TERM 1 SPORTS

First of all I would like to offer my appreciation and thanks to all the parents and staff who have assisted with all the sporting events this term. It was an extremely busy term and without all the help I received it would not have been possible.

Swimming

As we have done for a few years, HPS has again been extremely successful in the pool this year. 54 students headed to Northcote Aquatic Centre for the District Swim Meet on Thursday 25 February needing to come 1st or 2nd in their race to go to the next stage. Four students were entered into each stroke except butterfly in each age group for both boys and girls and 14 relay teams entered also. 16 of the 54 students either came 1st or 2nd in their races, some winning 2 and, seven relay teams came 1st and two came 2nd.

At Division on Wednesday 3 March, the 31 HPS students had to swim against Ivanhoe Girls and Ivanhoe Buckley House, our two biggest competitors. Progressing through to Region is not only made more difficult by the competition faced, but also because students have to finish 1st to go through. As always the students were fantastic, supporting one another in all of their races and congratulating students from other schools on their achievements. The day was a big success with four of the nine relay teams winning and progressing through to Region. I would like to also congratulate Mika M, Georgia B and Lauren S who won their individual races to progress and swim again at the Regional Meet.

The Regional Swim Meet was a big day and once again students had to come 1st to progress through to State in Term 2. This swim meet students came up against a lot of swimmers who are part of swim squads but regardless of knowing this, the 15 HPS students who went were fiercely competitive.

The girl’s medley relay team were in the pool first and the race did not disappoint. After winning their past two swims comfortably, the girls had to pull out their best swim for this one. All four swimmers, Anabelle M (back stroke), Chloe B (breast stroke), Mika M(butterfly) and Giselle D (freestyle) swam superbly and were in contention to win the whole race. The winning team got a slight lead during breast stroke however it was neck and neck with 25m to go in freestyle and Giselle got ahead with 10m left. However, they fell just short losing to Westgarth PS by just 8 hundredths of a second. I protested the result and for a brief moment thought there may have been a race off, but the protest was unsuccessful and the result stood.

Before the freestyle relays Mika, Georgia and Lauren had their individual swims. Mika came 2nd in both her 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly losing narrowly to the same girl in both swims. Georgia who isn’t part of a swim squad outside of school, swam in the 50m breast stroke coming 4th but beating her HPS trial time by nearly 9 seconds.

Big congratulations go to Lauren who won her 50m backstroke and will compete at the State Primary Swimming Championships on Monday 26th April at MSAC.

The 9/10 girls, 11 girls and 12/13 boys 4 x 50m freestyles were at the end of the day. The 9/10 girls (Georgia B, Leah B, Emilia C & Lauren S) swam really well and finished in 2nd place behind a strong Montmorency South PS. The 11 girls (Mika M, Kartika K, Aria S & Lucy K) also swam brilliantly finishing 2nd to Eltham PS.

The boys 12/13 relay was another race that had everyone biting their nails. Just like the girls medley, the seven officials gathered at the end of the race to deliberate the winner over the finishing video, times and what they saw. All four boys (Tommy W, Zach P, Declan L & Jeremy T) were incredible, from Zach overcoming his anxiety of diving blocks and a little slip to perform the perfect dive to start the race. Declan and Jeremy for maintaining the pace to keep us in a great position to put pressure on the leading team and for Tommy to catch up and get in front of the leader the whole race, to then just be pipped by 6 hundredths of a second by the team who had caught up from 3rd. It sure was a nail biting finish and another race which I protested as I believed we had won, however it wasn't to be and the protest was unsuccessful again.

I could not be prouder of the achievements of every single one of the 15 students who competed. I felt for the students missing out on going to State by hundredths of a second, but seeing every single one of the students walk out of Watermarc with a silver medal around their neck was amazing to see and a first for Heidelberg Primary School. No other school walked away with every single student having a medal either.

Again a Big Congratulations to Lauren on her win, we look forward to cheering you on at the State Championships. A special mention also goes to Mika M, as she was the only student, from all 37 schools, to walk out with 4 medals around their neck.

Athletics

On Friday 26th March students selected to be part of the HPS Athletics Team headed to Willinda Park to compete against the other schools in the district. We took 76 students to represent the school and compete for a place at Division in Term 3. In order to make it through to Division students have to place 1st or 2nd in their track and field event. Every student was well behaved, respectful and showed great sportsmanship. Congratulations to all the students.

The following students are going through to Division in Term 3 for finishing 1st or 2nd in their event:

Elsie P – 1500m & 800m
Oliver H – 1500m & hurdles
Lauren S – Long Jump & 200m
Bella B – High Jump & 100m
Ben H-B – High Jump
Mika M – 200m
Jenna M – 200m
Tommy W – 800m & 200m
Georgia B – Triple Jump & 800m
Henry M – Triple Jump
Khuong V – 800m & Triple Jump
Kartika K– Triple Jump & Long Jump
Ben R – 100m
Olivia L – Discus
Ella C-D – 800m
Declan L – 800m
Girls 9/10 4x100m Relay – Georgia B, Aoife M, Esther M, Bella B

Soccer

On Friday 12 March, 31 students (16 girls and 15 boys) headed to Banyule Flats to play in the District Soccer Round. A special mention to, Elsie P, Kartika K and Penny R for their recruitment drive as without them the girls may not have had a soccer team.

Both teams had a difficult draw, having to play all four pool games in a row without a break. The girls, most never having played soccer rallied together on the day and demonstrated excelled team work. Penny and Ella C-D took it in turns playing in goals, both playing excellently. In one game, although losing, Penny was great between the sticks saving 14 of the 16 shots on goal. The girls for the entire day pulled together and for a team that was only finalised two days before played like a team that had been playing together a lot longer. The girls missed out on the final by 1 point, but finishing with a record of two wins and two losses.

The boys team, consisting of a few soccer players found the day a little easier but it wasn't without a challenge. The third pool game was against a good St Martins team that kept the boys in defence for the majority of the game. Jack P-M was on hand though and kept a couple of good shots out to keep the game at 0-0. After playing their final group game, the boys knew they were through to the final against St Martins. The final was played evenly in both halves with both having good chances at goal. However both keepers were superb. The game finished 0-0 meaning penalties were next. Jack P-M was in goal and after changing his technique for the 3rd penalty pulled out a great save to level the score at 2-2. After 5 penalties both teams were 2-2, needing sudden death. A further three penalties were taken by each side with Ben H-B hitting a rocket of shot straight down the middle, over the keepers head and just scraping the crossbar. It was 5-4 to HPS and up stepped the St Martins player, needing to score to keep sudden death going. Jack who was now brimming with confidence seemed to fill the goal needed to pull out another save for the boys to win. The St Martins player ran up and hit it straight down the middle for Jack to safely catch and take the boys team to Division in Term 2.

Well done to both the boys and girls team for their participation and wins on the day.

Lost and Found

Lost property bins