Over the weekend, our very own Sachi Syme (Year 11) had an exciting opportunity as she was named for her debut in the Norwood Redlegs Women’s League Team. Sachi and her team played an exciting game of footy against the North Adelaide Roosters, who came into the game on a 15-game winning streak. The Norwood team started strong and scored five goals recording a 22-point victory over the North Adelaide Roosters. This win sees the Redlegs sitting top of the table after four rounds.

Congratulations, Sachi, on your exciting debut! We are excited to continue to follow your progress and see you in the Wildy guernsey soon!

Summer Intercol

During Week 6, our girls faced off against Seymour College for the 2021 Summer Intercol.

Our Premier League Tennis was the first matchup, going into a tough round against the current undefeated top of the ladder team. With one of our premier players unavailable to injury, many of our girls stepped up to face more highly ranked players. Nonetheless, our girls competed admirably with many points in the doubles going to deuce. The final scores certainly did not reflect the closeness of many games against the top team.

The Senior A Volleyballers took early leads in all three sets. Seymour’s more experienced state team players showed their hands in pivotal moments and managed to secure valuable points as they slowly edged out the lead for the win. Our girls competed well against a more experienced side and should be proud of their effort.

Our Senior A Basketballers experienced a similar situation to our volleyball girls facing a team of District and State players. Our basketball girls have shown vast improvement in recent years, and the girls did themselves and Wildy proud, making it a difficult match with no points being scored easily. Our girls were only 15 points behind at the full-time buzzer, an outstanding result for our young team.

The water polo was the most competitive Intercol event for the week! We knew we were in for an exciting game with vocal crowds in the stands surrounding the pool. The lead continued to change each quarter, with Wildy winning the first and third quarters, the score was level at six all going into the final quarter. Seymour managed to secure two goals beyond halfway in a thrilling last quarter and held out a narrow win 9-7.

The Senior A Touch Football was the final trophy fixture, and the expectation is always high for our touch teams. Our girls put on a true masterclass performance for the crowds. There were flashes of individual brilliance but perhaps the most impressive showing was the commitment to play unselfishly and for the best interest of the team. On multiple occasions, an individual chance for a try was ignored to set-up the outside player for a more likely team try. Well done to our girls for a dominant performance and an outstanding effort to take home the Intercol Touch Trophy once again.

Overall, Seymour secured the Summer Intercol Trophy, winning 21 matches to our 16. We go into the Winter Intercol 10 points behind, but I look forward to seeing our girls aim to claw back the margin.

Congratulations to our most outstanding players of the Intercol round as voted by coaches:

• Basketball: Sasha Hardin
• Tennis: Mollie Rowntree
• Touch: Charlie Bower
• Volleyball: Sabrina Petrucco
• Water Polo: Liv Scamoni

Head of the River

The past weekend saw the 99th School’s Head of the River take place at West Lakes on the Alex Ramsey Rowing Course. With COVID precautions in place, the event was vastly smaller than the previous 10,000 plus crowds, with tickets allocated to each family. The 4,000-person event was a fantastic outcome for the sport compared to the 2020 Head of the River that was reduced to Seniors only.

The Year 8, Learn-to-Rows (LTR) were the first age group to compete for the prestigious title of Head of the River Champion. Wilderness had 30 girls competing, making them the equal biggest outfit in the competition with six crews.

After a very successful regular racing season, the crews did not disappoint. The F, C, B and A crews all managed to record wins, with the D and E crews performing admirably despite some mishaps during the race. Thomas Sambal, Lead LTR Coach, was incredibly proud of the girls, especially the A crew who recorded the first A division win for Wilderness rowing in many years.

The Year 9 junior crews have battled through disruptions these past few weeks with camp, incomplete crews, illness, and injury setbacks. Despite these challenges, our girls turned up ready to race and determined to finish their season on a high. The C crew raced well to secure 3rd in a very competitive race. The B crew finished their season in 4th, an outstanding achievement, given one of their crew members had to remove a moon boot to race. Our A crew perhaps had the most challenging lead-in with a rower away at REALISE and one spending the past month in a moon boot due to a club sport injury. These girls only had one row together before taking to the water to race in Head of the River. Together they put their best race of the season down, finishing a very close 2nd to Loreto, who was unchallenged all season.

Our Year 10 intermediate crews deserve recognition for their perseverance and sportsmanship this season. With several Year 10s rowing in the First VIII, these girls have essentially raced up a division all season. Unlike many school sports, you cannot select the division you would like to compete in and must enter your crews from the highest divisions down. These girls can be commended for their excellent results finishing with a 4th and two 5ths.

Tensions were high as we approached the final events of the day, with the seniors taking to the water. The Second VIII crew have come through a challenging season but showed some exciting potential leading into the final row. Seymour College and Walford Anglican School for Girls had been dominant all season, winning the event by 40-50 seconds over the remaining crews. Our girls left nothing unanswered and gave it their all to finish in a very tight race for the line in 5^th just 20 seconds from the winning crew. This was an excellent row and the most closely contended race of the year for the Second VIII.

The First VIII race was tipped to be the closest race in over 50 years, with Wilderness, Walford and Seymour having all recorded wins during the regular season and Scotch College having beaten all crews at least once over the regattas. Our Wilderness girls suffered a significant setback just a few weeks earlier with illness resulting in the crew missing a week of training. Scotch took an early lead in the race and sat half a length clear for the first 1000m with Seymour in second and Walford and Wilderness battling out for 3rd. Having not had the start they had hoped for, the girls found themselves sitting in 4^th place with the final 500m to race. Normally, the girls plan to sprint to the line about 300m out, but the girls, inspired by the Wilderness crowd’s cheers, decided to go early. With 250m to go, the girls were still in 4th with only a few metres separating 2nd to 4th. In the closing stages of the race, the girls held their nerve and pushed their bow in front for a nail-biting finish to record 2nd place— an outstanding result for the crew recording their best result in over ten years.

Congratulations to all girls, coaches and parents on a successful end to their season. Mrs Eleanor Trovas, Director of Rowing, and Mrs Aimee Maling, Head Coach, are to be commended on their incredible results. These young women are so fortunate to be under the guidance and leadership of two remarkable female sporting leaders. It was a fitting farewell to our much-loved boatman and logistics coordinator, MrRon Mobbs, who is retiring this year after ten years of involvement in Wilderness Rowing. All the best for the next stage of life Ron, and thank you for your many years of dedication and service to the Wilderness Girls!

Click here to view some highlights of the day in our Head of the River 2021 photo gallery.

Junior Athletics State Individual Championships

A busy weekend for sport also saw the Junior Athletics State Championships featuring several Wilderness girls competing well for their respective clubs.

Year 6 student India Goodall, achieved some outstanding results, winning a Silver Medal in both the 12-year-old girl’s 400m and 800m race. She also set a Personal Best (PB) time for both events!

Ella Meyer in Year 7 managed to secure a spot in the 12-year-old girl’s long jump final, finishing a credible 8^th place, also with a PB.

Caitlin Hardin in Year 7 finished 5^th in the 12-year-old 800m final alongside India and finished 2^nd in the 1500m Final.

Well done to our Wildy girls!

SAPSASA District Swimming Team

Some exciting news from our District Trials last week with six Wilderness girls selected to represent the North Adelaide District at the Metro State Championships on Thursday 25 March.

Congratulations to Grace Tully (Year 4), Rachel Chisholm (Year 5), Ella Meyer (Year 7), Isabel Flowers (Year 7), Katarina Czechowicz (Year 7) and Isabella Beaumont (Year 7).

Middle and Senior School Cross Country Carnival

We are looking forward to next term’s Middle and Senior School Cross Country Carnival being held on Thursday 22 April at the Parklands.

On the morning of the Cross Country Carnival, girls will attend Form at 8.30am and then walk with their Form teacher to the Parklands. Upon completing the carnival, all girls will be accompanied back to school by their Form Teacher to resume regular classes.

Girls must compete in their House Polo shirt, PE shorts/skirt or tracksuit pants, and they may arrive at school in this uniform on this day. Girls must bring their School uniform to change back into after the event. In addition, girls are encouraged to bring a drink bottle.

Girls who run the cross country track in under 20 minutes will receive a House point. The overall winning House will receive the Begg Trophy, while the Individual Winner will receive the Elspeth Begg Cup.

Results from this event will be used to select the SSSSA Interschool Cross Country team to compete on Thursday 10 June at Oakbank Racecourse. Girls chosen to represent Wilderness will be given information following the Interhouse competition.

Touch Finals

While our Term 1 Sports are wrapping up this week, we would like to congratulate our Touch Teams on their successful Term 1 regular draw matches as they prepare for their finals tomorrow morning. Many of our teams have performed well and will be playing in the grand final tomorrow.

All Wilderness teams should be proud of their seasons as many of our girls in B and C divisions are competing against the top team for the respective oppositions.

Best of luck tomorrow, girls! We would encourage any supporters to cheer the girls on at Park 17 at the following times: