I would like to share with you how proud I am of each and every girl who attended the Middle and Senior School Athletics Carnival today.

It was exciting to return to SA Athletics Stadium and we feel incredibly fortunate we were able to hold the event, particularly in light of the current COVID-19 situation around the country.

The Athletics Carnival provides the girls with the opportunity to challenge their athletic abilities, work together in their House teams and share their amazing House spirit. Overall, it was a wonderful bonding experience for both students and staff.

Our girls took to the track and field with enthusiasm and sheer determination to achieve their best. I am pleased to announce our Championship Winners:

Year 7 Thurgood Cup – Ella Meyer
Year 8 Reece Cup – Isabel Jackson
Year 9 Viner-Smith Cup – Sienna Brown
Year 10 Adler Cup – Mia Cardone
Year 11 Walsh Cup – Georgina Birchall
Year 12 Fischer Cup – Portia Maerschel

Special mention must be given to Isabella Browning (Year 8), who broke the 200m record, and Isabel Jackson and Georgina Birchell who were joint winners of the Centenary Cup for the highest aggregate point score with a total of 300 points.

Antholiza was awarded our Team Events Trophy and also took out the Selsey Shield, winning the overall competition by 191 points.

While there is a long list of people who helped make this day a success, in particular, I would like to thank Ms Deb Jarrett and Mr Derek Woodcock for their work in making the 2021 carnival possible. Thank you to all who contributed both behind the scenes and on the day.

Intercollegiate Update

At the time of our previous edition of Life in the Wilderness, the Intercol tally was tied, and our football girls were preparing to face off against Seymour College.

The Senior A Football was one of the most nerve-wracking events of the week! Both teams managed to respond point for point and with less than a minute to go, the score was tied at 20. Eliza Corbin was awarded a free kick and scored the winning goal as the final siren sounded, edging Wilderness in front for a 26-20 victory. An outstanding result for the girls, their coach Mr Chris Pahl and an exciting spectacle for the home crowd. Our football teams managed to earn valuable points for the tally with the Middle As and Senior Bs also winning their matches.

Saturday saw our exceptional badminton girls continue their dominance in the Intercol competition. All six teams playing against Seymour won their matches. Wilderness’ Senior A Team won the Intercol Badminton Trophy for the sixth straight year; this is the only Intercol Trophy that Wilderness has won every year since Intercol began. We are forever grateful to Ms Michelle Ostermann and Mr Chris Thirlwell for their continued guidance of our girls and the program.

Earlier in the season, our Senior A Hockey Team was defeated 1-4 by Seymour in a non-shield round. Our girls performed exceptionally well and did not disappoint managing to score 5 goals to 1 – a deserving result demonstrating the resilience and improvement during the season. It was also an exciting moment for Carly Hoffmann coaching the Senior As to a victory after winning as a Senior in 2020. Our Senior Bs fought valiantly but were unable to hold off the Seymour offence. Thank you to our Hockey Head Coach Mr Travis Henderson for his continued passion and support of the hockey program.

The Intercol round of netball is a highlight for our Senior A girls producing some of the best performances each year. Wilderness had an outstanding start leading 7-2 catching Seymour off guard. To Seymour’s credit, despite our girls playing their best game of the season, they continued their unbroken hold on the Intercol Netball.

Congratulations girls on an exceptional Intercol. Our senior teams won five of the six individual sport trophies but in the end, Seymour retained the overall Intercol Trophy with 19 wins to Wilderness’ 18. Wilderness are edging closer each year and the future looks promising!

Division 1 Soccer Premiers

As a result of the COVID-19 events earlier this term, the IGSSA Winter Season was redrawn with a missed round played in place of finals. Premierships are now decided on the final table positions making this last round of fixtures even more exciting.

On Wednesday afternoon, our Division 1B side faced off against Seymour’s Division 1A team to decide the 2021 Division 1 Soccer Premiership on Seymour’s home ground.

We are so proud of our girls who held their composure to score 2 goals to 1 securing the premiership!

Congratulations to our girls and their fantastic coach, Mr Tobia Trentin.

There are several other Wilderness teams in contention for their season premierships with our Year 7 A Netball and Senior B Badminton going into their final round with an undefeated record and our Senior B Hockey playing for the top of the table finish.

Congratulations to our soccer girls and we wish all girls and coaches well in their final round of the season.

State Team Touch Football Representatives

The strength of the Wilderness Touch Football program has been demonstrated once again with an incredible 14 of our girls earning State Team selection.

Congratulations to Bella Browning (U14), Indie Heywood-Smith (U14), Isabel Jackson (U14), Nessie Leathart (U14), Portia Newton (U14), Charlie Bower (U16), Mia Cardone (U16), Sasha Hardin (U16), Rose Newman (U16), Anelise Roos (U16), Jasmin Thirlwell (U16), Eliza Corbin (U18), Jessica Craig (U16) and Tahlia Leathart (U18).

These girls have been selected to represent South Australia in the Door Dash National Youth Cup. At the moment, the event is not able to proceed with the current restrictions, but we have our fingers crossed that our girls will have the chance to compete soon.