The top sporting schools in Cairns in 2021 revealed
School sporting skill was something worth celebrating in 2021, and we’ve looked back through various competitions to pick the top Far North schools of the year, as well as some of the individual talents destined for big things. SEE THE LIST >>>
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Covid may have disrupted much of the sporting landscape in 2021 – much like 2020 – but the return of regular local school sports was a welcomed one.
Between carpooling to trainings, and getting the call up to represent the region or even the state, celebrating school sporting prowess is more important now than ever.
The Cairns Post has looked back at how schools went both locally and regionally in various sporting codes, and picked out the best institutions who excelled across the board.
St Monica’s College / St Augustine’s College
The ‘Saints’ schools find themselves front and centre on this list, and for good reason.
Overall, St Augustine’s and St Monica’s took out the top spot in the CISSA rankings, four points ahead of Cairns State High School with 234 points.
St Augustine’s AFL team dominated the local comp, finishing undefeated before heading to the schools cup on the Gold Coast where they were defeated in both finals games.
En route to the Gold Coast, the team put together an impressive 89-16 victory against Cairns High.
The known league nursery had a stellar year in that regard as well, winning the NRL Schooboy Trophy final against Lockyer District SHS in thrilling fashion 20-18.
“For the boys to win that was very exciting,” St Augustine’s principal Matthew Brennan said.
Hockey standouts Cade Coghlan and Ryan Cartwright were among the athletes to show particular poise in their craft in 2021.
Both secured places on the state hockey team, in a merit capacity due to Covid.
St Monica’s athletic director Jade Kennedy said it had been a successful year across the board for the girls.
The school’s touch team took top honours over Cairns High 9-2 in CISSA.
The institute showed no mercy in the JSS competition either, with the girls’ volleyball team taking down Cairns High 2-1, before heading to the schools cup on the Gold Coast.
They also defeated Cairns High in netball 40-10.
But the most notable of victories came at the hands of St Monicas’ junior basketball team, who took down the usually dominant Cairns High team 87-58 to win the final.
“The scoreline isn’t usually that blown out because it’s Cairns High and they’re such a strong school in basketball,” Kennedy said.
"But we had such a strong team this year in basketball, it was a really good result.”
Kennedy said St Monica’s basketball Tiarna Bond was one particular player who shone for the team this season.
St Monica’s also took top marks in the schools surf lifesaving competition at Yorkeys Knob.
Both Saints schools also shared first in the track and field TCC competition.
Track and field St Monica’s star Emma Henley was one such athlete Kennedy said embodied the school’s sporting success.
Henley was named the St Monica’s sportswoman of the year.
Cairns State High School
Cairns High might have finished second in CISSA overall, but head of sport Geoff Mayes said the school pushed the Saints down to the wire.
In CISSA, the school finished just four points shy of the Saints.
This was largely owed to their typically stellar basketball program, who won both the boys and girls over St Andrews (62-49) and St Monicas (72-35) respectively.
“We’ve been known for many years for our strength in basketball and that showed out again in 2021,” Mayes said.
Year 10 baller Jaylan Pitman was a particularly notable force on the wood for Cairns High in 2021 for the school’s basketball program.
The school’s senior boys volleyball squad showcased an outstanding season as well, capped off with a 2-0 win against St Augustines.
For the first time in school history, Cairns High took the JSS overall title in 2021.
Its boys basketball team continued the high standard of play in defeating Peace Lutheran College 86-25.
The school’s other strength in football shone in JSS as well, with both the boys and girls teams taking their championships over St Augustines (6-2) and St Andrews (6-0) respectively.
In CISSA, Cairns High’s girls football also won their final against St Andrews via shootout.
Add to that a victory in the boys volleyball 2-0 against Peace Lutheran, as well as runner ups in girls basketball and girls volleyball, and you put together a big year for Cairns High athletes.
“Volleyball’s cranking – we performed really well in the Far North Queensland volleyball schools cup,” Mayes said.
“We won the open boys, intermediate boys and junior girls.”
The school’s junior girls netball team also went to Brisbane for the Vicki Wilson Cup on behalf of the Far North.
In girls football, the school’s Bill Turner Trophy team went to Brisbane and ended up third in the state.
“That’s an outstanding result for them,” Mayes said.
St Mary’s Catholic College
St Mary’s took out the most division-one CISSA competitions with three titles among 10 competitions.
The school’s basketball team managed to get by Peace Lutheran 40-34, and the St Mary’s netball and boys football teams took down Redlynch State College 28-13 and 3-2 respectively.
“We’re just in the process of getting the kids to push a little bit harder in certain areas,” St Mary’s sports program leader Rob Anderson said.
In the JSS competition, the school finished third in the boys competition, with the school’s boys team taking down a tough St Augustine’s side 8-6 in the final.
St Marys’ girls touch team also proved no slouch in this regard either, defeating St Andrews 7-1 to win their final.
“The girls went undefeated and the boys only dropped one game throughout the season,” Anderson said.
Anderson mentioned Year 9 triathlete Ava McIntyre – who participates in a national development squad – as one athlete who showed brushes of greatness on an individual level for St Mary’s.
Touch talent Lara Lane – who repped the North Queensland under-14s and national youth championships – was another student to shine in 2021.
Redlynch State College
For one of the smaller schools on this list, Redlynch held its own in 2021 sports-wise.
In CISSA, the school made one premier division and six division one grand finals across 10 sports in 2021.
Despite falling short in girls basketball, boys football, girls football, netball and boys touch the school won titles in boys volleyball and AFL.
Redlynch defeated Trinity Bay State High School in volleyball 2-1 while taking down Peace Lutheran in AFL 74-18.
“The RSC Dragons are growing from strength to strength as team selection becomes more challenging each year with tough competition for spots,” Redlynch sports coordinatot Steven Watson said.
“Special mention must also go to the boys touch football side that narrowly lost their premier division grand final to Woree (State High School) 11-9.”
Honourable mention: Trinity Anglican School
Individual athletes from TAS managed to get in the limelight to some extent in 2021, particularly in swimming.
Prodigy Ike Martinez – at 14 years old – was the 14th fastest male swimmer at the Olympic trials in butterfly.
The speedster fell 0.7 seconds shy of Ian Thorpe’s race record for that age.
Fellow TAS swimmer Lauren Morris finished second in her heat, making her the 36ths fastest swimmer in the country.
Honourable mention: St Gerard Majella
Another school to see an individual dominate on a national level, St Gerard’s Louise Lane needs a mention.
Lane proved her own supergirl, finishing 10th in the State Cross Country Championships and 3rd in the Athletic State Cross Country Championships.
She was named to the state team, ultimately in a merit capacity due to Covid.
Lane broke the school’s 100m, 200m, 800m and 1500m records in her age group.
At the Athletics North Queensland track and field competition in Townsville, Lane took first in the 800m and 1500m as well as fourth in 200m.
She has also qualified for the nationals in the former two races in Perth in April 2022.
What do you think of the list? Have your say in the comments below.
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