The Score 070224

We start off the new year with a look at some of the amazing performances over the summer break. 

Cycling

Luke Plapp has won his third consecutive National Road Race title.  Luke now joins a select few riders who have win the National title 3 or more times.  It was also Luke’s first win for his new professional team Jayco AlUla.

Plapp and teammate Chris Harper won in a way never seen before over 21 editions of the race in Ballarat, a teammate one-two finish, with Harper crossing the line together with Plapp for the silver medal, 103-kilometres after the two went it alone at the front of the race.

As the two cruised down the final straight celebrating in tandem, it was Harper who drifted behind Plapp, allowing the two-time defending champion to become the fourth Australian to win a trifecta of elite road race national championships.

Golf

Steph Bunque finished at 4 over in the Victorian Open played at 13th Beach Golf Course.  Steph started the 4-day tournament 2 under after a solid 70 on the first day but a day 2 score of 80 sent her down the leader board.  Steph showed great resilience to recover on the final two days with a 71 and 72 finishing 16 shots off the winner.

Seabill Leong also competed in the Vic Open as a 15yo amateur after winning the Victorian Ladies Order of Merit.  Seabill finished 9 over after the first 2 rounds and missed the cut.

Cricket

Fergus O’Neil had a fantastic summer finishing with a major in at the Australian Cricket Awards.  Fergus took out the Young Cricketer of the year award, played the BBL Season with the Renegades and capped it off the season by taking 5 wickets for the Bushrangers in their Shield Match against South Australia.  Tom Rogers also played in the BBL Competition with the Stars as an opening bat.

Congratulations to Pearl Kapoor and Mia Gordan who played for the Vic Metro Under 16 Girls cricket team over the summer break.  The team won the National Championships.  Mia won the MVP for the tournament while Pearl was the Vice Captain of the team.

Baseball

Robinson Smith and Jayden Kim were part of the Gold Medal winning team at the Baseball Australia National Youth Championships claiming the U18 title.  Victoria defeated WA 5-4 in the final game to win the title with Robinson catching the final out of his own pitching.  Both player have also been selected in the Australian U18 squad to play a series of games in America in September and October.

Soccer 

Connor Metcalfe has been playing for the Socceroos over the past few weeks in the Asian Cup.  Australia was knocked out in the quarter final stage losing to Sth Korea 2-1.  It was Connor’s first major tournament with the Men’s national team.

Hockey

Connor Otterbach and Cooper Burns have made it onto the squad of 19 for the National Development Hockey Squad.  The Men’s National Development Squad (NDS) has expanded for 2024 with four more spots added in preparation for what will be a huge year, headlined by the Olympic Games in Paris.

Jayden Kim becomes a Pirate

Year 10 MSA Student Athlete Jayden Kim has signed a Major League Baseball contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates after impressing again at the U18 World Cup.  

Jayden arrived at Maribyrnong Sports Academy 2 years ago, after living the first 14 years of his life in Sth Korea.  Jayden's father David who had a 7 year professional baseball career in Sth Korea, sourced out MSA for his son due to its ability to have a have a focus on sport as well as education.

Since Jayden has been at MSA he has made two Australian U18 World Cup teams, and has been a strong performer for Victoria in the National Youth Championships.  Jayden praising MSA for the role it has played in his career. " Maribyrnong was very good for me, as it tought me the disciplne of getting up at 6am two mornings a week for training.  It basically gave me the experience that I would have had at a college."

“From the very beginning of my baseball journey, my goal was always to become a professional baseball player,” says Kim. “I have worked hard towards achieving my dream and as I got older i had more scouts and teams looking at me, it then made me think that my dream could come true.”

Jayden begins his Professional Baseball Career in the Dominican Republic in February.  "I will play around 70 games of rookie ball in the Dominican Republic and hopefully impress enough to then start working my way through the minor leagues."

Jayden's now joins rare company as one of just 26 Australians who currently possess an MLB-affiliated contract. Former MSA and Maribyrnong College student Declan Speirs is also in the Dominican Republic having signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Score 121223

Once again, our Alumni have been front and centre playing sport both here and abroad.  Here’s their results.

AFLW

Georgie Prespakis has won Geelong’s 2023 AFLW best and fairest award after an amazingly strong season on the field.  In her third season of AFLW, she enjoyed career best season stats, averaging 24 disposals, 7 tackles, and 6 clearances a game.

Georgie polled 188 votes to win the award and finished ahead of fellow midfielders Nina Morrison (163 votes) and Amy McDonald (82 votes).

Monique Conti remains the only Richmond AFLW player to win the clubs best and fairest claiming her 5th consecutive award this season.  Monique polled 23 votes to win by 2 from fellow 2023 All Australian Ellish Sheerin (21 votes) and winger Kate Dempsey (20 Votes) who led the count after round 6.

Mon has now won 6 consecutive Best and Fairest having been named the Bulldogs best player in 2019, her final year at the club.

In other AFLW clubs Best and Fairest news, Georgia Petrikios finished 3rd at St Kilda, while Jess Fitzgerald won the best young player award at the Western Bulldogs.

Meanwhile Libby Birch has been traded from Melbourne to North Melbourne for season 2024.  The Kangaroos have given Melbourne pick 19 in next week’s draft with North getting Libby and pick 35.

AFL

Zak Butters has been named vice captain of the Port Adelaide FC going into his 6th year with the club.  Zak had an amazing 2023 season being named as a debutant in the AFL All Australian team.

Badminton

Gronya Somerville has been playing in the Guwahati Masters in India where along with partner Kenneth Choo made it through to the round of 16 before a straight set’s loss 21-19, 21-17.

Basketball

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Johnny Furphy and the Kansas Jayhawks who have defeated UConn by 4 points, Johnny scoring 6 points in the game.  The Jayhawks also defeating cross town rival Kansas City by 19 points with Johnny scoring 10 points and 2 rebounds.  The Jayhawks then beat Missouri by 9 points to make it 5 wins in a row, with Johnny getting 4 rebounds in 7 minutes game time.

International Football

Connor Metcalfe came on for FC St Pauli in the 68th minute in their 1 all draw with Vfl Osnabruck.

A-League

Seb Pasquali came on in the 46th minute while Matt Grimaldi came on in the 79th minute in Western United’s loss to Central Coast Mariners 4-0.

Newcastle’s MelindaJ Barbieri came on in the 46th minute to replace Matilda, Emily Van Egmond in their 1-0 loss to Sydney.

Annabel Martin started for the Central Coast Mariners in their 3-0 loss to Western Sydney.

Naomi Chinnama came on in the 74th minutes in Melbourne City’s 3-1 loss to Perth Glory.