Student athletes at Matthew Flinders Anglican College have been busy over the summer holidays and in recent weeks, training for and competing in major events to set themselves up for an exciting year of sports development in 2022.
Director of the Flinders Elite Athlete Program (FEAP) Ms Lauren Nourse congratulated the FEAP students and all students at Flinders for their efforts, noting that many had secured representative positions and places in key upcoming competitions.
FEAP is in its second year and supports 27 Flinders students across many different sports in 2022, with applications ongoing.
The exciting program provides an inspiring and nurturing environment where elite athletes can learn the skills, strategies and mindset to achieve their personal best in their sporting and academic pursuits. Students benefit from the support of program ambassadors, mentors and high performance specialists.
For the latest updates, visit the Flinders Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn or the College portal MyFlinders.
Tom Fabiani (Year 11, Surf Lifesaving)
Tom competed in the Summer of Surf Hayden Kenny Classic and made the final of both the U17 Ironman and Board events. He also competed in the Queensland State Boardriders and finished with an impressive Silver medal in the U17 Male Short Board. (The cover photos features FEAP students Henry Simpson, left, and Tom Fabiani competing in the 2022 U15 Surf Rescue Gold)
Rosie McMahon (Year 9, Cricket, Futsal and Soccer)
Rosie played in the Coastal Burners U15 team at the QLD Cricket State Championships, finishing second overall. The team performed admirably with an undefeated tournament with two draws, including the final. Rosie has also been selected in the Queensland U13 Futsal squad and is preparing for final selections prior to preparing for the Nationals in April. Rosie is also part of the U14 QAS football team for 2022.
Georgia Edwards (Year 8, Swimming)
Congratulations to Georgia for her excellent results at the Queensland Long Course Swimming Championships. Georgia finished 3rd in the 100m breaststroke, 3rd in the 50m breaststroke, 4th in the 200m breaststroke, 14th in 100m freestyle and 16th in the 100m backstroke.
Josh Fabiani (Year 12, Athletics)
Josh is in a tough training phase in his preparation for the State Athletics Championships in March, followed by the Nationals in April.
Callum Simpson (Year 9, Swimming)
Callum competed at the Queensland Long Course Swim Championships and finished with an extremely impressive 8 Gold medals, winning the 50m free, 100m free, 200m free, 400m free, 50m fly, 100m fly, 50m back, 100m back. Cal also made 5 Open age men's finals and set 8 new personal bests at the event. Amazing effort! He is now busy preparing for Age Nationals in Adelaide in April.
Claudia Barry (Year 9, Basketball)
Claudia was named in the U15 Queensland Emerging Basketball team. Unfortunately, due to COVID, the Nationals competition was cancelled, however, she was involved in matches against the Queensland North team in the holidays as a highly contributing starting-five player.
Henry Simpson (Year 11, Water Polo, Surf Lifesaving)
Henry has had a very busy holiday break, competing at the National Water Polo Championships as well as many surf carnivals in his much-loved ironman competition. On top of this, he continues to train and compete in open water competitions. A great effort to finish in the final of three ironman races with a 3rd place in Tugun, 12th place in Bilinga and 6th at the recent Maroochydore Classic. Henry is now preparing for upcoming State and National events.
Sienna Carter (Year 8, Running and Swimming)
Sienna recently competed in the branch carnival and placed 1st in the Cameron, 2km beach run and 2 x 1km relay. She also placed 2nd place in the all-age, U13 relay, U13 mixed relay and 3rd in the U14 mixed relay. A huge effort, well done Sienna
Darcy Evans (Year 9, Athletics)
Darcy is one of our very busy athletes who is juggling many sports, a brief summary of these achievements over the past months include Queensland Force Oztag Merit team, the Golden Boot winner for the Sunshine Coast Junior Female Soccer player, Buderim Wanderers U14 Player of the Year and represented Queensland in the hurdles and 100m at the Australian titles in Sydney. Amazing efforts, Darcy!
Yasmin Mayall (Year 11, Netball)
Yasmin was this week named in the Queensland U17 Netball squad of 16! This is a great achievement for Yasmin after a busy few weeks giving her best at training camps. She will join the squad in preparing for Nationals in the April school holidays.
Grace Dixon (Year 12, Hockey)
Grace has been named in the Queensland U18 Women's Hockey team this week! Grace will be busy preparing with the squad for Nationals in Cairns in the April school holidays. An exciting opportunity for Grace and we support her as she strives to give her best.
Claire McCulloch (Year 10, Water Polo)
In early December 2021, Claire competed in the 2021 Water Polo Queensland Junior Countries (Club) with the U16 Girls water polo team, which included three Flinders students. The team secured first place! Claire also competed with one Flinders student in the Under 18 Girls team and achieved second place. Claire was named the Most Valuable Player of the U16s tournament. And in early January, Claire competed in the 2022 Water Polo Australia Summer Slam (Nationals) with her Under 16 Queensland Maroon Girls team coming second place, undefeated until the grand final. Claire’s individual achievement was as a ‘Top 10 Scorer’ at the competition.
Tom Cain (Year 12, Cricket)
Tom was voted in the Top 100 first-grade batsmen in Queensland in the Courier Mail's story on 3 December, 2021. The story noted, "A very talented young player who is starting to find his feet in the competition. He’s been able to show promising signs at the crease this season and looks to be destined for higher representative honours."
For more news on our Flinders Elite Athlete Program, please visit the FEAP page here.
Image caption: (L-R) FEAP students Henry Simpson and Tom Fabiani compete in the 2022 U15 Surf Rescue Gold
