Sport News

We congratulate the Marist Track and Field team for their outstanding win in the 2022 AIC Track and Field Championships held last Thursday and Friday and the Queensland State Athletics Centre. Marist won both the primary and secondary trophies as well as the 12 years, 13 years and 16 years trophies. A good judge in Old Boy and Ashgrove Rangers member John Purcell, suggested it was one of the strongest teams he had ever seen.

Marist’s dominance was set up in the middle distance with 10 out of 11 1500m wins and 7 out of 11 800m wins but in reality, it was a total team effort with points coming from all disciplines, with many boys recording personal bests throughout the two days.

We ended Day 1 with a 50 point lead over our nearest rivals St Peters Lutheran College, with the final event on day one being one of the highlights of the meet. The open 1500m division 1 race, featuring Tom Prole, who had never lost this event, in a very hot field. Tom found himself boxed in at the halfway mark and had to work his way out of it before again finding himself fifth with 200 metres to go. Showing a tremendous level of determination and heart to outsprint the field he roared down the track in the straight with the entire Marist team and coaches cheering him home in a wonderful race.

Day two and we expected a challenge from St Peters early with the 200s but we not only held them we stretched our leader further and by then with the Marist machine in full swing we went on with the job to finish with a commanding 855 points, 127.5 points ahead of St Peters in second.

There were a number of highlights across the two days, so many it is hard to do justice, but I do want to acknowledge the efforts of a few boys:

• Luca Bordignon who was a reserve for the meet as an under 13 middle distance runner. Due to injury, at the last minute Luca was asked to run up in under 14 in the 800 and 1500 metre events. Not only did he take to the task with the commitment we have come to know from Luca all season, he maintained his composure and ran his own race, taking an unofficial 15 seconds off his personal best for the event.
• Darius Creek is one of our Year 7 boarders who struggled early on in the season with the pressure of race competition as a sprinter but on the day ran amazingly to win his division in the 100m with his mum in the stands having come from North Queensland to watch her son race.
• Lee Martin finished with two gold and a silver across the two days in a very polished and professional display from an outstanding young man, but that is not what I want to recognise Lee for. Not only did he prepare himself for the meet, he spent a large part of the season passing on his expertise to many of the other throwers in the team, effectively acting as another coach on the team.

The track and field report below goes into a lot more detail about the championship and the boys' successes but I particularly wanted to highlight these four young men, all for different reasons but all outstanding contributors to our success, and a good summary of what our team is about.

Thank you to the entire coaching team for your professionalism, commitment and support of our boys. We do have some of the very best coaches in Queensland lending their expertise to the boys, coupled with a group of teachers who provide knowledge, compassion and support that allows the boys to be at their best when it matters. It is no secret that we have the best coaching team, led by Head Coach, Mr Robin Martin. I have worked in schools for well over 30 years and been around professional sporting groups and development programs all my life. I have never seen anyone as professional, dedicated, supportive and hard-working. Rob combines a love of the College (as an Old Boy and current parent), with an outstanding knowledge of his field, a work ethic like no other and a commitment and dedication to the boys unmatched. He truly is remarkable and we are most fortunate to call him one of us. I would also like to acknowledge a current community member as a parent of three boys in our program, for it is his work that set all this success up. Mr David Miles, as Head of Sport and track and field coordinator at Marist was responsible for the first six of this wonderful run of eight championships in a row. A lot of what we do and the culture we, have is as a result of the work Mr Miles did and we as a community are most grateful.

Good luck to all the boys going on to states and nationals in the coming months.

Track and Field

Mr Rob Martin  - Track and Field Head Coach

After 7 consecutive championships, solid performances in Term 3 and a positive holiday preparation leading into the final AIC meet for the year, there was a definite expectation that Marist had the ability to achieve an 8th title with a strong opening Day 1.

The final AIC Championships started well with consistency on the track with our fantastic 1500m squad winning almost all divisions, plus 3 excellent wins and several top-3 placings in hurdles. This was ably matched by the first 3 field event rotations and at Day 1’s end, Marist lead by 49 points, 20 more than 2021. 

However, as a strong St Peters squad showed in 2021, double-digit scores can be eaten up quickly on Day 2, so coaches remained cautious. However, the 2022 Marist team learnt from our 2021 challenges with 3000m runner Zack Newsham leading the way before some excellent 200m and 800m results catapulted Ashgrove into pole position. Strong field event results in throws and jumps followed, plus 100m consistency and dominant 400m running meant MCA were in an excellent position leading into relays almost 90 points clear. Our relay teams did enough to hold and slightly extend our lead.

As the scores were read out, Marist won the Primary Trophy with 2nd placings in Year 5 and 6. This was a testament to the depth in the school and the fight in the primary team. Marist started Day 2 in 3rd place in the Primary trophy and worked hard to get ahead for a 28 point win.

For the senior trophy Marist won the 12,13 and 16 years age groups and were 2nd in 14, 15 and Open age groups. An incredible achievement from this squad. The 16 years team had a challenge with injuries in the previous year and this year came back very strongly to record a win over St Peters and the 13 years age group was dominant with a 34.5 point difference.

Despite many excellent performances several performances to highlight:

1. Connor Campbell competing in 7 events winning 5 (13 yrs Hurdles, 400m, Long/Triple jumps and relay)
2. Tom Prole winning 3 Open events (400m/800m/1500m)
3. A dominant 16 Years team had 5 dual event winners including Joel Drew, Xavier Simms, James Prole, Lee Martin, Cody Radman to win the age trophy convincingly
4. The Middle distance squad with 7 dual 800-1500m wins – Harry Prole, Perry Croft, Zac Milligan, Cian Cournane, Asher Parkin, James Prole, Tom Prole.
5. Zack Newsham running 3 distance events in 18 hours across the 800-1500-3000m.

This season could not have been as successful without the oversight, programming and support of the coaching staff including senior events coaches Mr Eric Brown and Mr Des Davis, teaching coaches Ms Maddie Spann, Ms Meagan Cook, Mr Laurie Boustead, Mr Josh Mulligan, Mr David Meehan. With special thanks also for the expertise of external coaches, Mr Paul Kearney, Mr Cameron Pfeffer, Mr Bill Prole, Mr Brendan Saunders, Mr Jeremy Davis, Mr Carl Martin, Mr Harry Hunter, Mr Corey Anderson and Mr Daniel Drew. Thanks also to Year 11 student Lee Martin for his work with Junior throws. Also, contributions from Mr John Purcell from Ashgrove Rangers and Mr Gav Hunter further assisted the team.

A special thanks to Track coordinators Mr Derek Lennon, Mr Richard Graham, Mr John Lambourne and the Sports Office team including Mr Mitch Reid and Corey Lucas for their coordination work throughout the season prior to the house carnival through to final presentations. And a special mention to boarding supervisor Mr Will Burkett who worked tirelessly with sprinters, technical logistics of many lead in events as well as support of our boarding athletes. Thank you all.

As well the efforts of our Open leaders including Co-captains Tom Prole and Jackson Tallis with able support of vice captains Tom Dempsey and Bailey Russo cannot be overlooked for the way in which they rallied the athletes throughout the championships to achieve the team results.

From here many of the squad will go into the QLD All Schools State Titles and we look forward to hearing about the boys' achievements in the coming weeks. Details on various athletic pathways will also be provided to boys with an interest in continuing their journey.

Marist College has had success in Track and Field, not by individual brilliance but built on the camaraderie across the squad. Year 5’s rushing the field to high five a winning senior hurdler (Joel Drew) to a 14-year high jumper (Lyndon Maynard) achieving a personal best in front of his cheering peers. Through to a 13-year-old reserve (Luca Bordignon) running up an age group to help his team with points after an injury in the team. Marist Track and Field is built on the collective and we hope to see more athletes join the family in 2023.

2022 Event Winners

Tennis

Mr Andrew Ward - Head Tennis Coach

Membership Renewals

Last year’s memberships are about to expire and we would like to remind all who do not want to roll over memberships to let us know before we send out renewal invoices. Members not wanting renewal will have their number deactivated at your request. Thank you and if there is any way we can improve please let us know and we can go about trying to make your membership more enjoyable.

Friday Afternoon Fixtures

Last call for any students wanting to be part of the Inaugural Friday Fixtures Internal Competition.  It is FREE for all players enrolled in squad programs for Term 4. Divisions 2 and 3 start at 3:30pm-5:30pm.  Division 1 5:30pm-7:30pm

Non-squad players the cost is:

• MCA member $50.00
• Non-member $100.00

At present MCA Tennis and its squad structure is completely full and we are experiencing our busiest term since starting our program.

We would like to thank all who have supported us in our journey here and we look forward to continuing to improve all students and keep building MCA Tennis into a thriving tennis centre.

Upcoming Coaching

Ladies coaching during the day. For any ladies interested we will have a free trial for all members during Term 4, 2022. We will look to start this in Week 5 and run for 4 weeks. Day and time are to be confirmed. Please let us know your interest by email to: MCATennis@marash.qld.edu.au

CBSQ 2022 Competition

Mr James Lidstone - 1st V Basketball Coach

On the last week of school a squad of ten boys were selected to participate in the Champion Basketball School Queensland Tournament held at the Gold Coast. The tournament started on Thursday and concluded on the Sunday. We use the tournament as a development tool with our team consisting of Year 11 and 10 boys only. Our boys come up against teams stacked with seniors who have been training all year for this tournament. We had a hugely successful tournament winning three games including one against a full-strength AIC St Laurence’s team. We only lost four games with the biggest losing margin being 11 points. Our squad featured four boys from the 2022 1st V team. Declan Tunny spent all weekend leading the new boys and teaching them our offences and defences. Will Ford had a sensational tournament averaging 17 points a game and showing his versatility on offence as well as being able to be a lockdown defender. Jack Forrester had some huge moments across the games and continues to show he belongs at the level. Matt Gibson had another solid CBSQ averaging 16 points as he continued to prove himself as one of the premier point guards competing and holding his own against an NBL1 guard and some impressive senior backcourts. Our new contingent of Spencer Mahoney, James Mulcahy, Jack Riley, Kurt Roberts, Callan Maclean and Xavier Evans competed extremely well all weekend and stepped up and showed that they were ready to compete in Opens Senior Basketball. The boys will continue to train this term before having a Christmas break and then hopefully gearing up early in 2023 to prepare for the Marist Basketball Carnival being held in Adelaide. It is great to see such passion and enthusiasm in the basketball program and these boys proved to be excellent ambassadors for Marist Basketball. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Hayden Evans for his supporting coaching role over the weekend including taking the helm for a couple of games. I would also like to extend a massive thank you to John Lambourne for the incredible enthusiasm and support that he has shown the basketball program all year long, the boys are very appreciative. Lastly, thank you to the parents and boys who gave up their time and the first weekend of their holidays to represent the College in such an outstanding manner. Well done.

Cricket

Mr Mitch Reid - Cricket Coordinator

Welcome to the 2023 cricket season. This letter is to outline important information regarding the upcoming season. Cricket trials for current students will take place in Term 4, 2022. 

Cricket Sign On

All current students will need to register for cricket via TASS. Information on how to do this is posted on the College app. 

Term 4 Trials 

Further details for Term 4 trials including dates, times and venues will be posted on the College app during Week 2. 

AIC Season

Season Dates 

28/01/2023: Trial Game 

04/02/2023 – 18/03/2023: 7 game AIC Season 

Teams 

For 2023, there will be a change to how many teams the College enters in the AIC competition. Based on registration numbers, we will be looking to enter 4 teams per year level. 

All boys who miss out on a team in Years 5-8 will be offered the opportunity to play cricket on a Friday afternoon in the Marist Cricket Development Program. This program will consist of 2 x skill sessions, 3 x internal games and 1 x game against another AIC School. More information regarding the development program will be communicated at the end of the Term. 

Cricket Academy

There will be no formal cricket academy this year. However, the college will still have specialist batting and bowling coaches who will work with teams throughout both Term 4 and Term 1.

Club Cricket 

The College recommends students who are looking to improve their cricket and play extra games to look at joining a local club to play cricket during Term 4.  

School Holiday Cricket

Brisbane Cricket Week 

The College will enter two teams into the Brisbane Cricket Week from January 10-14. The teams will be made up of players from the Open 2nd XI and Year 8-10 A teams. Each year level will play 2 games during the week.   

Marist College Cricket Holiday Clinic 

The College is currently exploring the opportunity to hold school holiday cricket coaching sessions. This session would be separate from any AIC team training or games and open all students looking to improve their cricket. 

Student Achievements

Tom Howard (Rugby)

Tom has been selected for the Queensland Under 16 rugby team. This is an outstanding achievement in a very competitive field. We look forward to following Tom progress.

Adrian Garbellini (Orienteering)

Adrian continues to do great things in the world of orienteering. In September he competed at the Queensland Sprint Orienteering Championships, a podium finish. In the highly competitive M14A Adrian finished second

Water Polo

Sean Bright, Joseph Cervetto, Angus Cope & Tom Sloman were recently chosen to represent Queensland in the 15&U Water Polo National Championships held in Melbourne from 29 September to 2 October. Queensland took two teams to the competition, with the Maroon Team (which Sean, Joseph and Angus were part of) winning the gold medal!  Tom was in the Gold Team which placed 7th.

At the end of the Tournament, Water Polo Australia then announced a Cadet Men National Age Group Program Squad, which all four Marist boys were selected for.  This squad is made up of 40 boys from all over the country, so to have four Marist boys included in it is a huge achievement.

Football

Jake Seesink, Cian Cournane and Lachlan Abel were selected for the Metro North U15/16 team in the Football Queensland Community Cup. The Football Queensland Community Cup is a state-wide carnival with teams from across the state competing against other regions. The tournament was held at Maroochydore from 20-23 Sept with the boys team taking out the Grand Final.