From September 24-30, 34 students represented JCU at UniSport Nationals that was held in Perth. It was the first time since 2019 this event has been held due to COVID-19 with 5,000 students from across 40 universities/institutions competing across 30 sports.
JCU had one of their most successful Nationals in recent years finishing 16th overall on the Overall Champion Pennant Tally claiming a Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals.
Here is a Summary of how JCU went:
Beach Volleyball
JCU had representation in both women’s pairs and men’s pair beach volleyball. Both teams played outstanding throughout the competition.
The women’s pairs consisting of Shannon Wong & Irish Espanola claimed the Gold Medal for JCU beating the University of Western Australia in the Gold Medal Match. The women’s side went through the pool rounds undefeated which saw them go through to the second round in a round-robin matchup against the top two sides from each pool. JCU were able to win 2 of the 3 matches to finish second which earned them a spot in the Gold Medal Match. The performance from JCU was outstanding considering Shannon and Irish lost to the University of Western Australia in the second round.
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Meanwhile in the men’s pairs competition, the JCU team consisting of Luke Calleja and Benson Emery had an outstanding competition finishing fourth. Like the women, the men’s pairs team went undefeated in group stages to progress through to the Quarters Finals where they defeated Edith Cowan University 2 sets to 1. However in the semi-finals, JCU went down to Curtin University in straight sets (who would go onto win Gold in the competition). This meant that JCU were competing for the Bronze Medal against Griffith University. Unfortunately, Griffith University were too strong for JCU beating them in straight sets. However despite going down in the Bronze Medal match, JCU are proud of Luke and Benson’s performances.
Rugby 7s
It was a fantastic week for our women’s rugby 7s side as they came away with a silver medal.
In the pool stages, JCU won 2 out of 4 matches to finish third in the group. This then set up a semi-final clash with Charles Sturt University who they lost to in the pool rounds. The semi-final was a thrilling encounter as the scores were locked at 10-all going into extra time. On the last play, Lucy Lloyd-Morgan ran 80m down the sideline to score in the corner to claim a spot in the Gold Medal match against the University of Sydney.
It was an exciting match however the University of Sydney were too strong for JCU with the final score 24-12.
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Netball
JCU were able to claim a bronze medal in the Division 2 competition of netball. Our women were able to progress through to the second round after finishing third in their group. In the round of 16, JCU came up against the University of Melbourne going down to the team who would go onto claim the Gold Medal at Division 1. This then sent JCU down to the Division 2 competition. After a loss in the Semi-Final to Federation University, JCU went up against the University of Wollongong in the Bronze Medal match. It was a tight and thrilling encounter with both sides deserving of the medal however JCU were able to hold onto their lead for the entire match with the final score 61-58.
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Fencing
For the first time since 2015, JCU had a representative in the Fencing competition. Adam Reynolds competed across both the Foil and Epee competitions. In the Foil competition, Adam was able to finish top of his group after winning 4 out of 5 matches earning the 5th seed. This meant that Adam progressed straight to the round of 16 clash where he was able to defeat his opponent. In the quarter finals, Adam went up against Aron Thian. Adam did put up a great fight however Aron was too strong winning 15-7. Aron would go onto win the Foil competition at UniSport Nationals.
In the Epee competition, Adam would go onto win 5 out of 7 bouts in the pool stages to earn the 8th seed. Once again Adam was able to automatically progress through to the round of 16. However Adam went down to his opponent George Dale. Adam had a terrific competition for JCU.
Basketball
Our men’s basketball team did have a tough start in their pool going down to Western Sydney University, Curtin University and Macquarie University. This meant that JCU went into the Division 2 competition. After losing to the University of New South Wales, JCU were able to claim their first win against the University of New England before finishing on a high note defeating Southern Cross University to finish 19th in the competition.
Swimming
This year we had one swimmer compete at Nationals with Anthony Reppel. Across three days, Anthony competed across 5 events including 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle (33rd), 50m butterfly, 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke.
Anthony had a great swim meet as he swam a personal best in three of the events as he just missed the final for the 50m backstroke (13th) and 100m backstroke (12th).
A fantastic performance from Anthony for someone who was competing in his first official competition since 2019.
Big congratulations to all of our students who competed.
For all the results, click on the following:
Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Netball & Rugby 7s - HERE
Fencing - HERE
Swimming - HERE