House Sport

HOUSES House Sport

2022 saw the resumption of the full Senior School House Sport program, providing a range of opportunities for House leaders and all Year 9-12 students.

The first event of the year was House Athletics, held at Bill Sewart Athletics Track in Burwood. Derham House won Year 9, led by Jack Zhang whose sprinting prowess earned him an individual gold medal. Joshua Carlin (DER) dominated the Year 9 distance events and Sam Grlj (CLI) ran well, winning the individual silver medal. Mitchell Graham (MAC) won bronze.

In Year 10, Bridgland was too strong, with excellent individual performances from Zac Matters (Bronze). Harry Clarke’s sprinting and jumping earned him a silver medal and helped Schofield House to a second place, whilst Will Richardson’s range from 400m to 1500m was enough to secure him an individual gold medal.

In Year 11, Sebastian Beck dominated his sprint events, earning a gold medal for his individual efforts and propelling Clifford House to a convincing win over Schofield. There was an even spread of points across other events, with Lachlan Harker (MAC) earning a silver medal and Joshua Hui (STE) collecting bronze.

In Year 12, Lachlan Ross (SCH) earned gold with powerful sprinting. Silver medals were shared by Ed Harper (ROB), who was clearly the strongest in the distance events, and Caleb Finlayson (ROB) who looked solid over the hurdles. Akalanka Gunawardana’s expertise in jumps and discus earned him a bronze medal. Overall, the Year 12 age group was won by Clifford. When the final points were tallied, House Captains Lidong Chen (CLI) and Pavara Jayawardena (SCH) proudly shared the trophy to kick off the race for the Jarrett Cup.

The Multisport competition was held over two afternoons in May. House leaders were challenged with filling combined Year 9/10 and Year 11/12 teams in six different events.

In Handball, Will Joy’s Year 9/10 Schofield team was too strong overall, whilst Wyatt Brennan was impressive as Steven’s team took out the Year 11/12 event. In Soccer, Daniel Teele and his Bridgland Year 9/10 team won, whilst First XI representative Gregory Kerdemelidis led his Clifford Year 11/12s to victory. In Badminton, Clifford’s Chauncey Yu showed his class, leading his Year 9/10 team to a solid win, whilst Tony Chen’s Bridgland took out Year 11/12. In Table Tennis, Justin Kwan led Clifford to the win in Year 9/10, whilst Steven House Captain Alec McDougall led by example as Steven House won Year 11/12. In Basketball, Macneil’s Harrison Taylor was impressive as his Year 9/10 team won their half-court competition, while fellow First Basketball representatives Benny Grayson and Harrison Haintz saw Bridgland secure the Year 11/12 event. Finally, twins Orlando and Kadell Kuti led their Year 9/10 Schofield team to victory in the doubles Tennis. In Year 11/12, House Captain Hugo Thornton was impressive as his Robinson team won. Overall, the consistency of Schofield was just enough to edge out Robinson, allowing Pavara Jayawardena to stand proudly and accept the trophy on behalf of his House again.

‘It was Clifford House, led by Lidong Chen, who emerged victorious for the second consecutive year.’

In June, a revamped Swimming program was run at the Ngaere Wilson Pool. The competition was fast and frenetic, with many swimmers keen to demonstrate their strength following the successful campaign of the AGSV Swimming squad earlier in the year.

In Year 9, Ric Shen led Macneil to a win over James Gargano’s Summons. In Year 10, Hugh Cran’s Bridgland edged out Ryan Humphries’ Clifford. In Year 11, Cooper Lewis’ Clifford team won over Lachlan Nguyen’s Robinson. In Year 12, Rory Noonan’s Steven House did enough to secure the win.

Year 12s Yanning Zhang and Cody Greenwood swam powerfully all day, but it was the consistency of Gregory Kerdemelidis’ Clifford and Richard Luo’s Macneil that earned them shared honours overall.

The final event on the Jarrett Cup calendar was House Cross Country, which was held on a rainy morning at Westerfolds Park in Templestowe. A hilly 3km course covered both muddy dirt trails and cycle paths, presenting all runners with a challenging run.

In Year 9, Joshua Carlin won over Sam Grlj and a fast-finishing Adam Li. In Year 10, Harrison Car ran the fastest time over the day to beat Daniel Chen and Will Aldred. In Year 11, Henry Shirrefs was first, beating Jack Dobbyn and Joshua Blew. Finally, Sam Woods led from start to finish, a comfortable winner in the Year 12 event, with Ben Grlj and Billy Swingler joining him on the podium in their final House event.

Overall, as is very often the case, the House with the greatest depth won overall. With points counting all the way to the 10th placed finisher in each House, those lesser-known runners who were able to claw a few extra places in the final kilometre helped their House to substantially more points. Derham won the Year 9 event and Summons the Year 11, but it was Schofield, with victory in Year 10 and 12 and a solid result in Year 11 who won overall.

Following the four Jarrett Cup events, it was Clifford House, led by Lidong Chen, who emerged victorious for the second consecutive year and accepted the trophy at the Prize Giving Assembly.

Thank you to all staff, team organisers, and students for helping to make this year’s competition a success.

Mr David Rayner

Deputy Head of Senior School and Senior School House Coordinator