St Pat’s Sporting Reps Some Of The Best In The State

Six of Mackay’s sporting best – that aptly sums up the St Patrick’s College Queensland Honour Roll for 2022.

Tokyo Olympic Games swimming triallist Tom Henderson heads an impressive list of St Patrick’s students that left their mark in the sporting arena this year with outstanding performances at national level.

Backstroke sensation Henderson was joined by Mackay Meteorettes basketball forward Charli Bliss, State hockey aces Haiden Mellifont and Kaleb Mayfield, Queensland Schoolgirls cricket all-rounder Meghan McCartney and softball young gun James Allen.

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17-year-old HENDERSON – a product of the Mackay Swimming Academy – represented Queensland with distinction at the 2022 National Swimming Championships and Australian Age Swimming Championships in Adelaide and National Short Course Swimming titles in Sydney.

At this year’s National Schools Swimming Championships in Brisbane, Tom collected bronze medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke events and was part of the crack Queensland Open relay teams that won gold and broke two Australian records.

Tom also clinched gold in the 17yrs Boys 200m backstroke at the Australian Age Championships.

Under the tutelage of legendary coach Pat Wright – who has trained Olympians including Linda Mackenzie, Justin James, Nick Ffrost and Geoff Huegill – the emerging Henderson is somewhat of a late bloomer in the sport of swimming.

He showed promise in rugby league and Surf Lifesaving before taking his swimming seriously at the age of 12.

Last season at the age of 16 the exciting backstroke prospect participated in the Tokyo Olympic trials in Adelaide, gaining valuable experience and competing against his swimming idol Mitch Larkin, one of the current Australian Olympic golden boys.

If Tom continues his rapid development in the pool then the sky’s the limit for the Mackay schoolboy who is now well on the radar for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

CHARLI BLISS is touted as one of the best basketball forward prospects in Queensland and showed her credentials at the National Under 18 Championships in Ballarat earlier this year and with Mackay Meteorettes in the NBL1 competition.

A local product, Bliss has represented the Meteorettes since the age of 12 and was also named in this year’s Queensland North State Under 18 team and the Basketball Queensland 2022/23 Under 18 State Performance Program (SPP).

The SPP is Basketball Queensland’s second tier high-performance program for players aged under 16 and under 18, which has seen identified athletes go on to represent Queensland and Australia, play in both the NBL and WNBL and secure college scholarships in the United States.

To prepare herself for elite basketball, the fast-developing Charli participated in a six-week intensive training program before returning to her club side Renegades and making an impact in the Mackay Basketball Association.

JAMES ALLEN has made every post a winner in the sport of softball this season.

The outstanding catcher was co-captain of the Queensland Under 16 representative team that finished runners up to NSW during this year’s National Softball Junior Championships staged in Blacktown, Sydney.

A powerful batter, James caught superbly and hit several home runs to help the Maroons down the Blues in three entertaining tussles throughout the tournament – only to watch his Queensland team stumble at the final hurdle for the Arthur Allsopp Shield.  

As a reward for his polished displays, young Allen was named the Most Valuable Player of the championships.  

QUEENSLAND Schoolgirls representative cricket captain Meghan McCartney is a young all-rounder in a big hurry.

The 17-year-old Brothers Cricket Club product continues to shine in both the junior and senior grade mens ranks and has just linked with the Valley Cricket Club in the Brisbane Womens Premier League first grade competition.

Meghan, a stylish top order bat and prolific pace bowler, skippered the Maroons schoolgirls in the annual interstate challenge fixtures with NSW and racked up some big scores and took a bulk of wickets during the drawn series earlier this year on the Sunshine Coast.

The Capricornia representative captain piloted St Patrick’s/Mercy College to a Queensland State Twenty20 Schools Challenge championship title last October and is freely tipped to earn selection in the Queensland Country womens team for the upcoming National Country Cricket Championships to be staged in Canberra during January.

DYNAMIC hockey duo Haiden Mellifont and Kaleb Mayfield are firmly established in the current Hockey Queensland Under 18 State squad for 2022-23.

The 16-year-old Capricornia schoolboy reps hail from the strong Mackay Hockey Association and turned in consistent displays at an elite level this season.

Young gun Haiden was named in the Queensland Representative School Sport 19yrs Hockey Merit Team and claimed the Best & Fairest trophy for his superb performances in this year’s Mackay Hockey A2 Mens competition.

Mellifont and Mayfield impressed keen judges with classy displays for Queensland Gold at the Hockey Australia Under 18 Championships in Cairns earlier this year.

By Chris Karas

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