AIC sport in Term 4 includes the hosting of one of the largest events on the calendar – the AIC Track and Field Championships. Joining this traditional event in Term 4 is a weekend of “Invitational” Carnivals showcasing emerging sports in the Association- Esports, Touch Football and Water Polo.
Track and Field
Two days of first-class Track and Field competition concluded with Marist College Ashgrove claiming the coveted Secondary Aggregate Shield for Track and Field for the 10th year in a row. Marist College was also able to claim the “Aggregate Double” by also winning the Primary Aggregate Shield for the fourth year in a row. Highlighting the quality of athlete that competes at the AIC Championships – eight individual and two relay records were broken over two glorious days of competition.
In an overall performance that showed that success at an event like the AIC Track and Field Championships requires a massive team effort- Marist College Ashgrove claimed the Year Level/Age Group trophy in 7 out of the 8 divisions. Villanova were able to prevent Marist College Ashgrove of claiming a clean sweep of the trophies with Villanova claiming the 12 Years division. Marist College Ashgrove’s Director of Track and Field, Mr Richard Graham, was incredibly proud of the achievement of the Ashgrove athletes, not just this year, but also over the last decade.
Behind Marist College Ashgrove there was an incredibly tight competition for the Championship minor places with the scores between the school coming 2nd and those chasing remaining close and changing frequently throughout the carnival. After the final event, Iona were able to claim second place in the Secondary Aggregate Championship, a solitary point in front of St Peters in third place. Padua were able to achieve second place in the Primary Aggregate Championship, with Iona in third.
There were a number of incredible performances throughout the carnival highlighted by the eight individual and two relay records that were set during the competition. In what could be argued easily as the best race of the championship, four students broke the previous 1500m record in the 16 Years event. Congratulations to Harry Luschwitz (2nd- Padua), Zac Milligan (3rd- Marist College Ashgrove) and Bailey Horvath (4th Villanova) who all broke the previous record. Special congratulations to Oscar McKean (St Laurence’s) who is the new AIC record holder with a time of 4:01.21. Oscar now holds the 15 Years and 16 Years AIC 1500m records after a similarly high standard 15 Years 1500m race in 2023.
In August, Terrell Thorne (St Laurence’s) represented Australia at the IAAF U20 World Athletics Championships in the 400m event. Terrell was able to place 7th in the World Championships in Lima, Peru. Anticipation was in the air to see Terrell run at the AIC Championships- the carnival where he commenced his 400m competitive journey and his performance under beautiful blue skies did not disappoint. Terrell ran an amazing time of 47.88 seconds- breaking the previous AIC Championship record by almost 2 seconds. What further makes this record even more of an achievement was the fact that earlier in the day Terrell had also broken the 200m AIC Record (21.64). Then less than a half an hour before his 400m race he secured the win in the 100m event. Winning the sprint treble (100m, 200m, 400m) at Open AIC level is a wonderful achievement- to do so and claim two AIC records makes this achievement incredibly special and rare.
Jalen Taulapiu (Iona) was the second of the multiple record breakers for the carnival. Jalen was able to claim both the 12 Years Shot Put and Discus records. Jalen’s throw in the Discus event of 39.24m broke the previous record by almost 4 metres. Equally as impressive, Jalen’s Shot Put performance of 14.67m was over a metre further than the previous mark. A quick look at the record books shows that Jalen joins a long line of Iona throwers who hold AIC records in the Shot Put and Discus. In fact, Iona College athletes now hold 7 out of the 8 AIC Shot Put records.
Marcus Page (Padua) became the first Year 6 student to go under the 13 second barrier in the 100m at the AIC Championships. Marcus ran the main straight at QSAC in a blistering time of 12.74 seconds- beating the previous record by over a quarter of a second. The AIC Track and Field Championships always delivers quality High Jump performances with two High Jump records being broken this year. Hugo Lockhart (Marist College Ashgrove) broke the Year 6 High Jump record with a leap of 1.52m- breaking the previous record by 1cm. Ashton Samson-Wood (St Laurence’s) jumped impressively in very windy conditions late on Thursday afternoon (Day 1) to break the 13 Years High Jump record. Ashton’s best jump of 1.84m broke the previous record by 8cm.
The 6 x 400m event is one of the most exciting events of the meet. For almost every boy who competes in the event, the AIC Championships is the only event they will get a chance to compete in a 400m relay and the AIC event may be the only 6 x 400m in the country. Padua College has built a tradition of excelling in this event and the 2024 team’s performance further emphasised Padua’s passion for this unique race. After breaking the record in 2023, the Padua team further smashed that mark set 12 months ago, setting a new record of 5:34.26. This was over 4 seconds quicker than 2023.
Marist College Ashgrove’s Year 6 4 x 100m Division 1 relay team was able to put the exclamation mark on the overall Marist College Ashgrove primary school performance by breaking the record in the Year 6 event. The Marist team recorded an impressive time of 52.92 to break the previous mark by almost a second.
To relive the action from the AIC Track and Field Championships- please click on the link below.
AIC Track and Field Championships 2024 Video
Esports
Esports is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. It is a multi-billion dollar industry and is not just for the players but for a variety of roles that are required to ensure the smooth running of any event. These include broadcasting, computer and software engineering and event management. The AIC Esports event showcases all these roles and is a great introduction to the Esports sporting world. The AIC event includes commentary, live video on massive screens and computer networking preparation. The majority of these roles for this event are led by students, supported by staff.
On the ‘playing fields’ it was again a close contest throughout the morning between teams representing 6 schools. Minecraft Education: Capture the Flag was again the platform used for the Esports event. This always ensure an exciting contest, as teams aim to work together to maneuver inside their oppositions base, collect their flag and return to their own base. Just like traditional sport having the best skills and teamwork are the keys to success and the best teams are highly trained at the task. This year Villanova and Padua were able to secure passage through to the final after some intense games throughout the morning including a number where the result was only decided in the final seconds. Congratulations to Villanova who were able to secure the title for a second year in a row.
Touch Football
While Esports was happening, the AIC Touch invitational event was being held at St Laurence’s Runcorn Playing Fields. This is the 4th year the event has been held and it continues to grow each year. The AIC has a number of schools who regularly compete and excel at the various Brisbane and Queensland Primary and Secondary All schools Touch Championships. At the recent Queensland All Schools Touch Championships, Iona College finished runner up in the Open Boys division.
Runcorn was a sea of school colours on Saturday with all 8 member Colleges and AIC Guest College- Ambrose Treacy competing in 4 different divisions- Primary, Year 7, Year 8/9 and Year 10/11. The primary school competition was incredibly close throughout the morning with four different schools qualifying for the semi-finals. St Patrick’s defeated Iona in the first semifinal with St Laurence’s claiming the other semifinal with a win over Marist College Ashgrove. In a very entertaining final, a late St Patrick’s try was able to secure the boys from Shorncliffe the win. The Year 7 final was the closest of the day with a ‘drop-off’ required to determine the winner between St Laurence’s and Iona. Iona scored first in the drop off and was then able to hold off a number of spirited St Laurence’s attacks to claim the title. Villanova claimed the Year 8/9 division with an equally exciting grand final. In a seesawing game where the lead changed multiple times, the game came down to the final play and an excellent touch by a Villanova defender in the corner secured the game for the boys from Coorparoo. The final of the Year 10/11 competition was a rematch between Iona and St Edmund’s- two schools that have regularly met in the final of the AIC Invitational Carnival throughout the years. This year Iona was too strong for St Edmund’s in a game of the very highest standard.
Water Polo
To conclude the trilogy of events for the weekend, the Marist College Ashgrove pool hosted the annual AIC Water Polo invitational event. The number of talented Water Polo players who attend AIC member Colleges is incredible. A large number of Queensland and Australian players were on display during the carnival with some of the skills shown during the day incredible to watch. The AIC Water Polo event highlights the philosophy of the weekend with these skilled players being able to highlight their talents alongside their school mates who might be trying Water Polo for the first time. The games are always played in great spirit between schools and the positive energy around the pool throughout the day was a credit to the “Spirit of AIC”.
In the pool, three divisions were contested- Year 7, Year 8/9 and Year 10/11. The Year 7 final was contested by St Peters and Padua. The boys from Indooroopilly were able to win a very close and entertaining final 7-6. St Laurence’s claimed the Year 8/9 final with a skillful display against St Peters in the final. The St Laurence’s team had won the recent Brisbane All Schools water Polo competition hosted by Water Polo Queensland. In the final of the Year 10/11 boys, Marist College Ashgrove claimed the Water Polo Trophy with an excellent victory against Iona. The Marist College team contained a number of state and national representative players, and their experience was able to gain the ascendency in the final against an Iona side who contested bravely throughout the game.
