After a term of learning and practising, the time came to test out the students skills and technique at our Year 3-6 Primary Athletics Carnival. Skippy Park was alive with keen athletes ready for action.
The day began with war cries which rattled the windows of neighbouring houses with the loudest, clearest and most enthusiastic house gaining the 30 points on offer for the win.
The 800m races followed and it was great to see so many students wanting to compete in these races. Jared Moss ran a great race to set a new record of 2.52.02 which shaved just 0.42 second off the old record! Breanna Aldridge finished almost one minute ahead of her closest rival which was a fantastic effort. There were some close finishes as runners used all their energy to pass other competitors before the finish line.
The day continued with five field event rotations including 100m heats and 200m timed finals. It was great to see everyone trying their best at these events and using the techniques they had been learning in their PE lessons.
It is becoming hard to break GCC records as the years pass by but there were four records broken this year by Primary students. Jared Moss set a new record in the 11-year-old boys’ 800m race as previously mentioned, and Ava Scott broke the nine-year-old girls’ discus record. Nine-year-old Ashton van Straten and 11-year-old Max Cashin both had an outstanding day of competition breaking two records each but Jake McGilvray also broke the 11-year-old boys’ 100m record in the heat to claim the title of record holder. Ashton smashed the nine-year-old boys’ high jump record by 13 centimetres and both Max and Ashton broke their 200m records by almost one second.
Year 7, 12-year-old boys Macauly King and Jaiden Ward also broke two records each. Jaiden set new 100m and 200m records and Mac smashed the discus record by seven metres and also broke the shot put record.
Several students ended the day covered in ribbons! Breanna Aldridge won five events and Chelsea Martin won four events. Lily Breen and Ashton van Straten won three events and placed second in at least two other events to become age champions.
Age champions have been decided and will be presented awards at the Sports Awards Evening at the end of the year. Some students placed in every event which was a great effort. We congratulate all the Age Champions who are listed below.
The top placing athletes at this carnival will go on to represent GCC at the Glasshouse District Athletics Carnival to be held in a couple of weeks. Letters will be sent home regarding this.
It was terrific to have so many parents willing to help out at the events which helped to make the carnival keep to time most of the day. We also appreciate having so many family members supporting their own children but also all the other children competing as well. Children demonstrated great sportsmanship at this carnival and there was a lovely atmosphere of competition but also respect and admiration for awesome performances by others. I am sure there were many sore muscles over the weekend too!
It was great to be able to finish with the house relays so that houses could gain those extra house points at the end of the day.
8 – 12 yrs Athletics Age Champions
| 8 year Girls | Mahlia Shiel | Sophie Sharma |
| 8 year Boys | Mathew Balfour | Nate Coumi |
| 9 year Girls | Breeanna Aldridge | |
| 9 year Boys | Ashton van Straten | Micah Constant |
| 10 year Girls | Hannah Gassner | Jasmine Hazelden Sarah Coumi |
| 10 year Boys | Hunter Smith | Ben Ramke Israel Lucas |
| 11 year Girls | Lily Breen | Jesse Drews |
| 11 year Boys | Max Cashin | Jake McGilvray |
| 12 year Girls | Nicole Morris | Chelsea Martin |
| 12 year Boys | Jaiden Ward | Jaymes Roser |
All the photos from the day can be seen here: Primary Athletics Carnival
Wendy Stott