lismore (whose school was completely flooded earlier this year). The game was hard fought and remained 0-0 until well into the second half, before Trinity scored the only goal from a penalty corner. Despite suffering a couple of injuries, McCarthy gave it their all until the final whistle, finishing as silver medallists.

In addition to the skill and effort demonstrated on the field, all players in both teams were wonderful representatives of McCarthy Catholic College at all times. Special thanks to Mr Saban and Mrs Gale for all their assistance and support.

Geoff Denton

Athletics Carnival 2022

The College Athletics Carnival was held on Thursday 2 June at the Tamworth Regional Athletics track. Many students arrived early for the discus, 1500 metres and 800 metre sprints. 

Well done to all students who attended and participated. Some great participation, school spirit and house competition. There were some outstanding individual achievements on the day with several students breaking records in both track and field events. These included:

Boys

Zac Whalan 15 years High Jump 1.72 metres

Lawson Thompson 16 years High Jump 1.69 metres

Lawson Thompson 16 years 100 metres 11.25 seconds

Joshua Roach 13 years 1500 metres 5 min 11 seconds

Girls 

Sophie Morgan 12 years 1500 metres 702.10 and 800 metres 3.27.00

Isabella Wall  14 years 100 metres 13.68 seconds, 400 metres 102.00, 800 metres 228.00

Isabella Bolsom 15 years Shot put 10.52 metres

The final points score were: 

• 1st Rice - 535
• Equal 2nd Sienna - 481
• Equal 2nd Assisi - 481
• 4th Mackillop - 399
• 5th Chisholm - 358
• 6th Dominic - 306

Age Champions

Boys 

• 12 years - Zac Moujalli
• 13 years - Adrian Lu
• 14 years - Isaac Edgar
• 15 years - Adam Davis and Zac Whalan
• 16 years - Sam Morris
• 17 years - Louis Johnson

Girls

• 12 years - Sophie Morgan
• 13 years - Chelsea Hayman
• 14 years - Isabella Wall
• 15 years - Lauren Barnes
• 16 years - Lauren Vella
• 17 years - Tyanna Kerr

There were some very exciting events. In particular the boys' high jump where 2 records were broken by Lawson Thompson and Zac Whalen. Lawson also completed an amazing time in the 100 metre sprint. The relays were entertaining with the two new house groups Assisi and Siena adding to the spectacle. Several staff members got caught up in the spirit of the day and competed in the relay events providing a lot of interest and enthusiasm for the crowd. 

A big thankyou to the staff and students who arrived early to set up. The House Captains did a great job leading their houses and encouraging the younger students. A special mention to Haydon Hunt who worked hard most of the day doing jobs and helping out brilliantly. Thank you to the canteen staff and BBQ crew who did a great job feeding everyone on a cold day. Congratulations as well to all students who qualified for the Diocesan Athletics carnival which will be held on 26 August in Tamworth.

NSW CCC Open’s Basketball

On Monday 13 June the Open Boys' and Girls' Basketball teams travelled to Port Macquarie for the NSW CCC Basketball Championships. After months of training, trials and preparation the teams were keen to put in a big effort. 

The standard of competition was very high, with the top Catholic schools from all over the State competing. Both teams put in a great effort and represented the College proudly showing excellent sportsmanship throughout the competition.

In the girls' pool they competed against La Salle Academy of Lithgow, Mount St Josephs Milperra, and All Saints of Maitland. The first game against Lithgow the girls started brilliantly winning decisively 35-16. The remaining two games were very close.

In the quarter final on Wednesday the girls faced St John Paul College of Coffs Harbour. The girls played really well but couldn’t quite get there going down 34-29 in a great game. 

The boys were placed in a really hard pool but improved each game. The teams in the boys pool included Edmund Rice College Wollongong, St Francis Xavier's College of Wollongong, MacKillop College of Port Macquarie and St Dominic's College of Kingswood. The first game was against St Dominic's of Kingswood. This is a team that has won the competition on many occasions in recent years and it was a tough assignment first up. The boys were outclassed but never gave up. From this point on the boys improved every game and with a bit of luck could have secured a couple of wins.

A huge thank you to Matt Hobson and Kane Butler from Tamworth Basketball for coaching the boys team. To Miss Amy Gambrill thank you so much for training the girls teams and for coaching them throughout the competition. Once again thank you to Mr Wayne Northey for driving the bus and supporting the team and to Mrs Samantha Cox for helping out on the excursion. The boys and girls had a great time and represented the College with distinction throughout their stay. 

The teams included the following students: 

Boys: Danny Madden, Jack Smith, Phoenix Souter, Will Berton, Tom Littlejohns, Ethan Lee, Fred Williams, Bailey Collier, Sam Morris and Wyatt Allen.

Girls: Aleisha Young,Lucy McMullen, Mia Darcy, Georgia Sheppard, Marley Pitt, Gabby Higgins Sophie McMullen, Charlotte Leonard, Angela McCubbin and Erin Hansen. 

Diocese Soccer

On Friday 3 June the Diocesan Soccer Championships were held at the University of New England in Armidale. The competition was played in a revised format this year due to a date clash. McCarthy fielded 3 teams Junior Girls, Junior Boys, and Senior boys who all played against O’Connor Catholic College of Armidale. In cold and slippery conditions the games were played at a high standard and with plenty of skill. The results were; McCarthy Junior Boys won  3-0, the McCarthy Junior Girls won 2-1 and the Senior Boys finished 1-1 at full time. A tense penalty shootout followed with O’Connor pulling off a great couple of goalkeeping saves to win 7-6. A big thank you to Mr Mark Honeysett from O’Connor Catholic College for organising the day and thank you to Miss Olivia Guilbert, Mr Ryan Saban, Mr Ronnie Rindo and Miss Paige Berthold for coaching the teams. The Junior girls and boys teams now have the opportunity to play against the winning school from the Lismore Diocese on 23 June in Coffs Harbour.

NSW CCC Cross Country 2022

On Tuesday 7 June the NSW CCC Cross Country was held at Eastern Creek raceway in Sydney. A number of McCarthy students represented the Armidale Diocese at the Championships and performed well. All the students gave it their all and ran their hearts out against some very talented runners. The results were as follows:

Boys

• 12 years Koora Gillon 29th
• 13 years Parker O’Neile 51st and Jirra Gillon 57th

Girls 

• 12 years Sophie Morgan 30th
• 14 years Mia Gentle 28th
• 15 years Lauren Barnes 28th

Diocese League Tag and Under 14 Rugby League 

On Thursday 9 June forty students took part in the Diocesan Girls' League Tag and Under 14 Boys' Rugby League at Boughton Oval Moree. The games were played against all the secondary Armidale Diocesan Schools including O’Connor Catholic College Armidale, St Mary’s Gunnedah, Holy Trinity Inverell and St Philomena's Moree. The girls had one year 7/8 and one year 9/10 team. 

The boys Rugby League were enthusiastic and worked hard throughout the day. They came up against some more experienced and bigger opponents yet improved throughout the day with Trey Loveday, Mitchell Hayward and Kody Ring standouts on th day. Adam Clemson ran the ball strongly throughout the day.  Jirra and Koora Gillon tried their hearts out and played hard. The boys went down 18-0 nil in 2 games and 24-6 in the other but enjoyed the day and will be better for the experience. 

The Year 7 and 8 girls won 3 out of 4 games and the year 9/10 girls won all 4 games. This was a great effort from the girls who displayed their great talent throughout the day. Grace Shanley, Tarnee Ingram and Claudia Kenniff shone throughout the day showing great skills in both attack and defence. The year 7 and 8 girls' team combined well and showed great teamwork throughout the day. 

The teams on the day included:

A big thank you to Mrs Tanya Laird, Mr Damian Kenniff and Mrs Sam Cox for coaching the teams. Thank you to St Philomena's of Moree for hosting the day and to Mr Mark Honeysett from O’Connor Armidale for co-ordinating the Rugby League games. 

Inter-Diocesan Football Finals Coffs Harbour

On Thursday 23 June the Junior Boys' and Girls' Football teams travelled to Coffs Harbour to take part in the Inter-Diocesan Championships against the winning schools in the Lismore Diocese. The boys played against St John Paul Coffs Harbour and the girls match was against Xavier Catholic College Ballina. The boys played against a talented Coffs Harbour team full of North Coast representative players. Our boys played really well matching their more fancied opponents for most of the first half. A couple of quick goals from St John Paul College gave them the momentum they needed to skip clear. The boys maintained a strong effort and created several chances throughout the game. It was a great game played in tremendous spirit; well done to both teams.

The girls played an outstanding game with great skills displayed from both teams. After quickly adapting to the astro-turf field and demonstrating a great short game, McCarthy unluckily went behind to an incredible 35 metre looping shot on goal. Another 30 metre free kick goal in the top corner 5 minutes into the second half gave Xavier’s a 2-0 lead. The girls rallied with great goals to Jessica Shiels (finishing a beautiful Charli Manning lofted through ball) but Xavier’s representative players combined well to jump back out to two goals ahead 3-1. Anna George’s left foot pop over the keeper soon after 'created some great tension for the final 6 minutes of the match. Xavier’s earning a well fought 3-2 win. All the girls played really well in a high quality game. This draws an end to the competition season for the girls. Coach’s mention for Sonia Chin who played her first football this year and improved greatly in combination with her excellent attitude, commitment to training and the team. Also, Emma Taggart, Lacey Palmer, Jessica Shiels, Mia Gentle and Charli Manning who were always present at training, meetings and looking to help the team in any way possible. 

Both teams at all times did the College proud in their performances and the way they conducted themselves. A big thank you to Mr Andrew Fitness from St Mary's Catholic College Casino for coordinating the day. A huge thank you to girls coach Mr Ryan Saban, boys coach Mr Ronny Rindo and Mrs Samantha Cox for assisting on the day. Well done to all the students for making the long journey to Coffs Harbour to be involved. 

The teams included:

Round 3 Bill Turner Trophy Girls Soccer 

On Wednesday 8 June the Under 15 girls' Bill Turner Soccer team travelled to Oxley High School to play their round 3 match. After their previous two games resulted in big wins, the girls knew they were in for a tough game against quality opposition having gone down 10-0 in round 1 last year. It was a brilliant match! In a very close contest, both teams were keen on moving the ball around and playing a physical game. Both teams had chances with Oxley scoring a solid goal to push ahead 1-0 10 minutes into the match. The McCarthy girls created several goal scoring opportunities but some outstanding saves from their keeper enabled Oxley to maintain the lead and run out 1-0 winners. Both sides played exceptional football with standout performances by (a sick) Anna George, Mia Gentle, Charli Manning and Indi Brazier. Some solid defence by Emma Taggart and Eva Kenniff established a strong platform. 

Well done to Oxley on the win and we wish them the best of luck for the remainder of the competition. Thank you to Mr Ryan Saban for driving the bus and coaching the girls. Also a big thank you to Miss Paige Berthold for assisting on the day. 

The team included: Charli Manning, Indianna Brazier, Mia Gentle, Emma Taggart, Lacey Palmer, Sophie McMullen, Sophie Chin, Jessica Shiels, Anna George, Brooke Cashman, Penelope Torrens, Isabel Murray, Eva Kenniff Grace Knight and Cordelia Wilson. 

Brad Mitchell - Sport Coordinator