SIS XC Championships

After months of regular after-school training, interhouse carnivals and the cross-country (XC) camp (see below), Padua runners were keen to test their fitness against tough opposition at the Southern Independent Schools XC Championships on Wednesday 31 May.

The SIS carnival was held at Casey Fields for the first time, a different track to Baxter Park, a flatter course but made more challenging by a strong headwind. Being a team event, some students were put into older age groups, where athletes were needed. We are always appreciative of these students’ efforts, as we acknowledge that they are running against older competitors. A good example of this was Marli Parrish, a Year 7 student who participated in the U17’s girls' race and finish in third Place. An amazing achievement.

The XC team was brilliant, winning all the major shields, including the Junior, Intermediate, Senior, the Aggregate Boys and Girls, and the Overall Aggregate Shields. Just in case you didn’t already know… this was the 35th consecutive year that the Padua has won the SIS XC event.

Congratulations to the entire squad for a tremendous result. Your dedication to training has been a credit to yourselves and the results have followed.

On a personal note, I would like to thank the many Padua staff and students, who contributed to the success of the carnival. As you would appreciate, it is a huge day, considering there are over 140 students involved from Padua alone. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

XC RESULTS

Terry Luppino
Cross-Country Coach

2023 Cross-country (XC) Camp

Our thanks to the dedicated staff and enthusiastic students who made this year's XC camp at Main Ridge such a successful one. The camp training program, a well-established Padua College tradition, consisted of a mix of XC trials and challenging runs along the scenic Sorrento back beach coastal track, Greens Bush track, and Rosebud foreshore. In addition to the intensive training, our athletes also enjoyed adventure group bonding activities and a special visit from the amazing (89-years-young) Robbie Morgan Morris, the inaugural and legendary Padua College XC Coach.

Schoolaerobics State Championships

Seven Padua College teams (45 students) competed at the Schoolaerobics State Championships on the weekend of 3-4 June 2023 in Rowville.

The senior team (Tsunami) was the first to hit the floor of the morning and they showed Victoria what they could do. Even though they were the only team in their division, they hit the highest score of 85.4 which is the highest score a Padua team has ever achieved at a state level and a spot to compete at Nationals.

Our four junior teams followed next with a huge section of 17 teams competing in the Stage 0ne section. This is a really tough section as there are so many strong teams battling it out for a spot in Nationals, but our Year 8 Team Waves are to be congratulated on an epic routine coming away with third place and a spot to compete at the National Championships.

Our last two teams to compete for the day were the Duo (Mornington Team Beach Barbies) and the Trio (Tyabb Team Tigers) another great performance by both teams with the Mornington Duo coming away with first place and the Tyabb team with third. There was only a point difference between them, so it was super close. Both teams will have another chance to battle it out at Nationals as they both scored very highly.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the coaches for all their hard work, early morning and after school training, and giving up their lunch breaks to coach these fab students and also to the students who have put up their hands to coaching a team

Sarah Bailey
Schoolaerobics Team Coach

Student Perspectives

I started Aerobics in Year 7 just to have some fun. I was dancing outside of school but wanted to do more. I joined the Year 7&8 Mornington team coached by Mrs Jolley from the Tyabb Campus. We had training Monday mornings and Thursday lunch.

I would get to school at 7:30am every Monday and spend Thursday lunchtime up in the drama rooms for practice. All the training paid off when we got first place at Regionals, then third at States, getting through to Nationals, which was unfortunately canceled due to covid in 2021.

We were very disappointed as Nationals were due to take palce in Queensland and we trained so hard.

In Year 8 I joined again, I also asked Claire to join with me. We were put into the Year 8 team along with seven other people. We trained again Monday mornings and Thursday lunch. Again the training paid off and we came first at Regionals, then we went to States but unfortunately didn’t get through to Nationals.

This year Claire and I decided to compete as a duo. We were set a little back with our training as I had to go into surgery in the second week of term one, but that didn’t stop us from doing as much as possible. We came second at Regionals in May and we came first at States and now we are off to Nationals in August in Adelaide!

Evie Pfister
Year 9 Frayne

Doing aerobics in Year 8 was an amazing experience and Evie and I knew we had to do it again, however we wanted to mix it up a bit. This year we entered as a duo as a great way to challenge ourselves. We trained twice a week with our Coach Mrs Jolley, working on our routine whilst choreographing half of it by ourselves. This challenged our creativity and strength.

We made second place at Regionals which qualified us for the State comp, and after that we had less than a month to redo our routine and practice for States. All our hard work paid off though, because now we’re State Champions! Next up is Nationals in Adelaide, here we come!

Claire Torre
Year 9 Frayne

SIS Mornington Boys Intermediate B Side Football

The Year 9 and 10 B side continued their impressive improvement recording their first win against Hillcrest 12.5.77 to 6.9.45 on 23 May. After the shock loss against John Paul, our players responded magnificently to ‘fly the flag’ and get the points for our year level. Our only concern now is that the players that have been putting an enormous amount of time into developing their skills will be promoted to the A’s to improve their chances of winning in future games. The boys played a long and direct brand of football to instruction in slippery conditions on a small ground.

Finnbar Feehely and Eli Sherrin dominated in the mid-field and were given great service in the big man department by the likes of Michael Latu and MJ Uelehipa. Ross Walker and Jacob Diaz-Scott were resolute and held firm in defence whenever Hillcrest ventured forward. This was another even performance by the Intermediate B team with every player contributing to the win. A heavy loss in round one to St Francis, a narrow loss against John Paul in round two, and then a solid win against Hillcrest, highlights the development of our team and the effort of our players who have a strong focus on getting better each week. A special thank you to Fletcher Leggo for doing a wonderful job goal umpiring.

Goal Kickers: Finnbar Feehely 3, Eli Sherrin 3, MJ Ulehipa 2, Riley Puls 1, Gus Derriman 1, Jonty Chase 1, Fred Langford 1.

Andrew Brady
Coach