Year 7 Girls Hockey through to State Finals!

On Thursday 13th October, the year 7 girls Hockey team played in the EMR competition. The girls played three very impressive 40-minute round robin games in the sunshine. They came away with three wins and then played in a final against Canterbury Girls with a 2-0 victory. In doing so, they have won their way through to the State Finals which will be held on Monday 14th November.

Our midfielders kept the ball in our attacking half most of the day, passing brilliantly to Samara (who was a standout player scoring 7 goals throughout the day), Lavinia (with 5 goals) and Anabel (with 4 goals). Our goalies for the day (Lacey, Amelia and Siya) were amazing donning the goalie kit and defenders remained strong not conceding a single throughout the day. What a fantastic effort!

Congratulations to these girls who have played so well in the sunshine with back-to-back games and good luck in the State Finals!

Year 7 Boys Cricket SSV Whitehorse Division

On Monday 10th October, 12 students from Year 7 played in a round robin limited overs tournament at Elgar Park in the SSV Whitehorse Division. We were blessed on the day with perfect conditions for cricket: fine, sunny and 18 degrees.

Round 1: BHS 10/53 (12 overs) were defeated by Box Hill HS 2/73 (12 overs)

Highlights: Vansh Prajapati 15, Oscar Butler 13 & 1/7 (2), Coby Verheyen 1/1 (2)

Round 2: BHS 4/38 (15 overs) were defeated by Koonung SC 1/50 (8 0vers)

Highlights: Coby Verheyen 8 retired

Unfortunately, BHS were comprehensively outplayed in both games by more talented and experienced opposition. Coby and Oscar captained the team very well and made sure all players had an opportunity to bat or bowl. Despite the losses the boys enjoyed their day in the sun with their friends playing Australia’s favourite summer sport.

Mr Couzens

HPE Teacher

Year 7 Boys EMR Hockey

On Tuesday, 18th October 13 very enthusiastic Year 7 boys played in the EMR Hockey round robin at Hawthorn Malvern Hockey Centre. BHS was put to the test in the first round game against Balwyn HS. This game was a challenge of the highest order with several opposition players displaying superior size, skill and experience. BHS defence was under enormous pressure in the first half and defended with all their might only to concede a goal late in the half. BHS eventually went down 3-0 which was a commendable result given the quality of the opposition.

The second and final game was against a weaker Heathmont College. BHS dominated play, possession and peppered the goals in the first half but were frustratingly unable to score. Iggy Castor finally broke the deadlock early in the second half and then the flood gates opened with an additional 3 goals in quick succession.

Special mention to Iggy Castor, Jeremy Bryant, Nian Chiong and Joe Kneebone who were relentless in their efforts in all areas on the pitch. Thank you to Year 10 student, Hunter Pfeiffer, who provided his hockey expertise in his role as coach.

Round 1: BHS 0 defeated by Balwyn HS 3

Round 2: BHS 4 defeated Heathmont Col. 0

Goal scorers: Iggy Castor 2, Joe Kneebone 1, Alain Brandreth 1.

Best players: Iggy Castor, Jeremey Bryant, Nian Chiong, Joe Kneebone.

Year 8 Boys Cricket SSV Whitehorse Division

Round 1: BHS 2/57 (10 overs) were defeated by Box Hill HS 4/59 (10 overs)

Highlights: Jake Stone 20 retired, Hugo Dykes 23 retired, Jasraj Basra 1 wicket, Partaj Dhaliwal 1 wicket, Jake Stone 1 wicket

Round 2: BHS 2/69 (8 overs) defeated EDSC 2/55 (8 0vers)

Highlights: Hugo Dykes 23 retired, Fynn Waring-Jones 18* (including 2x6’s), Aarav Pai 12*, Jasraj Basra 2 wickets

Round 3: BHS 3/31 (8) were defeated by Koonung SC 6/48 (8)

Highlights: Jake Stone 15, Hugo Dykes 12, Aarav Pai 1 wicket, Jake Stone 2 wickets, Oscar Maddison 1 wicket, 2 run outs

On Friday, 21st October, 13 students from Year 8 played in a round robin limited overs tournament at Elgar Park in the SSV Whitehorse Division. The first game against Box Hill HS was an absolute thriller that went down to the last over. The game was set up for the taking thanks to some fantastic batting from Jake Stone (20 retired) and Hugo Dykes (23 retired, including 2 clutch boundaries when needed). The last over equation was BHS requiring 3 runs to win off the last 6 balls. Unfortunately, the BHS batsmen were unable to get bat on ball and ended up going down by 3 runs. This was a heartbreaking result as it was more of a case of BHS losing the game, rather than Box Hill HS winning the game. The cricket cliché that “hitting the winning runs are the hardest runs to score” proved true once again. The second game was a convincing win against a valiant EDSC. The main highlight of this game was Fynn Waring-Jones’ power hitting display scoring 21 runs off the final over which included two 6’s and a 4. This over was ultimately the deciding factor in the game. The final game against Koonung was a fitting finale to a great day of school cricket. If BHS won, it would mean a 3-way tie with the winner being decided by percentage. BHS got off to a fine start with Jake (15) and Hugo (12) continuing their good run of form with the bat. Unfortunately, the last 4 overs proved less fruitful producing a paltry 5 runs. With “runs on the board” you are always a chance in cricket particularly in a high-pressured final. A dream start with the ball by opening bowler Aarav Pai who took a key wicket on the first ball of the innings gave BHS hope but some costly errors in the field made the total a target easily run down in end by the eventual and deserving winners Koonung.

BHS Intermediate Girls Cricket EMR

Round 1: BHS 10/73 (18.3 overs) were defeated by Balwyn HS 4/94 (20 overs)

Highlights: Madison Freeman 17 (including hitting the only 4 for the match), Ava Wood 4, Lucy Freeman 2 run outs, Holly Trainor 1 wicket, Abigael Procter 1 wicket.

On Thursday, 20th October BHS Intermediate girls played Balwyn High School in the EMR at Myrtle Reserve. We were blessed on the day with perfect conditions for cricket: fine, sunny, 23 degrees, and a newly laid synthetic pitch and outfield.

BHS co-captains Charlotte Freeman and Ava Wood won the bat flip and decided to bat first and put the runs on the board. BHS didn’t get off to the ideal start losing 4 early wickets in the first 5 overs. A rear-guard counter attacking partnership of 50 by Madison Freeman and Ava Wood changed the momentum of the game and gave BHS a target to defend. Madison (17) was superb batting through most of the innings only to depart in the final overs. BHS knew they had to take early wickets and keep the number of extras (wides and no-balls) to a minimum to take the game deep. Balwyn, however, had other ideas getting off to a good start (1/45 off 10). A further 3 wickets were taken but Balwyn ultimately passed BHS’ score with 3 overs to spare and won relatively comfortably.

Despite the loss, the girls had a great day out with their friends with many of them playing their first ever game of cricket. Hopefully, this will not be their last game and they all sign up to play in 2023. Special thanks to Year 11 students Deep Singh and Cody Tuder for coaching the team.

Mr Couzens

HPE Teacher

SSV State Track and Field Finals – 3 STATE CHAMPIONS

It was a glorious day on Monday 17th October out at Lakeside Stadium in Albert Park for the School Sport Victoria Track and Field Finals. We had 7 students qualify to represent Blackburn High School at this event and we are just so proud of each and every one of them. Our results for the day were;

Thomas Linnett – 1st Place and State Champion 12-13 Years Boys 800m event and 2nd place in the 1500m event. Tom came within milliseconds of breaking the 800m State record and in the 1500m both he and the first placed runner broke the race record which had stood for 21 years by 4 seconds. His times (800m – 2:10.18 and 1500m – 4:28.72).

Charlie Wilson –1st Place and State Champion 12-13 Years Boys 400m event. Charlie’s 400m time – 56.98secs.

Babette Nathan –1st Place and State Champion 12-13 Years Girls Shot Put with a PB of 99cm and throwing the Shot Put 10.39m

Hannah Linnett – 5th place on countback in the 17 Years Girls High Jump event, successfully jumping the height of the 2nd place jumper.

Amaya Thalakada – 6th Place 12-13 Years Girls High Jump with a jump of 1.4m.

Liam McLennan – 9th Place 17 Years Boys 1500m in a time of 4:27.18

Charity Onley – 14th Place 15 Years Girls 1500m in a time of 5:46.57.

Thomas Linnett - Victorian Allschools Champion – 1500m

On Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th October, Thomas represented Blackburn High School at the Athletics Victoria Allschools Competition. At this competition, the best athletes from across the state come together across two weekends, representing both government and private schools. Thomas won his 1500m heat on Saturday in a time of 4:31.88 and then went on to also win the final on Sunday in a considerably faster time of 4:20.83 and a whole 3 seconds ahead of the 2nd placed runner.

Congratulations Thomas and best of luck with your 800m event next weekend.

Nadine Roche – Carnivals Co-ordinator

On Sunday, 2nd October 2022, when most people would still be in a deep sleep in their bedroom, Lee Martin (Year 12, H7) was pounding the pavement competing in the Melbourne Marathon. Lee’s race day began with a 4:00am alarm, registered at 6:00am and started the race outside Rod Laver Arena at 7:00am. The course included running through the city, around Albert Lake Park, up St Kilda & Beach Road and finished with a lap on the hallowed turf at the MCG. Lee completed the 42-kilometre course in 2:52:41.

This outstanding time equates to an average running pace of 4:03 minutes per kilometre. Lee finished in 217th place out of 6500 participants and 2nd in his age group. Congratulations Lee on this incredible achievement and good luck with your running future.

Tom Linnett (Year 7, F14) also took part on the day. He ran the 10km part of the Marathon (due to his age, he isn't allowed to run any further) in a time of 38:09. This exceptional time equates to an average running pace of under 4 minutes per kilometre. Congratulations Tom on another elite sporting performance. Tom has had one extraordinary year in 2022.

Eastern Metropolitan Region Athletics Results

54 Blackburn High School students who had qualified through the Whitehorse Division Athletics competition headed out to the Knox Athletics track for the EMR finals. It was a beautiful day and each and every one of our students did their absolute best. We had some amazing results as a school with many coming away with medals and we have 7 students that have qualified to represent BHS in the State Final next Monday at Lakeside Stadium. Highlights for the day;

As a school at the regional level, we have finished around 8th overall in the last few years, however this year, of the 45 schools in the Eastern Region, our girls finished in 4th place behind Vermont, Heathmont and Ringwood and our boys finished in 2nd place, only behind Balwyn. These results are just fabulous and a credit to our students.

Throughout the entire day, there were only 4 records broken and 2 of these 4 records were broken by Blackburn students;

Thomas Linnett broke a 12 year record in the 800m running in a time of 2:09.98

Charlie Wilson broke an 11 year record in the 400m running in a time of 57.32secs

Our State finalists for next week are;

Amaya Thalakada – 12/13 years High Jump (1:30pm)

Thomas Linnett – 12/13 years 800m and 1500m (1:12pm & 4:43pm)

Hannah Linnett – 17 years High Jump (3:30pm)

Charlie Wilson – 12/13 years 400m (3:45pm)

Babette Nathan – 12/13 years Shot Put (4:30pm)

Charity Onley – 15 years 1500m (5:04pm)

Liam McLennan – 17years 1500m (5:39pm)

Other outstanding results for the day;

Silver Medallists – Amaya Thalakada (400m), Natika Jobson (400m), Cheryl Chen (Triple Jump), Harrison Kaehler (100m), Charlie Wilson (200m), Joel Carter (800m), Arian Thalakada (Hurdles), Declan Dennis (Hurdles), Arian Thalakada (Triple Jump), Charlie Wilson, Kai Jones, Harrison Kaehler, Jake Higgins (4 X 100m Relay)

Bronze Medallists – Amaya Thalakada (200m), Lucy Freeman (400m), Cheryl Chen (High Jump), Hannah Linnett (Long Jump), Harani Schauble (Shot Put), Ella Marsh (Javelin), Rebecca Hedley (Javelin), Mason Porter (800m), Liam McLennan (800m), Lee Martin (1500m), Joe Kneebone (Triple Jump), Sam Hampton (Discus)

SSV State Track and Field Finals – 3 STATE CHAMPIONS

At Lakeside Stadium in Albert Park for the School Sport Victoria Track and Field Finals we had 7 students qualify to represent Blackburn High School at this event and we are just so proud of each and every one of them. Our results for the day were;

Thomas Linnett – 1st Place and State Champion 12-13 Years Boys 800m event and 2nd place in the 1500m event. Tom came within milliseconds of breaking the 800m State record and in the 1500m both he and the first placed runner broke the race record which had stood for 21 years by 4 seconds. His times (800m – 2:10.18 and 1500m – 4:28.72).

Charlie Wilson –1st Place and State Champion 12-13 Years Boys 400m event. Charlie’s 400m time – 56.98secs.

Babette Nathan –1st Place and State Champion 12-13 Years Girls Shot Put with a PB of 99cm and throwing the Shot Put 10.39m

Hannah Linnett – 5th place on countback in the 17 Years Girls High Jump event, successfully jumping the height of the 2nd place jumper.

Amaya Thalakada – 6th Place 12-13 Years Girls High Jump with a jump of 1.4m.

Liam McLennan – 9th Place 17 Years Boys 1500m in a time of 4:27.18

Charity Onley – 14th Place 15 Years Girls 1500m in a time of 5:46.57.

Term 4 External Sport Achievements

Olivia Roche – To represent Australia at the Junior World Diving Championships

Congratulations to Olivia Roche, who has been selected to represent Australia at the Junior World Diving Championships. She will head off to Montreal, Canada in about 6 weeks to compete against the best Junior Springboard Divers in the world.

We wish her all the very best of luck! 

Zoe Marshall & Charlie Wilson– National U/14 Basketball Champions

Congratulations to Zoe Marshall and Charlie Wilson who both recently represented the Nunawading Spectres at the National U/14 Basketball Championships. Both Zoe’s team and Charlie’s team overcame the best U/14 teams from all around Australia to be crowned National Champions. Fantastic effort Zoe and Charlie!

Iggy Castor, Jaxon Nilaweera & Samara Azzopardi- Represent Victoria at National U/13 Hockey Championships. Iggy Castor – National Champion Team

We had 3 students represent Victoria at the Australian U/13 Hockey Championships which were held in Tasmania. Congratulations to Iggy, who was Goalie for the Victorian team which went on to win the championships. Jaxon was the backup goalie for Victoria and was given the opportunity to use these skills to help out the team from Northern Territory, where he was awarded with multiple best on field performances. Samara, who plays in the Inner position really enjoyed her first experience at a National competition. Congratulations Iggy, Jaxon and Samara.

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