|
TRACK & FIELD REPORTS
2006
GPS TRACK AND FIELD
The Track and Field season this year was a huge success due to the large number of athletes participating in the lead up meets held on Friday nights. The sport, considered by many as the toughest sport of the year, is growing in profile with record numbers of Year 8 and 9 students putting up their hands for selection. It was no wonder this year that it was these two age groups who found the most success. This gives the Track and Field program at Terrace a great foundation for the years to come.
On completion of the 2006 GPS Championships, our athletes were left disappointed with the result. It was a strong feeling held by all, that seventh position did not justify the rich talent that this team had developed over the year. Outstanding achievements by many of the athletes demonstrated they were prepared to dig in deep for the many injuries the team suffered in the lead up to the Championships. Dominic Trad characterized what Terrace is about after he earned the Jack McAuliffe Trophy for the most individual points by a single athlete. Dominic received maximum points in the Hurdles and Triple jump events before having to pull out early in the Long Jump after rolling his ankle on his second attempt. With his personal points tally already on 25, he was asked to run a leg in the Under 14 relay team who went on to become GPS CHAMPIONS. With an outstanding effort in the Shot Put and Discus events, Julian Wruck was awarded the GTOBA Trophy for most improved athlete with 2 nd and 1 st place in his pet events. Julian is now the proud holder of the Under 15 Shot Put College Record.
Luke Papa led our Under 13 team with a huge long jump placing him in 1 st position for the event. He then had the difficult task of competing in Triple Jump which was running at the same time where he showed great composure to grab a podium finish taking his personal total to 21 after a competitive throw in discus. Liam Zamel-Paez for the fifth year in a row won his event with a jump of 1.92m.
On a day when place getters were few and far between, it was our younger athletes who stood up to make a statement that Terrace has an ominous future in Track and Field. James Herd looked great coming 2 nd in Hurdles while Sam Bartlett ran 2 nd in the 100m (11.83sec), breaking a 28 year old record after a 4 th in the 200m event. Harry Parker was gutsy finishing 3 rd in the 800m and backed up for a 5 th in the difficult 1500m event. Jacob Christensen, James Herd, Giacomo DiBartolomeo and Sam Bartlett went on to come within 0.2 of a second of the GPS record in the 4x100m relay. It was no wonder the other GPS schools were talking about our Under 13’s.
Our Under 14 team certainly proved to be one of our stronger age groups again this year with Lachlan Maranta - Plowman, Sebastian Smith and Jeremy Lim finishing 2 nd in their events. Dominic Trad, Gerard O’Hare and Conor Murphy ran fantastic legs to pass the baton to Lachlan who went to claim victory for Terrace in the 4x100m Relay. Tom Lewis, representing our Under 15 team, impressed many with his 3 rd place in the Long Jump with yet another PB. James McMahon, after a season of injury, equalled his own College Record breaking the 11 seconds barrier for the second time. James cracked the 20 year old record earlier in the season with a time of 10.95 seconds. Another athlete in the under 16’s who was cursed with injury this year was Adam Bevis. He could only manage two events this year due to a hamstring problem. However this did not hold Adam back in the Discus where he finished 2 nd and backed up in the Shot Put throwing a National Qualifying distance of 14.75m.
I would like to thank all coaches who assisted this season who each passed on valuable advice and personal experience to each athlete. The Coaching team was lead by Head Coach Cliff Mallett, Damien Coman (Middle Distance), Joe Occhino and Paul Pearce (Sprints) and Jacqui Munro (Hurdles). The Field athletes were extremely lucky to have Paul DiBella (Long Jump), Patrick O’Donnell (Triple Jump), Bill McCulloch (Throws), Matt Foley (Shot Put), Lyndon Amel Zark(Discus), Michael Paez (High Jump) and Josh Robinson helping out with Javelin. Gregory Terrace has, by far, the most credible and high profile coaches in the GPS competition.
To the Vice Captains (Tim Beckman and Liam Zamel-Paez) and Captain (Rob McEvoy), I extend my gratitude and congratulations for yet another successful season. Your personal dedication to me and to the team should be commended and certainly places us in a great position next year.
Queensland Representation
In 2006 the College has a number of athletes qualifying for the National Championships with 11 boys selected in the Queensland Team who will travel to Sydney in December. For the hard work they have put in over the past year I would like to personally congratulate them on their fantastic achievement.
Queensland Under 13
Sam Bartlett: 100m / 200m
Luke Papa : Long Jump/ Hurldes
James Herd: Hurdles
Harry Parker: 1500m
Under 14
Liam Gill: Shot Put
Con Foley: 100m Hurdles
Under 15
Julian Wruck: Shot Put/Discus
Dominic Trad: Hurdles
Under 16
Adam Bevis: Shot Put/ 110 Hurdles / 200m
Under 17
James McMahon: 100m
Under 18
Liam Zamel Paez: High Jump
CIC TRACK and FIELD
The CIC Track and Field season, under the expert guidance of Mr. Paul Pearce, Ms Jacqui Munro, Mr. Joe Occhino, Mr. Bill McCulloch and Head Coach Cliff Mallett, got underway to an enthusiastic start at the beginning of Term 3 with record numbers of athletes attending training and the pre CIC meets. The initial focus of training was on core stability and flexibility which gave the athletes a great foundation for their individual disciplines.
As the CIC Championships drew closer, every athlete was doing his best to achieve his personal best to give him the best opportunity for selection. With the CIC Championship team of 50 athletes selected, it was off to the University of Queensland for the first day of competition. The Terrace athletes fought hard to carry on the strong tradition Terrace Athletics. Day one of competition saw athletes competing in 800m, Long and High Jump and Shot Put at the University of Queensland.
Jake Vedelago showed fantastic determination to beat a personal best time by 3 seconds in the 800m event which was followed by our vice-captain, Sam Ruff, smashing the College Record in the same event. Sam had been eying off this record all season and now has his name firmly printed for the 800m event for three years in a row. Sam’s time of 2:26.68 beat the previous record by 1.82 seconds and will prove hard to beat for many years. Linus Sheahan was impressive on the first day of competition with a 1 st in High Jump and a 3 rd in Long Jump. Despite missing 4 of our best athletes on day one, these results set the team up well in 4 th position in the Green Division going into day two of competition.
On Monday 11 th September, the entire team travelled to QEII on what was a very cold and wet morning. Sam Ruff backed up his 800m race on Friday winning the 1500 in fine style after being placed 5 th with one lap remaining. Sam ran the race of his life defeating some classy athletes from TSS and IONA.
Wet conditions are not the best conditions to compete in the Hurdles event. Try telling that to Jackson Gifford and Linus Sheahan. They both crossed the line in second position in their respective races to set up a great day for the under 10’s. Matthew Luck finished the day with 3 firsts including a great leg in the relay which was a wonderful contribution to the second placing the team received for the overall Under 10 trophy - only 8 points from first!!!!
At the end of the day our Captain, Michael Pozzi, whom himself acquired over 25 points for the team, was happy with our overall result of 4 th and 2 nd in the Percentage Trophy.
Mr Chris Humphrys
(Director of Track and Field)
Return to the Track and Field Home Page
|
