Balaklava High School Athletics Carnival

On Friday 6^th March, in perfect weather conditions, the 2020 BHS Athletics Carnival was held. This year saw a range of changes implemented to the carnival in order to increase student participation, promote House spirit and utilise the top notch facilities we now have on our school oval.

For the first time in many years, we held the Carnival back on our school oval instead of the oval behind the gym, where we were able to use our brand new sand pit and shot put rings for the first time in competition. Mr Parsons is to be commended on his vision that he turned into a reality through many months of planning during most of 2019 to provide us with an excellent facility for our carnival this year. A big thank you is also needed for Chris Nolan our Groundsman for all of his hard work and many hours of line marking, problem solving and sprinkler maintenance to ensure the track was in perfect condition. Many thanks also to David Pratt who was crucial in getting the oval prepared on the Thursday before the carnival.

The day started early for House Captains who came and decorated their areas in plenty of reds, blues, yellows and greens, and there were even a few Christmas trees in the James House area. Next the Senior Captains were in charge of running their athletes through the House Warm-up which has become a highlight of the day. Events started at 9 am and there was no limit on the number of competitors per house anymore, this meant students rotated through the program of events with their age group and had the opportunity to participate in every event. This was a huge success for student participation numbers with some events having over 20 students compete.

Congratulations to Edwina Marshman and Mel Myers who etched their names into the record books in the 1500m events. Edwina broke the U14 Girls record from 2011 by 9 seconds with her time of 6:16.19 and Mel broke the U16 Girls record from 2012 by 21 seconds with her time of 6:54.00. James House also made history by being the inaugural winner of the BHS Athletics Carnival House Spirit Shield winner and Kelsey Urwin was the inaugural winner of the Plains Producer 100m Handicap Sprint winning a $20 canteen voucher and having her name be the first to be engraved on the perpetual shield. Keith House took out the Championship Cup by 164.4 points, congratulations to Keith and their House Captains who had the largest participation numbers.

Overall, the 2020 Athletics Carnival was a great success with plenty of house spirit, participation, enthusiasm and fun. Thank you to all of the parents and families who came along to support their children, it was great to see so many in attendance. Thank you to Balaklava Primary School for bringing their classes over to watch and see what a high school athletics carnival is like. A huge thank you to all staff taking on official roles to ensure the day ran smoothly and in particular Mr Parsons and Mr Jenner for their tireless efforts in the lead up to the day. We now turn our attention to Interschool Athletics at Burra Community School on Thursday the 19th of March where we have assembled a strong team of 70 athletes to compete against other schools in our zone. 

Age Group Winners

House Spirit Shield

Championship Cup