In what was a beautiful day, the Whitefriars Athletics team arrived at Lakeside Stadium in Albert Park, determined to make an impact in 2021, after the event was cancelled last year. We headed out for a warmup, followed by a speech by the Athletics captain, inspiring the boys to give it their best effort for the day. Post speech the boys were revved up for a big day.

The day kicked off the open 3000m following promptly by the hurdles. With the events running all day, on and off the track, it is a credit to all the boys who competed.

Congratulations to the following boys who placed top three in their events, well done to you all.

• Year 7: Jamil Smyth-Secka (Shot put), Noah Singh (800m), Sam Devers (High Jump), Jamie Alder (1500m)
• Year 8: Adam Kandil (Discus, Shot Put), Charlie Whitehead (90m Hurdles, Long Jump), Cameron Ellis (1500m)
• Year 9: Ryan O’Neil-Park (200m), Joshua Ascar (800m, 400m), Connor Daniels (1500m), 4x100m Team (Ryan O’Neil-Parker, Zachary Szymakowski, Joshua Ascar, Thomas Petrowski)
• Year 10: Tristan Devers (Triple Jump), Matthew Parrott (Long Jump), Anthony Moule (800m, 1500m), Jack Brisbane (Discus), Joshua Tovey (Shot Put), Tariku Natschev (Open 1500m), Lenin Hickey (High Jump), Jacob Vippond (400m), 4x100m Team (Lachlan Lotter, Lenin Hickey, Jacob Vippond, Tristan Devers)
• Year 11: Hamish Hopkins (Long Jump), Noah Wright (800m, 400m), Sweeney Thorburn (100m, 200m), Callum White (1500m), 4x100m Team (Sweeney Thorburn, Liam Loverso, Hamish Hopkins, Zac Schafer)
• Year 12: Max Hartnett (3000m), Lachlan Parrott (Triple Jump, Long Jump), Thomas Sonderhof (800m), Trent Seegets (100m, 200m), Blake Ovesen (Discus, Shot Put), 4x100m Team (Trent Seegets, Lachlan Parrott, Ethan Wu, Callum Tham), 4x400m Team; Noah Wright, Sweeney Thorburn, Thomas Sonderhof and Lachlan Parrott.

Congratulations to all the boys listed above, what an amazing achievement to have all those top three place getters. Further congratulations to all of those who competed, everyone should be proud of their efforts.

The ACC awards are broken into age group, section and overall placings. Whitefriars came:

• 4^th in Year 7
• 5^th in Year 8
• 4^th in Year 9
• 1^st in Year 10
• 2^nd in Year 11 (by 2 points to St Joseph’s Geelong)
• 2^nd in Year 12

Big congratulations to the Year 10 students who took out their respected age group.

Cup Results; Whitefriars came:

• 4^th Junior Cup
• 3^rd in the Intermediate cup (Years 9 and 10)
• 2^nd in the senior cup to St Bede’s by 7 points.

Overall, Whitefriars came 3^rd in division one with a score of 292.

In 2^nd please was St Joseph’s Geelong (309) and the winner, Parade (334).

Lastly, congratulations to the following boys who broke Whitefriars records:

• Max Hartnett in the Open 3000m running 9.42min, beating record of 10.02min.
• Noah Wright in the Year 11 800m running 2.01min, beating the previous record of 2.02min.
• Lachlan Parrott in the Open Long Jump, jumping 6.78m, beating the previous record of 6.69m set in 1989.
• Year 10 4x100m team (Lachlan Lotter, Lenin Hickey, Jacob Vippond, Tristan Devers), running 45.53 seconds, beating the previous record of 46.7 set in 1993
• Year 11 4x100m team (Sweeney Thorburn, Liam Loverso, Hamish Hopkins, Zac Schafer), running 45.28 seconds, beating the previous record of 45.93 seconds.

With the day coming to an end, it was time for the Whitefriars Captains, Lachie Parrott, Ethan Wu and Trent Seegets, to deliver their final speech to the boys who got the chance to compete. With Wu tearing up, showing all emotion and how much the Whitefriars Athletics squad has meant to him over the past few years; he summed up perfectly how the Captains felt. For them it was the end, for the Year 7s, it is just the beginning.

Personally, I could not have picked a better group of boys to be leading this new team with, even though there was limited training due to COVID, everyone gave it their all. All the boys formed a bond from this team. I could not have been prouder of the efforts from these boys.

I will remember this day for the rest of my life.

Lachie Parrott, Athletics Captain