School & Representative Sport
NSWCCC Cross Country
On Wednesday, 5 June, five St Clare's students travelled to the NSWCCC Cross Country held at Horsley Park in Sydney to represent the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese. All five competed with great results.
- Carter Cox competed in the U/13 boys 3km event and produced a PB with 11 minutes 46 seconds.
- Zarlie McDermott competed in the U/13 girls 3km and finished 39th.
- Matthew Clements competed in the U/15 boys 4km and finished 22nd.
- Miley Cox competed in the U/16 girls 4km.
- Gemma Eady-Muxlow competed in the U/17 girls 4km and finished 7th and has been selected in the NSWCCC Team to compete at the NSW All Schools State Championships to be held on Wednesday 24 July 2024. Congratulations Gemma.
Matthew Clements, Carter Cox, Miley Cox & Gemma Eady-Muxlow
Luke Rowe
Leader of Learning - Sport
NSW All Schools Swimming Championships
On Thursday 30 May and Friday 31 May Sophie Scislo, Year 9 was part of the NSWCCC swimming team that competed at the NSW All Schools Swimming Championships held at Homebush in Sydney. Sophie qualified in the 50m Butterfly and 100m Butterfly and placed 8th and 7th respectively at the event. Congratulations, Sophie, a great achievement.
Luke Rowe
Leader of Learning - Sport
Surf Life Saving Awards of Excellence
Of the five school-age award categories in the 2024 Newcastle Permanent Lower North Coast Surf Life Saving Branch Awards of Excellence, four awards went to students attending St Clare’s. From the six branch clubs along our coastline from Crowdy Head to Seal Rocks, St Clare’s recipients were:
- Youth Athlete of the Year – Miley Cox (Year 10) Black Head SLSC
- Youth Volunteer Award 15-21 years – Gemma Eady-Muxlow (Year 11) Crowdy Head SLSC
- Youth Lifesaver of the Year 15-21 years - Gemma Eady-Muxlow (Year 11) Crowdy Head SLSC
- Junior Life Savers of the Year – Calista Elmer (Year 9) and Blake Stewart (Year 8) Crowdy Head SLSC
Gemma Eady-Muxlow
Back Row: Miley Cox & Abby Moelker
Front Row: Gemma Eady-Muxlow & Calista Elmer
The branch awards were held on Saturday, 22 June 2024 at Sporties Tuncurry where one of the function room staff was St Clare’s student, Abby Moelker (Year 9).
Ian Evans
St Clare’s Casual Teacher
Year 7/8 Girls All Schools Touch
Congratulations to our Year 7/8 Girls and Boys Touch Football teams for their impressive showing at the Mid North Coast All Schools Touch Tournament in Port Macquarie. Both teams exhibited exemplary behaviour, strong sportsmanship, and unwavering team spirit throughout the event. Their efforts and representation of our school were nothing short of excellent, and they deserve high praise for their achievements.
St Clare’s Year 7/8 girls kicked off with a strong performance against Great Lakes College. Dominating field position from the start, the girls secured a 3-1 victory, setting a positive tone for the day.
Building on their initial success, St Clare’s faced Camden Haven in the second round. The girls continued their dominant form, winning 4-1, showcasing their excellent teamwork and strategic play.
In the third match, St Clare’s took on Woolgoolga. Despite a tough challenge, the girls emerged victorious with a 2-1 win, maintaining their unbeaten streak and demonstrating their ability to handle pressure.
St Clare’s faced perennial heavyweights MacKillop in the fourth round. The girls tightened up their ball handling and created numerous scoring opportunities, resulting in a hard-fought 2-1 victory. Their strong defensive efforts were crucial in securing the win.
In a nail-biting fifth round, St Clare’s encountered Gloucester. Despite a valiant effort and a closely contested match, the girls narrowly lost 3-4. The game highlighted their fighting spirit and determination.
Qualifying for the semi-finals, St Clare’s went head-to-head with Hastings Secondary College. The girls displayed exceptional skill and teamwork, securing a dominant 5-2 victory and advancing to the grand final.
In a thrilling grand final, St Clare’s faced MacKillop once again. The girls delivered a stellar come from behind performance, winning 4-2 and claiming the championship title. The St Clare’s girls should be proud of their amazing efforts throughout the day and have now qualified for the State Finals to be held in Sydney later in the year. Well done girls!
Back Row (L-R): Calli Hammond, Lanae Rutledge, Eva De Bono, Eva Sansom, Jarrah Ingram & Ruby Marriott
Back Row (L-R): Beth Harris, Brooklyn Williams & Zarlie McDermott
Matthew Collier
Year 7/8 Girls Touch Coordinator
Year 7/8 Boys All Schools Touch
The Year 7/8 Boys tournament began with a challenging opening match against MacKillop College. Despite their best efforts, St Clare’s faced a strong opponent and fell to a 4-0 defeat. This initial setback served as a valuable learning experience for the team.
Bouncing back in the second round, St Clare’s showcased their resilience and skill with an impressive 6-1 victory over Great Lakes College. The team’s coordinated play and strategic manoeuvres were on full display, marking a significant turnaround from their first match.
Building on their momentum, St Clare’s delivered a dominating performance against Heritage Christian School in their third match. With an outstanding 11-4 win, the boys demonstrated their offensive prowess and cohesive teamwork, firmly establishing themselves as strong contenders in the tournament.
Continuing their winning streak, St Clare’s faced Gloucester High School in the fourth round. The boys secured an 8-2 victory, further showcasing their improvement and growing confidence. Their ability to capitalise on scoring opportunities and maintain solid defence was evident throughout the match.
Qualifying for the semi-finals, St Clare’s faced the eventual champions, St Joseph’s Regional College. Despite a valiant effort and matching their opponents early on, the boys were unable to overcome St Joseph’s, resulting in a 3-1 loss.
Back Row (L-R): Jaxon Whyte-Butler, Lachlan Polson, Arlie Atchison, Hamish Anderson, Kobi Egan & Koen Paff
Back Row (L-R): Eli Saville, Ashton Robertson & Finn McNeil
Finally, we want to express our sincere appreciation to Mrs. Parvin, as well as Sara Harris, Pyper Cross, and Hayden Robertson, for their significant contributions as referees. Their commitment, dedication, and support in training, coaching, and assisting our team were essential. Without their exceptional and tireless efforts, events like this would not have been possible.
Matthew Collier
Year 7/8 Boys Touch Coordinator
Year 9/10 Boys All Schools Touch
It was a wonderful day out for the Year 9/10 All Schools Touch Football at Port Macquarie.
The Year 9/10 boys (with some Year 7 and 8 legends filling in) were chomping at the bit to get on the field and show their skills.
The first game started off a bit slowly where they were fortunate to claim victory over Great Lakes College. It was lovely to see the sportsmanship between them and some of their friends who attend Great Lakes.
Their second game was against Woolgoolga and though they were intimidated by the professional warmup displayed by Woolgoolga; they were able to dominate them and render them scoreless by winning 3-0.
Riding high on the tide of victory; they started their second game well to beat Hastings Secondary College by 5-1. Their opposition were much larger in body but not stronger in spirit or touch skill. There were some fine displays of touch football attack and defence. Their final round game was a demolition of St Columba Anglican School with our boys winning 9-1. This put them at the top of their pool which meant they had to play Taree High in the final. Our hopes of victory were crushed as we failed to capitalise on our skill and made some silly errors which proved costly, and we unfortunately lost. With hopes dashed, and some reflections based on the benefit of hindsight, we soldiered on prepared to cheer on the girls in their grand final. However, Taree High decided to leave and relinquish their spot in the grand final; so we volunteered to step in and play St Joseph’s Regional for a shot to head off to Penrith. We tried hard, but the opposition were too strong and we went down by 8-1 in the grand final. I was very proud of the team; they never stopped trying and their display of sportsmanship throughout the games was excellent. Lochie Polson in Year 8 received a Man of the Match Award for the grand final and was presented this by the St Joseph's Regional winning team. We wish them all the best of luck as they progress to the next stage of the competition.
Jane Polson
Year 9/10 Boys Touch Coordinator
Year 9/10 Girls All Schools Touch
The girls had a wonderful day at the All-Schools Touch Tournament in Port Macquarie. We had a very skilled team which was also boosted by some younger Year 7 and 8 girls.
Our first game was against another local school - Manning Valley Anglican College who we were able to defeat 4-1. We made good use of our width and our wingers were able to score some good tries. Our next match was against MacKillop which was a hard tussle. We played hard and defended strongly against some tough competition but were unable to hold our lead and we lost 2-3. The next three games we dominated in attack and defence and there was not a try scored against us. It was a credit to the girls; their sportsmanship and skills made it a joy to watch. They won 7-0 against Hastings Secondary College, 9-0 against Great Lakes and 11-0 against Woolgoolga. This placed us at the top of the table and it was a local derby against Taree High. This game was filled with lots of spirit and fire as all the girls are friends with each other. The game was a display of skill; with some solid defence allowing us to claim victory. It went down to the wire and we all celebrated the win! This placed us into the grand final against Mackillop whom we had already played. We were unable to defeat them; going down 1 -0. It was an amazing day for the girls; they played so well and like a team the entire day which explains why they were so successful. It was a wonderful day out; and I am sure the girls will cherish this day.
Jane Polson
Year 9/10 Girls Touch Coordinator