2011 Athletics Report

AAGPS Athletics Final Report

The Sydney Boys Athletics team made their way out to Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre at half past eight on the 17th of September 2011, eager to show off their talents in front of a crowd of over ten thousand spectators. Everyone, while feeling a little nervous and on edge, was looking forward to seeing what the top High athletes could produce on the day. The day got off to a great start for the senior team, with Ivor Metcalf and Chris Morrow both finishing second in the Under 17 and Open Long Jump respectively, putting our senior team in first place overall from the start of the day. The success for the Senior team would continue throughout the day, with our senior athletes achieving 12 top three positions in 32 events. The successes would continue throughout the day as Scott Renzenbrink finished second in the under 17 200m and third in the under 17 100m, Ivor Metcalf finishing second in the under 17 High Jump, Frank Torok coming second in the Open 1500m and 3000m, and both Chris Morrow and Ashwin Rudder running second in their respective Open 110m Hurdles races. Denny Chandra threw the Shot far enough to secure a third place in the Under 17 division and Adam Booth was able to hold on in the Open 3000m to finish in third.

The junior team would struggle throughout the day due to injuries and inexperience, not achieving results as strong as those of the senior team, however there were results that showed just what they are capable of and show that they will be a force to be reckoned with after a few years of training. Ivor Metcalf scored the only win of the Junior team with a stunning run in the Under 16 110m hurdles, breaking the school record in the process with a time of 14.16. Lloyd Perris also featured highly in the medals, finishing in second place in both the under 16 800m and 1500m. Third places were achieved by William Chen in the Under 13 800m, Byron Chen in the under 15 Long Jump, Harry Heo in the under 16 Long Jump and Eamon Kelly in the Under 16 Shot Put. Along with these spectacular results performed by a few star athletes, there were performances which, while they didn’t place in the top three, showcased the tremendous heart and passion our junior boys had. In the under 14 1500m, Luke Hoad had to run the race with a sprained ankle, an injury which is incredibly painful to simply walk on, however, Luke never gave up, gritted his teeth and ran the entire race. This is the sort of passion that will cause our senior team to continue to grow stronger and stronger.

The Senior team showed how much our athlete’s hard work has paid off not only over this season but over the past few years. With 12 top three finishes, the team managed to finish in fifth place, with only 7 points separating second and fifth place. The Junior team unfortunately didn’t have similar success to show for all of their hard work, finishing in eighth place, only 11 points behind sixth. With two first places, ten seconds, seven thirds, and twenty-two fourths and fifths, the entire High Athletics team had a very successful day, proving once again that we are able to compete with and defeat the other GPS schools.

Athletics Season Report

The 2011 GPS athletics season will go down as one of the shortest and most intense seasons in recent memories. The athletes had to try and fit a full seasons worth of training into only a few sessions and limited competitive opportunities. However as the results have shown High accepted the challenge and turned out one of our most successful seasons to date. Preparation for the season started all the way back in term one, as Josh Tassel ran optional sprints sessions at ES Marks for those who not only wanted to get a head start in their sprint work, but wished to improve their speed and fitness for their respective summer and winter sports. Sprints training continued throughout the winter season, complimenting any commitments that our athletes had to fulfil.

The scouting process for the season began with the school athletics carnival as all the prospective talent the school had to offer came out to compete. The importance of the athletics carnival on the GPS season cannot be stressed enough, as there is so much talent in the school that goes to waste as boys decide to pass on having a go. This year there was a shining example of what can be accomplished if boys were to have a go, even just at the school carnival. Ashwin Rudder showed up to the athletics carnival this year and surprised everyone, even himself, when he not only made the finals of the 100 and 200 metre races, but finished in the top four in both races, as well as coming second in the open hurdles. Fast forward to the AAGPS carnival, Ash ran second in the division of the Open 110m hurdles as well as finishing in the mid field of the 100m and running the last leg of our open 4x100m relay. As remarkable as this achievement was, it was only until year 12 that Ash decided to come along and have a real go at athletics. Our junior athletics team has not been as strong as previous years and the easiest way to boost their performance is by having students not wait until their last year to have a go, come along regardless of your year group and you will reap the benefits, through selection in the team for the finals or by getting you fitter and quicker for your other sports.

The official GPS athletics season only lasted for four weeks this year, with three invitational carnivals and the NSW Schools Knockout being the only open competitive opportunities. These were opportunities that the athletes grabbed with both hands, as High athletes were able to consistently place in the top three in their events, showing the strength and depth of our teams this year. While for the most part we had good attendance throughout the season, there were times where we had to improvise with what we had, such as an impromptu relay team in the under 15s age group one day. The top runners were unable to attend and compete, and so the second team, who was planning on running for fun had to step up and take on the top relay teams for their age group. The affectionately named “Fat Man’s Relay” may not have been quick enough to trouble some of the other teams, but they were determined to go out hard and do their best, even practicing their baton changes beforehand.

Although the season has been short, it has not been easy. The schedule placed the start of the season right at the tail end of the Trial HSC, making it very difficult for many of our senior members to make it out at the start, and the University Open Day circuit made it very difficult to please all the different boys during the season. However, the team as a whole has been able to work through all of the issues, with a great deal of help from our coaching staff, and have overcome the odds to put out one of the best seasons to date.

Thank you to anybody and everybody who has made this season as successful as it has been, and who have helped us build the Athletics program over the past six years.
Chris Morrow
Captain of Athletics 2011