The National Open Swimming Championships were held in Adelaide from 18 to 22 May. Somerset College had two students, Milla Jansen and Holly Hembling attend their first National Open Championships and the Somerset Swim Club had six swimmers accompanied by coach Ashely Callus including alumni Carlos Licuanan and Tom Nowakowski qualify and travel to the meet. The Championships is the highest calibre of swimming in Australia and for this meet, doubled as the selection trials for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and also the 2022 World Championships.
Somerset Swim Club swimmers Tom Nowakowski and Grayson Bell had outstanding swims in the 50m Freestyle with Tom winning his first National Title in a time of 21.86sec. Grayson placed second in 22.08sec to complete a perfect result for Somerset with both athletes times under the qualifying time to compete in the Commonwealth Games and World Championships. Both swimmers and coach Ash Callus will travel on the Australian Team to Europe next month. Grayson had a fantastic meet also finishing sixth in the 50m Butterfly and fourth in the 50m Breaststroke as well.
Somerset’s other swimmers swam well with Ethan Banks making a final for the 50m Butterfly finishing 15th and Andrew Newling making a final for the 50m Freestyle finishing in 21st. One of the youngest swimmers at the meet, Holly Hembling (14 years) qualified for a final in the 50m Breaststroke and finished 24th.
Milla Jansen continued her great form this year racing in the highly competitive freestyle events and made finals in the 50m, 100m Freestyle as well as the 100m backstroke. Milla finished seventh in the 50m Freestyle with an outstanding swim as well as placing 20th in both the 100m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke. Milla has been selected onto the Australian Junior Dolphins Team to compete in Hawaii at the Junior Pan Pacific Games in August. This is a great steppingstone for Milla as she continues to improve through the Age group ranks and into the Open category.
Well done to all Somerset’s swimmers and coach Ash on these great results for Somerset and best of luck in the coming months at the Junior Pan Pacific Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships.
See this story in this week's Spartan Stream.
Please help us nurture a love of storytelling by changing children's lives one story at a time...
“A child that learns to love reading and books, becomes better educated, becomes more employable and becomes the next generation of leaders within our community!” - Andrea Lewis, CEO
1 June 2022 - #writeourstory
What and when is Somerset Storyfest’s Giving Day?
Giving day is a 12-hour online fundraising campaign where we will be asking our community to join with us to raise much needed funding to continue our mission to connect children with books and authors. We believe every child deserves the opportunity to fall in love with reading. Your donation will help us take authors and books into schools for disadvantaged children, ultimately making books accessible for everyone.
#writeourstory
How do I make a donation?
Give between 8.00am – 8.00pm on Wednesday 1 June, 2022 and your donation is doubled. Multiple donations throughout the date are welcome.
Where does my donation go?
Your contribution will see our Storyfest On the road programme, visit regional Queensland, taking authors into schools that otherwise would not be able to access these experiences.
What is a matched gift?
Contributions to the Somerset Storyfest Giving Day can be made online, through direct deposit, and via telephone. Every contribution will be matched by very generous donors until 8.00pm on Wednesday 1 June 2022. For example, when you make a gift of $100 one of our matched donors, will also contribute $100 to the campaign.
Does 100% of my donation go toward my cause?
Yes, 100% of your gift will go to the Storyfest Development Fund.
Will my gift be tax deductible?
Donations of $2 or more may be claimed as tax deductions. Online gifts will receive an e-mail confirmation that will serve as your receipt for tax purposes.
Where will the Storyfest Giving Day take place?
We’re thrilled that our presenting partner, Somerset College, are supporting us, you’ll find us in The Great Hall, Somerset College, Somerset Drive, Mudgeeraba. Everyone is welcome to join us, wear a splash of orange or come dressed as your favourite book character!
How can I get involved?
Give a gift! You can share the #writeourstory on your social media channels, create a challenge or become an ambassador to help share Storyfest’s Giving Day. To find out more please visit charidy.com/storyfest
How can I volunteer on the day?
Fill in the volunteer registration form in the top right-hand corner. Our team will then reach out with more information for the day.
“In the theatre we reach out and touch the past through literature, history and memory so that we might receive and relive significant and relevant human qualities in the present and then pass them on to future generations.” - Anne Bogart
An integral part of a Somerset Drama student’s education is to attend professional live theatre productions. It provides them with an opportunity to interrogate the human experience through the lens of differing perspectives, learning, feeling, and developing empathy.
Our Year 12 Drama students were fortunate to attend Medea at HOTA on Thursday, May 26 alongside their teacher, Miss Melinda Green. The Shock Therapy production worked to transform the inherited Euripides text for a modern audience. This production was selected as it aligns with the IA 3 task in the QCE Drama syllabus.
The aim of the excursion was to inspire the students to see the possibilities that exist when creating a contemporary piece of theatre. They will explore the themes evident in their studied Greek Tragedy text, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, through a vision that will strive to be innovative, purposeful and engaging. The next step for IA 3 is the development of a directorial pitch which will then evolve into their final Year 12 Drama performance. We wish our Year 12s well as they embark on this creative journey.
In Term Two, a number of Year 9 students competed in the annual UQ QAMT Problem Solving Competition. The competition was open to all students in secondary schools in Queensland and students completed three competition papers.
Each of the papers was two hours long and consisted of questions that required a solution with mathematical justification. In the UQ QAMT Problem Solving Competition, the problems did not require any greater knowledge than that possessed by our students at Somerset, but required a certain amount of ingenuity and thought.
Congratulations to Year 9 students, Advait Naik and Tarun Mutalithas on achieving a High Commendations in the 2022 UQ QAMT Problem Solving Competition. Their results placed them in the top 10 of the State and demonstrate their passion for mathematics.
Weather called off All APS games in Week 4, except for the Open A Netball team’s Round 3 catch up game, against All Saints Anglican School. The APS game was also the annual clash for the Wallas-Bassingthwaighte Headmasters Trophy.
The contest between the two netball teams has been played annually since 2016 and while won by All Saints that year, Somerset has held it in the trophy cabinet every year since.
Somerset started the game with a new look of combinations taking the court; in the absence of team member Trinity Toia, Atlanta Horan and Rio Burns, all away due to illness.
Elsa Sandholt was the experienced shooter starting the game at Goal Shooter, with youngster and recently selected Queensland player, Marley Burns at Goal Attack. Dynamic middies Charli Pearse and Tahlia Evans strengthened the midcourt with Marika Ransfield, Bayley d’Hotman de Villiers and Ellie Muir completing a very strong defensive end.
Somerset started with a bang leading the game 5 to 1 but quickly unravelled with All Saints disrupting play and scoring a succession of goals to take the lead into the second quarter. It took a while for our girls to settle into the match, with a closely contested first half; it wasn’t until after half time that Somerset finally showed why they have been APS premiers for the past five years.
Shemeah Poloai entered the game making an immediate impact with her speed and determination. The defense and teamwork of captains Ellie and Bayley with Isabella Seymour and Daisy Webber in support were just too good for the opposition.
The final score, 39 to 20 to Somerset.
Congratulations to the team for an impressive performance and for retaining the trophy for the sixth consecutive year.
In this update from Somerset College Rowing we welcome the new quad, 'Jacqui Sina'. We look ahead to the upcoming regatta with rowers set to win the Andrew Butler Tropy and prepare for Trivia Night, Friday June 10.
Term Two began with the arrival of a new quad the ‘Jacqui Sina’, named in honour of Jacqui Sina who has been integral in the development of the Rowing programme for over a decade. As the Administration Assistant of the Activities Department and past parent of a rower, Jacqui is the brains of the programme supporting the week to week logistics, co-ordinating camps and tours and ensuring the smooth running of fundraisers such as Trivia Night on Friday June 10 and the Corporate Rowing Challenge in Term Four. I have no doubt almost all of the Senior School will have had Jacqui assist them in one way or another, being involved in many of the College's activities, and will agree that the honour of having a boat named after her is well deserved.
The ‘Jacqui Sina’ is the fastest boat in the programme and is bringing all the crews some well deserved success. The Year 8 girls Quad won in its first race of the season and set up a great Regatta on May 7. Somerset College went from strength to strength as each crew was able to put in a great performance with Somerset College posting the most points for the Girls crews and coming second in points for the Boys crews. This sets Somerset College up to retain the Andrew Butler Trophy and take home the overall trophy for points at the Trophy Regatta on June 4.
The Trophy Regatta on June 4 at Wyaralong Dam will be Somerset College's chance to show how successful it is amongst its South-East Queensland competitors. Schools from across the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Brisbane and even Stanthorpe will race each other to show how successfully their programmes are developing. As there are points available for 40 Boys and 40 Girls per school, the key is participation. Somerset College will have 60 rowers across the Boys and Girls, so we are keen to see even more rowers get involved and have an athlete competing in every event for points available.
June 10 is the Somerset College Rowing Trivia Night, which the Rowing Committee is proud to host, serving as a key fundraiser for the programme. Test your general knowledge, win some prizes for dressing up and snag a bargain or rare experience in the auction. It is always a great night to celebrate as a school community and all eyes are on seeing if any team can beat the Teachers, who were last year's Trivia Champions.
The Annual APS Cross Country Championships was this year held at All Saints Anglican School on a beautiful autumn day. The Somerset Spartan’s performed extremely well during an exceptionally busy Term Two producing some all round outstanding Team and Individual performances. Somerset placed fourth overall in the Seniors and fifth overall in the Juniors, however the standout team performances were from the Senior Boys who won the overall Boys Team Flag with 1060 points and the 15 Years Boys who won their Age division.
Our Junior Team had a busy morning out on the muddy course after the endless rain and our 9 Years Girls team finished in second place; our 9 Years Boys finished in third place; and our 11 Years Girls finished in third place. Age medals from some excellent running for – Luella Zerbst second place (10yrs); Edward Hassett third place (10yrs); and Jacob Moir second place (12yrs). There was also some impressive running to qualify for South Coast regionals (all Top 7 performances) from Ivy McKenna fifth place (9yrs) and Ella Carson fourth place (11yrs).
Our Senior Team rolled in late morning to tackle the even muddier course after the Juniors wore the course out for them. Fortunately, the sun was shining, and fun was had by all. Our Girls team finished a very credible fourth place overall. Every single Boys team finished in the Top 3 which was an amazing achievement.
Following these all the Top 7 performances qualified for the South Coast Regional Championships to be held at Rivermount College on Tuesday 7 June.
To win a medal at the APS Cross Country is an amazing achievement and winning the title in your age division deserves some special attention. Aspen Anderson (1st place, 16yrs Girls) continues her dominance at all levels of both Cross Country and Track running at this level right through to Queensland State level. She works very hard on improving her performances at training and is a credit to herself and Somerset College. Zac Moir (1st place, 14yrs Boys) is a quiet achiever and turns up to everyone of his competitions ready to compete fiercely. When the pressure is on, he really rises to the occasion. Congratulations to Aspen and Zac and to all our wonderful Spartan Cross Country Team who strive to be better every day.
This week Starkey House blitzed the Laver team to win the 2022 Boys Grand Final of the Inter-House Tennis. The ‘Reds’ - Paxton Ryan and Julian Kelly Correa - defeated the Laver team of Byron Clark and Bertrand Omenka 3 to 1. The score does not indicate the excellent tennis and number of rallies enjoyed by the large group of supporters at the match. It should be noted that Byron and Bertrand are in Year 5, so watch out 2023!
On the second court the Bronze medal match was played. Andrews – Tiago Basile and James Chirathivat-Geralds - defeated the Laver team of Liam Hartley and Captain Ben Sharpe in an absolute nailbiter 3 to 2.
The Inter-House Tennis competition is a great way for students in Years 4, 5 and 6 to develop some House spirit by being involved in a fun activity and to watch others ‘do their stuff’. School is not only about the classroom. Thank you to ALL students who enthusiastically and bravely joined the competition.
The Inter-House Tennis Trophy is an old 1960s heavy Dunlop tennis racquet in its wooden, bolted frame – to stop the warp in wet weather. (We kept that frame on in the wettest season ever). The students also now appreciate their own racquets a whole lot more!
Thank you to the parents, grandparents and students who came to watch. That was awesome! Paxton can have the final word, "The tournament was awesome and it was great to have so much fun playing with Jules. We are proud to be winners. Go Starkey!
"Congratulations to the Laver team on a great match and thank you to Ms George and Lachie for putting it on for us."
Somerset Netballers were well represented at the Queensland School Sport Netball Championships held in Toowoomba recently.
Somerset College elite netballers Bayley d'Hotman de Villiers, and Elsa Sandholt (U19), Marley and Rio Burns and Ariana Ransfield (U15) represented their South Coast teams in the QLD School Sport Netball Championships in Toowoomba last week.
Both South Coast teams were dominant and very impressive in their games, winning both the U19 and U15 State titles respectively.
Marley and Rio Burns were recognised and rewarded for their outstanding performances at the tournament being selected for Possibles and Probables.
Marley was named in the Queensland team and Rio as training partner.
Marley will travel to Nationals in Canberra with the QLD team in July.
Huge congratulations girls!
Unfortunately due to Hart Sapphire Series commitments Bayley and Elsa could not attend Possibles and Probables making them ineligible for Queensland selection.
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