1997 School Magazine

@iris @rammar ~c!)ool :I/Jrisbane 1997 ---------•

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~ QGSSSA -Sport

C ompetitive sport has been an integral part of Brisbane Girls Grammar School since the 19 th century. As early as 1885, prizes were awarded for Gymnastics, and Miss Beanland's first prize for Tennis was awarded in 1888. Swimming champi- ons were first recorded in 1890 at the school, with interschool swimming making its debut in 1904. It is well documented that Brisbane Girls Grammar students played cricket against All Hallows at Albion Park in 1896 with the centenary being celebrated last year at Victoria Park fields, Gilchrist Avenue . In 1997, the spo1ting program included 17 competitive sports involving 1,475 competitors and was assisted by 92 coaches and 17 co-ordinators. The number of competitive teams in the last three years has increased from 100 to 120 due to increased involvement in both QGSSSA and Club competition. The school competes in three sporting arenas. The QGSSSA, which includes ten independent schools in South East Queens- land, QSSSC which includes all State Secondary Schools in Queensland, and the Brisbane Club scene . The school has sought these other associations to widen the competitive opportunities for the students, as the QGSSSA, although the oldest seconda1y sports association in Queensland, does not provide extensive competition due to the imbalance of numbers in the various member schools. For the second year, the QGSSSA has awarded overall pennants for its eleven sports . This year we have not dominated as we did in 1996; however, the school was successful in winning the overall pennant in Swimming, Cross Country, Artistic Gymnastics , Volleyball , Athletics and Rhythmic Gym- nastics. The 1997 SOFTBALL season was yet another impressive start to our sporting year. Continuing the tradition from previ- ous years, the B Grade team remained undefeated premiers, and the A Grade team came third by only one poi,nt to joint winners BSHS and IGGS. B~th teams exhibited great skill, spirit and softball acumen on the field; fun and humour off the field. The competition was highly competitive and tough, resulting in very tight games such as the A Grade 's one all draw with Moreton Bay College, while seesawing to the other extreme where our BGrade had a 40 to nil win . It was not only the EGGS

players who showed great sportsmanship, win, draw or lose, but also players from all schools. Every member of the A Grade team contributed to its great success . We could not have won without our rookie pitcher- catcher combination of Naomi Hands and Kylie O'Sullivan. This pair of grade tens were not once relieved from their fielding positions and thus carried a heavy responsibility. Impressive fielding was also demonstrated by Debbie Lauritz, Natalie Perkins and Alexi Drennan, who caught, dived, ran down or stopped eve1y ball in their reach. The play of the season saw Kate Lennox turn a safe hit into an out at first base with an awesome throw from centrefield. The team also displayed outstanding batting with Kate Lennox achieving both the highest batting average of .379 and the highest RBIs (runs batted in) of 15, SharonWouda, .375 and rookie Jane Morgan, .352 followed with impressive averages. If the team was down, every player would contribute her utmost effort. It was through sheer determination and team spirit that many of our games were won . The B Grade team definitely had tremendous depth and talent, and for the first time, were coached solely by Katie Hansen. Throughout the season, the team scored 187 runs and had only 35 runs scored against them. Jo Little, ClaireMorgan and Jackie Scales, to name a few, batted exceptionally well, contributing greatly to the overall season total. The team's great batting performances were consolidated on the field . Fiona Manning having batted most home runs, pitched consistently for the team, achieving a useful 8 strikeouts. All team members performed outstandingly. Their commendable results were an indication of their effort. Saturday, March 22 1997 marks the beginning of what is to become the 'era' of EGGS SWIMMING. The 66th annual QGSSSA Swimming Competition was won for the second consecutive year by the Brisbane Girls Grammar School Swim- ming Team. It was the first time in the Grammar Swimming history that we retained the Mollie Gould Cup. Before the action of the lead-up carnivals began, the BGGS Swim Team members committed themselves to hours, days and months of intense endurance and speed training. Under the highly skilled eye of Coach GrahamWhite, the team developed into fit, strong and healthy athletes eager to taste victory. At several of the lead-up carnivals, including those at the new Somerville House Aquatic Centre , St Hilda's, Southport and Fairholme College,Toowoomba, our team performed outstand- ingly. After these Carnivals, it was becoming exceedingly obvious that the 1997 EGGS Swim Team was one to be reckoned with . BGGS clinched a convincing victory by 70 points - BGGS on 502.5 points and Somerville House second with 432.5 points. We showed our prowess with 28 placings out of a total of 45 - 11 of these being first places. Special congratulations must go to: Danica Burns, Morgan Grainger, Courtney Gumbley,

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