Top Logan School Sport Achievers Revealed for 2024
How’s this for a list of 60 high achieving sports secondary school students from the sporting mecca of Logan City? Full story here.
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How’s this for a list of 60 sporting high achievers from secondary schools in the sporting mecca of Logan City?
We have scoured team sheets and representative teams and haev come up with the following list, although there are some of course we would have missed.
LOGAN CITY HIGH SCHOOL SPORTING HIGH ACHIEVERS
JOHN PAUL COLLEGE
Jack Mollee (Ice Hockey)
An under 18 Ice Hockey World Championship representative, Mollee has been an integral player and leader within Queensland junior ice hockey teams since 2019.
Mollee has had the honour of playing for Australia after being chosen to represent his nation at the Under 18 Ice Hockey World Championships in Spain.
RELATED LINKS
TOP BRISBANE WEST SCHOOL SPORT ACHIEVERS
TOP BRISBANE EAST AND BAYSIDE SCHOOL SPORT ACHIEVERS
TOP BRISBANE SOUTH WEST AND IPSWICH ACHIEVERS
TOP BRISBANE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL SPORTING ACHIEVERS
The team competed in the Division II Group B tournament against Bulgaria, China, Israel, Chinese Taipei and the host nation, Spain. Jack also competes for the Sun Devils in the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League, a national league open to players up to 20 years of age. In TAS sport, Mollee represented JPC in football and cross country.
Padraig Heffernan (cross country)
A World Athletics Cross Country Championships representative, it has all fallen into place for Hefferman after years of dedication and sacrifice.
The talented Year 12 athlete achieved his dream of national selection, representing Australia at 2024 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Belgrade.
He competed in the under-20 Men’s 8km event.
Some other notable achievements include:
+ Australian Cross Country Championships (August 2023) where Heffernan claimed a silver medal in the 17 years men’s 6km event
+ Queensland All Schools Athletics Championships (November 2023), snaring gold in the under-18 3000m and silver in the under-18 2000m steeplechase
+ Queensland School Sport Track and Field Championships (October 2023) gold medal in the 17 years 2000m steeplechase silver in the 1500m, bronze in the 3000m
Seungmin (Min) Oh (Swimming)
JPC had a quicksilver swimmer in their ranks, young gun Seungmin (Min) Oh, a breathtaking breaststroke performer who realised his potential at the Australian Age Swimming Championships in April this year.
Seungmin (Min) Oh snared gold in the 15 years boys 100m breaststroke, silver in the 50m breaststroke, bronze in the 200m breaststroke and bronze in the 4x50m medley relay at that breakthrough event.
Ashton Hercules-Kron (Athletics)
Ashton Hercules-Kron, Year 11, continues to raise the bar in the track and field arena, with this natural athlete enjoying a rapid trajectory of improvement as a high jumper.
At last December’s Australian All Schools Athletics Championships, the then Year 10 student snared third place in the under-16 high jump. He leapt 1.91m.
This was after a PB effort at the Queensland All Schools Athletics Championships which saw him soar to a high of 1.95m.
Taylor Goodwin (Athletics)
Image courtesy of davidpearceproductions
A TAS Athletics whiz, Taylor Goodwin also had a day out at the Australian Athletics Championships earlier this year where he took plenty of silverware home.
He snared gold in the Under-18s 800m, silver in the 1500m, bronze in the 4x400m relay and is no stranger to podium finishes.
He is one of TAS’ most prolific middle distance and cross country runners.
Kingbenjamin Swerling-Finaipepe (Rugby)
A tighthead prop with the ball skills of an inside back, Year 12 big man Kingbenjamin Swerling-Finaipepe contested the Australian Schools Rugby Championships for the Queensland I side on the Sunshine Coast.
The utility forward has made News Corp’s TAS First XV schoolboy rugby Team of the Season the last two years and has the foundation to be a very, very good club rugby player when he graduates at the end of this year.
TRINITY COLLEGE BEENLEIGH
TESS HANNIGAN (Cross Country and Athletics)
Hannigan is an athletic marvel who represented Queensland’s team at the Australian Championships after her second place effort in the under-20 steeplechase at the Queensland track and field championships.
A big hearted performance, the Trinity College student was second in cross country last year at the Queensland Schools championships in cross country, and first in the cross country relay team.
She was also a state representative at the National Cross Country Championships, finishing second and then first in the relay.
Tess was also the 2023 2000m national steeplechase champion.
JOSHUA SIPPLE ASHER (Athletics)
A Year 9 student, Joshua was the 2023 under-15 state champion in shot put, discus and javelin, as well as the Queensland All Schools State Champion for shot and discus, among many other achievements.
EMILY HOLMES (Swimming)
What a swimmer this young woman is, an elite athlete who swept to third place in the backstroke at the Australian All Ages Swimming Championships after smashing medal winning performances at the state titles in the 200m backstroke, 100m backstroke and the 200m butterfly at 2024 School Sport Australia State Championships.
This followed her fantastic form in 2023 when she was the state 200m backstroke and 50m Freestyle state short course champion, and a gold medal winner (1500m) at the All Age Nationals as well as being a bronze medallist in the 400 IM last year.
She was also a state champion last year and was promoted into the Queensland talent squad.
MIA PLUCKNETT (Equestrian)
Pluncknett is a wonderful talent who this year earned a place in the Queensland Grand Nationals side.
Her bumper 2024 also included a Champion Owner/Rider Student Category winner at the 2024 Grand Nationals, first place in the Student Category at the hotly contested Hunter Galloway Trophy Sydney Royal Easter Show 2024 and also a qualifying performance for the
2025 Grand National Team.
All this after an outstanding 2024 which saw her:
+ named Champion Student Hunter Galloway of the Year
+ announced as the Equestrian Queensland Student Horse and Rider of the Year
+ selected in the Queensland team to compete at the national championships
+ earn first place at the Australian Stock Horse Brisbane Exhibition
+ named best Junior Rider Royal Brisbane Show
ISABELLA METEKINGI (Softball and hockey)
A year 9 student, Metekingi made the 2022 Queensland schoolgirls softball team and the 2023 Queensland Country Softball (under-14s) before progressing to the 2024 Queensland under-16 team.
TAYLOR GARSIDE (Hockey)
South Coast region school sport hockey team representative for the past three years, she has been a back-to-back selection in the Queensland School Sport Hockey teams of 2023 and 2024.
BARBARA MOCKA (Tennis)
Mocka has the winning touch, last year winning the Rod Laver Junior Qld State Championships doubles and later finished in the final of the Qld State Masters Championships.
A South Coast School Sport Team sport representative, she is the 2024 Study and Play USA tournament singles and doubles champion and also the Brisbane Lawn Tennis Association under-16 doubles champion.
SUMMA PONT (rugby league referee)
Rugby league would not exist with our people like Pont blowing the whistle. She is highly thought of, a person who trains with the NRLW referees and who gained experience in the
Harvey Norman Women’s championships. She has been a match official at both the Queensland schoolboys and at the Queensland Murri carnival.
WINDAROO VALLEY SHS
Maddelyn Marston (Windaroo Valley SHS)
Martson broke through with two dramatic medal winning performances at the Oceania Games in what was her first international competition in Fiji during June.
Marston won a gold in the 4x100m relay and silver in the 400m.
A Windaroo Valley SHS student up until the end of term 1 this year, she launched into the track and field and cross country aged 10 as both a little athlete and park run exponent.
A big moment came in 2022 when she finished third in the gruelling 2000m steeplechase in her age group at the Australian track and field championships.
This year she rose to win the 400m under 18 hurdles at the nationals with a personal best performance, leading to selection at the Oceania Games in Fiji.
SPRINGWOOD SHS
Lillie Thirkill (Australian football)
Springwood SHS’s AFL QLD School of Excellence Program is starting to become a nursery for AFL players in the Logan area with several in the under-15 Development Squads for the Lions and Suns.
One of them is Springwood SHS’s Lillie Thirkill, who was invited into the Lions Under-16s Development Squad last year after a cracking season where she won the State Championships with the Met East representative team.
Indeed the 16-year-old Sherwood Magpies Under-17s Division I heavy lifter is playing her way toward the Lions Under-18s squad.
CALVARY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
Charlotte Snelling (triathlon)
Snelling’s rousing, big hearted performances earned her selection in the Queensland Representative School Sport Triathlon and Aquathlon Team.
CHISHOLM CATHOLIC COLLEGE
Bailey Burrows (Australian football)
A promising young talent in Year 12, Burrows is a Gold Coast Suns Academy player who has been leading the charge in the midfield for the Redland Victoria Point QAFL Colts team.
Despite still being in school, he backed up a bumper 2023 season which saw him contest the AFL National Championships for the Suns with a terrific Colts campaign as captain of his team. His local club is Redland-Victoria Point.
Leo Gallagher (Waterpolo)
A gun in the pool, Gallagher is being groomed for higher honours having represented Queensland on a tour of New Zealand just last month.
One of the babies in the Queensland Thunder’s Mens team, the Carina Warriors rising star has always mixed it with older players such was his incredible ability.
He is an Australian Under-18s squad selection hoping to develop his craft further at College in America.
Kasey Brown (Netball)
A training partner for the Brisbane South Wildcats Under-17s netball side, Brown is flying the flag for Chisholm Catholic College when it comes to sporting high achievers.
The netball ace trains three times a week in the high-octane Ruby Series environment.
On top of her representative training, Brown also plays club netball and is a livewire on the touch field, having made the All Schools Touch team.
FLAGSTONE STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Reggan Blake (Rugby league)
The Flagstone State Community College Year 10 has inked an Academy contract with the Melbourne Storm which came on the back of his consistently good performances in club land, and for the Queensland Murri Under-14s boys side.
The Elevate Sports Management talent can be seen running in tries against his schoolmates at lunch break and in the 13-a-side game, he plays wing where the tall, rangy youngster excels.
CALVARY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
Charlotte Snelling (triathlon)
Snelling’s rousing, big hearted performances earned her selection in the Queensland Representative School Sport Triathlon and Aquathlon Team.
MABEL PARK SHS
Nazlyn Waaka-Rhind
A Canterbury Bulldogs academy member, Nazlyn Waaka-Rhind is originally from the Wavell SHS community from which she was named in the under-15 Queensland merit side in 2021.
She hailed from New Zealand where her junior club was Otahuhu, but upon moving to Brisbane her ground came courtesy of Aspley. She has been making representative teams in SEQ since reaching Met North standard at under-12 level.
Armarni-Lea Auvae (Mabel Park SHS)
The schoolgirls international plays prop but has the skills to fill No. 13 or second row. Auvae is dominant with one-on-one contact in both attack and defence and will be a real handful for the opposition.
Alice Shannon (Mabel Park SHS)
A powerhouse for both Australian and Queensland schoolgirls teams, Shannon prop forward player was as good as any of her peers. An admirer of Broncos and New Zealand player
Amber Hall, she plays every match with pride knowing her parents “sacrificed everything for me to chase my dreams’’.
Amanii Misa (Mabel Park SHS)
A Waterford Demons junior, the super strong Misa grew up admiring New Zealand seven-a-side sensation Gayle Broughton. She has been a big part of the successful Mabel Park SHS schoolgirls program. She made the Australian schoolgirls league side.
Danielle Tutakangahau (Mabel Park SHS)
She is a halfback or can play hooker who represented the Queensland schoolgirls last month.
The Mabel Park SHS’s National Schoolgirls premiership winner, Tutakangahau also has a great kicking game. She is an elite player who can control a game as well as any of her peers.
Harlem Walker (Mabel Park SHS)
An Aspley junior who now plays club at Pine Central Holy Spirit Hornets, second rower Walker is a part of the powerhouse Mabel Park SHS rugby league program. She can also play No. 13 or prop and represent Queensland schoolgirls.
Elijah Keung (Mabel Park SHS)
Keung has been the discovery player of the season after making our News Corp Meninga Cup Team of the Season, and then firing on all cylinders for Mabel Park SHS.
He then progressed into the 16-18 years Queensland schoolboys side.
Mariah Brown (Mabel Park SHS)
Brown was a part of the Queensland under-19 State of Origin side where she played centre and last week played for the Queensland schoolgirls side. A member of the historic 2022 Queensland schoolgirls representative side and the first ever Queensland under-15 team, she can also switch to five-eight. She is the real deal.
PARKLANDS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
Luke Unwin (Athletics)
A top notch middle distance runner who was the 2023 Australian Age Group Champion for the 800m and who went on to qualify for national championships in the 400m, 800m and 1500m.
Justin Hunt (boxing)
Light in his feet and quick with his fists, Hunt was selected to join the Queensland Academy of Sport and Boxing Australia in the You For 2032 program, such is his promise.
Marlon Moses, Brandon Bainbridge, Hudson Spears, Charlotte Tam, Mia Bobermien (Swimming)
Parklands were blessed with an array of outstanding young swimmers who excel in the water.
Mose was a Met West representative who competed at the state championships, while Bainbridge rose to regional level and state level - breaking all school records along the way.
The quietly spoken Hudson was an assassin in the pool who swam for Met West at the regional trials in March while Tam had the distinction of representing Queensland at the national championships.
Bobermien has been progressing rapidly, zooming past Met West to qualify for state title events as well.
Sienna Leathley (Netball)
Leathley is a great team player and all-round sports woman who represented Met West at the State netball championships earlier in the year - and then earned selection in the Queensland team. What a talent.
Lachlan Mane (AFL and athletics)
Mane is a sporting dual threat who, in footy, represents Met West, while in athletics he represents Queensland via his sizzling 800m performances. He has plenty of run in his legs, no matter the sport.
Connor Irwin (Athletics)
Irwin is top of the pops when it comes to triple jump, finishing with a silver medal at the state athletics championship. But he performed strongly in all of his events.
MARSDEN SHS
Hayden Watson (rugby league, touch)
Watson made the City under-17 rugby league side, and then progressed to make the Queensland schoolboys 16-18 years rugby league team. He was also named in the 16-18 Years Boys Queensland Representative School Sport Touch Football Team.
Lui Lee (rugby league)
Lee was named in both the Queensland schoolboy rugby league team and also the 16-18 Years Boys Queensland Representative School Sport Touch Football Team.
Janique Mili (Marsden SHS)
A wonderful natural athlete, Mili is a fullback or winger of PNG descent who has played Queensland schoolgirls in two successive seasons. She is a flair player with natural speed and anticipation.
Lilianah Lewis (Marsden SHS)
The young general played for the Queensland 15-16 years schoolgirls. Lewis has an understanding of the game which is inherited, something which cannot be coached.
A member of last season’s Queensland schoolgirls team, she will be that little more advanced both physically and mentally for her second stint at the championships.
Leilani Taofinu’u (Marsden SHS)
As mentioned earlier, Leilani is an outstanding centre prospect who can hit a hole better than any of her peers in this age group. A Future Titans squad member, Taofinu’u will give her halves a running option on the left side of the field. She was also a terrific defender.
Evelyn Roberts (Marsden SHS)
A whiz kid from New Zealand, Roberts made an impact playing Lisa Fiaola Cup under-16s when she was named player of finals as Canterbury surged to a premiership win in the NSWRL pathways competition.
Star Arthur-Clarke (Marsden SHS)
A striking talent from that hot bed of rugby league talent, Marsden SHS, Arthur-Clarke played for the Queensland schoolgirls side, giving them plenty of thrust on the edge.
Enah Desic (Marsden SHS)
Queensland schoolgirls had a grand dummy half in Desic, a Warrigal Road SS alumni who had a mighty club season for the Brisbane Tigers earlier in the season. A goal kicker, she has a clever running game when needed but importantly has bedded down her service from the ruck.
Luisa Olomalii (Marsden SHS)
Emerging Marsden SHS middle forward Luisa Olomalii was a metre-eating prop that moved mountains for her brave Redcliffe Dolphins Under-17s side earlier this year.
Alongside eyes up sister Raewyn, a hooker, the Olomalii’s were central to the Dolphins’ attack where Luisa’s hard carries laid a brilliant platform for Raewyn to distribute or go herself.
Diezel Guilonta (Marsden SHS)
Queensland’s 14-15 years edge forward depth is evident with Guilonta holding down an interchange berth. He is a great team man, a selfless kid who, when he makes it onto the field, will be aggressive and tough. He is also a good communicator.
Maquis Sando (Marsden SHS)
A recent selection in the under 15s Māori team, he is a mobile No. 13 who rose to the occasion at the league championships to make the Queensland 14-15 years schoolboy side. He is from the Logan Brothers nursery.
SJ Pulepule (Marsden SHS)
A big boy, Pulepule has plenty of bruising, bustling charges through the ruck. He is not just a tough carry prop, but also a middle forward with quick leg speed who has a big, big motor. He represented the Queensland 14-15 years schoolboy side.
Christopher Vaimili-Toalepai (Marsden SHS)
An under 14 premiership player with Logan Brothers last year, this goal kicking fullback, winger or centre is both elusive and quick, but extremely reliable. He made the Queensland 14-15 years schoolboy side.
Marsden SHS also had a host of other high sporting achievers including:
+ Peta Love and Caleb Butler who represented the Australian Schoolboys under-16s;
+ Footballer Ali Sina Abdul made his senior debut in the NPL for Wynnum Wolves
+ Marsden SHS also had elite netball players, with Ella Vercoe (Year 11), Ariki Tukaokao (Year 11) and Drayson Fainu (Year 10) all making the Australian indoor netball side.
+ Raewyn Olomalii and Deleni Paitai both made the Queensland rugby league 17-18 years schoolgirls side;
+ Sinai Foai, Keriana Hippolite, Koby Fata and Harley Baker were all selected in Queensland representative basketball teams;
+ Sinai Foai and Alexis Beasley were both named in the Queensland schools representative side;
+ multi cultural Marsden SHS also had a host of international sporting success stories, including these national representatives for Samoa – Mylaani Sione, Leise Reupena, Kiana Au, Peata manumaleuga, Semika Chong Nee, De Rico Faatoe, Hyrum Moaga, Hyrum Chong Nee – along with Keriana Hippolite who represented New Zealand.
Javon Andrews and Adaquix Watts-Luke (league and touch football)
The Marsden SHS Langer Trophy captain, Javon Andrews was named in the 16-18 Years Boys Queensland Representative School Sport Touch Football Team. This was after playing strongly for Met East at the rugby league championships.
His teammate Watts-Luke, who helped Redcliffe Dolphins win the Connell Cup under-17 league premiership, also made the state schools touch football side.
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