The sporting achievements of several St Columba’s Catholic College students were recognised at an awards ceremony in mid-November for schools in the Parramatta Diocese.
Four students received Parramatta Diocese Secondary Schools Sporting Competition awards. Kienan Brown, Jack Hamblin and Hannah Stanford were named the best in their age groups for athletics, and Caleb Dryer was the best in his age group for swimming.
The other students to receive awards were:
Brenna Tarrant, for competing at state level in AFL. Brenna has played for the GWS Giants U18s female team, NSW/ACT U18s AFL women's team and attended the NSW/ACT female AFL academy. She has also represented St Columba’s at cross county and competed in the NSW All Schools Triathlon Championships.
Zach Konstantinoff has competed at a state and national level this year for swimming. He competed in the Australian Age Championships and the Australian Swimming Championships and was a stand out at Parramatta Diocese, NSW Combined Catholic Colleges, NSW State Age and School Sport Australia Swimming Competitions.
Monique Quirk’s achievements in athletics were recognised. She has competed in school zone and state athletics competitions and was named age champion for her age group at the Parramatta Diocese Secondary Schools athletics carnival. She has competed at a national level for athletics in the 100m, 200m and 400m events.
In the sport of hockey, Annie Buckley has excelled. She was selected in the NSW Combined Catholic Schools U16 hockey team, the NSW CHS U16 hockey team and the NSW Associated Schools U16 team. She was also selected in the under 18s AAP NSW squad.
Georgie Purcell has proved her sporting prowess at state and national level across three disciplines. She has competed in cross country at school zone and state level, and the Australian Cross Country Championships. She also entered the Australian Athletics Championships after winning the 1500m in the NSW Junior Championships. She was selected for NSW All Schools Athletics and Australian Institute of Sport U15s elite national camp and won the Little Athletics State Championships for 800m and 1500m. Georgie has also competed at a state and national level for Irish dancing.
Jenna Fisher has performed highly in softball, being selected as a member of the NSW All Schools softball team. She attended the under 17s state camp for softball and has played in both the U19s and open womens representative softball teams. She has also represented St Columba’s at school zone competitions in netball, touch football, softball and Oztag gala days.
Not pictured in the photo but also receiving award were Ryan Hackney, Jenna Jones and Meg Jefferson.
Ryan was selected in the U17s and U19s Australian cricket team and holds the record for the NSW highest run scorer for the U17s and U19s National Cricket Championships. He was awarded runner-up player in the U19s NSW cricket team where he broke the batting record, which had been held for 21 years.
Jenna, a Rio Paralympian, has competed in swimming at a state and national level this year. She was at the State Open Championships, Australian Open Nationals, Australian Short Course Open Nationals and NSW Combined Catholic Colleges competitions.
Meg has excelled on the basketball court. She is a member of the U20s Flames Academy and State Performance Program and plays in the U18s NSW Metro State team. She has played in school zone, state and NSW All Schools basketball teams. She also plays representative basketball for Penrith where their team made the grand final. As a member of the AUSA Hoops team, Meg played in a tournament in America where they came third.