UQ powerlifter takes home gold

UQ powerlifter, Lev Susany, with his accolades from the 2011 Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships held in Bournemouth, England.

UQ powerlifter Lev Susany recently achieved an amazing five gold medals at the 2011 Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships held 15-18 December in Bournemouth, England.

Lev’s trip was part-funded by UQ Sport and we are happy to see him achieve such outstanding results.

Not only did Lev win multiple medals but he also broke two National, four Oceania and three Commonwealth records.

To top it all off Lev took home the Wilks Trophy as the Championships’ best lifter.

The Wilks score compares the best lifts of all lifters from all age divisions and weight classes.

Winning a Wilks trophy at any competition is the ultimate accolade, so congratulation must go to Lev on winning it while still competing as a junior lifter.

Here is a list of Lev’s achievements from the competition:

• Four gold medals for the 175kg squat, 155.5kg bench press, 210kg deadlift and 540.5kg total

• One gold medal for the 147.5kg bench press

• Six records for the 155.5kg bench press: breaking both Junior and Open Mens records at National, Oceania and Commonwealth level

• Two Titles – 2011 Commonwealth RAW Powerlifting Champion and 2011 Commonwealth RAW Bench Press Champion

• Wilks Best lifter trophy for the Mens raw bench press of 155.5kg bench @ 73.3kg body weight

• Number 1 junior ranking in the Men’s 74kg division at National, Oceania and Commonwealth level

UQ Fitness and Aquatic Centre opens at Gatton campus

Mr Shayne Neumann MP with UQ Sport’s Johnathon Turner and Courtney Bailey

On Thursday 1 December 2011 the UQ Fitness and Aquatic Centre was officially opened at the University of Queensland, Gatton.

The $5 million facility was opened by Mr Shayne Neumann MP, Federal Member for Blair.

In the first 5 months the UQ Fitness and Aquatic Centre cardio and weights rooms have recorded nearly 8000 visits, with nearly 6000 visits to the heated 25m swimming pool, meaning keen Gatton swimmers can swim all year round.

The facility will also combine with a new health initiative in Ipswich, Healthy Active People in Ipswich (HAPI), and will foster the wellness of people living in the Lockyer Valley and Ipswich areas.

UQ Sport is excited about the growth of the facility both on campus, and in the community.

UQ Sport Academy launches with new high performance gym

The UQ Sport Academy recently celebrated the opening of its new high performance gym at the UQ Sport and Fitness Centre, St Lucia.

The UQSA's high performance gym will help athletes make the step from developing to elite.

Ski-racing world champion, Grant Turner, and cycling world record holder Dave Alley were both on hand as special guest speakers to welcome in the gym’s official opening.

The evening not only marked the opening of the new gym but also launched the newly branded UQ Sport Academy (UQSA).

The UQSA, formerly known as the high performance sport department within UQ Sport, was established in 2008 and has strong links with the world renowned School of Human Movement Studies at UQ; many of the Academy staff are graduates of the school.

Most recently, the UQSA has enjoyed great success with the Queensland Fire Birds and this year’s Queensland Intrust Super Cup premiership winning team, the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

The 2011 UQ Athletics Centre re-opening and 1500m Classic

The brand new track at the UQ Athletics Centre set the perfect scene for this year's 1500m classic

Two weeks after the UQ Athletic Centre was re-opened as a training facility, the annual 1500m Classic was staged as the first meet on the newly laid Rekotan track.

This year’s event, which doubled as the official re-opening, saw a record number of entries with 203 athletes running on the day; well up on the previous best of 158 in 2009.

It was an excellent night of middle distance running, and a fitting meet to celebrate the rebirth of the UQ Athletics track, which officially opened when Julian Watkins crossed the finish line in the Nike Secondary Schoolboys Race 1.

The organisers of the event wish to acknowledge sponsors, Intraining and Nike, and the officials from the Brisbane Officials Club for their support in officiating for the event.

The final winners on the night were…

Intraining Simon Doyle 1500m Classic: Daniel Bulmer – 3.47.61min

Intraining Women’s 1500m Classic: Katelyn Simpson – 4.21.94min

Nike Open Men’s: Charles Chambers – 4.03.22min

Nike Secondary Schoolboys Race 1: Julian Watkins – 4.03.79min

Nike Secondary Boys Race 2: Christopher Thrupp – 4.14.02min

Nike Secondary Boys Race 3: Ben Matsis – 4.22.08min

Nike Schoolgirls/Open Women Race 1: Kate van Homrigh – 4.39.92min

Nike Schoolgirls/Open Women Race 2: Sarah Bellchambers – 4.45.99min

Intraining Schoolgirls/Open Women Race 3: Kaitlin Price – 4.54.35min

Nike Primary School Boys: Bradley Warnes – 4.48.85min

Nike Primary School Girl’s: Katrina Robinson – 5.02.71min

Intraining Masters Men: Geoff Berkeley – 4.25.54min

Intraining Masters Women: Margot Manning – 5.15.04min (however because of her affiliation with the sponsor she graciously passed first place to Rosemary Dotlic who came in at 5.56.01min)

2011 UQ sporting scholarship highlights

Mitchell Watt's silver medal at the IAAF World Championships was one of the many highlights from 2011.

2011 has been nothing but exceptional for UQ sporting scholarship holders.

Across all sports they have not only done themselves proud with some great performances but also the whole UQ community.

We have pinpointed a few highlights from 2011 to share.

Mitchell Watt
Mitchell has had an outstanding year which included a silver medal at the IAAF World Championships as well as 1st at both the International Diamond League championship and the Australian Long Jump Series. Mitchell broke the Australian long jump record previously held by Jai Taurima and ultimately qualified for the 2012 London Olympics where he will go in as one of the favourites.

Aidan Rintala
Aidan’s outstanding year on the hockey field has seen him selected for the National Futures Group as an emerging international athlete by Hockey Australia.

Emilee Cherry
Emilee was an integral part of the Australian touch football team which competed at the Touch World Cup 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team enjoyed great success going on to win the championships.

Matthew Giles
Matthew competed for the Australian junior (u20) water polo team which competed in the Junior World Championships in Greece in September, in a very competitive field, Matthew and the Australians fought hard to finish in 4th overall.

Laura Clemesha
Laura’s prowess on the netball court has developed throughout 2011, so much so she has been offered a 2012 residential scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport.

These athletes represent a small snap shot of the talent that have called UQ home in 2011. There is no doubt that the list of 2011 athletes will add to the ever-growing group of elite athletes to pass through the university with great success.

UQ Sport is looking forward to the next crop of athletes coming through in 2012.

UQ Tennis Club ready to celebrate 100th birthday

The UQ Tennis Club will be celebrating its 100th birthday with an all-day tennis party on Sunday, 6 November, starting at 10 a.m and finishing with a BBQ at 6 p.m.

The day will include mini tournaments, beginner practice sessions, a service speed competition, coaching demos, plus loads more. Cost for the day will be $10 for adults and $5 for students, seniors and children. Sunday afternoon social tennis will still run as normal.

The UQ Tennis Club, which was founded in 1911, is the largest sporting club on campus with a record membership of 695 members and is one of the four founding sports clubs introduced to the university.

Click here to download the event program.

UQRFC 2011 Centenary Tour

The tour was a perfect way for the Red Heavies to finish their season on a high.

The Red Heavies recently returned from a hugely successful UK Tour which included wins over both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Travelling with two teams, the tour commenced with warm-up matches in Hong Kong before heading to the UK.

Oxford University was the first match, with the UQ players clearly earning the respect of the home supporters through some tough running rugby. Despite the 2nd team narrowly losing 22-19, the UQ 1st team came out and outplayed the home team, running out 25-8. Captain and Lock, Tim Buchanan, was a standout for UQ, along with outside-centre Ryan Gilliman and fullback Will Tuffley.

Next stop was Cambridge University, and at last the tourists were met with some typical English weather – cold, wet, and windy. The UQ 2nd team were defeated 40-7 but the 1st team again rose to the challenge to take the match 22-19. Five-eighth Tom Tuffley, breakaway Cam Goddard and half-back Will Thompson were standouts for the Red Heavies.

The tour was to commemorate the centenary year for the UQ Rugby Club, and was a player driven project lead by club captain Daniel Purcell. The UQ Rugby Club would like to thank Oxford and Cambridge Universities for their outstanding hospitality.

Tour match results:

Tuesday 27th Sept
• Kowloon RUC 22 def UQRFC 2nd team 10

Wednesday 28th Sept
• UQRFC 1st team 12 drew with Hong Kong Football Club 12

Tuesday 4th October
• UQRFC 1st team 25 def Oxford University 3
• Oxford University 22 def UQRFC 2nd team 19

Saturday 8th October
• UQRFC 1st team 22 def Cambridge University 19
• Cambridge University 40 def UQRFC 2nd team 7

College Sport draws to a close

The match between King's and St Leo's was a typically close contest with King's prevailing 29-22.

The King’s College vs St Leo’s College rugby match and the ICC Regatta are two great traditions on the UQ sporting calendar, both of which took place recently.

The annual battle between King’s and St Leo’s has been going since 1920 and even though St Leo’s has triumphed the last three years in a row, a feat not seen since the 1950s, it is King’s who have the ledger in their favour over the course of history.

The match, played in front of a crowd of about 1500 people, ebbed and flowed with five lead changes throughout the 80 minutes, but it was King’s ability to score five tries to three which meant they prevailed 29-22.

Both colleges awarded a man of the match, with King’s going to loose forward David Jackman, and St Leo’s being given to captain Zach Maddox.

This year’s college rowing season was different to previous ones due to the floods cutting the season from five regattas to three and the competition being moved from semester one to two.

The final ICC Regatta held in September and was a tight competition between St John’s and King’s.

Heading into the final men’s VIII race, St John’s College lead King’s College by just four points, with the winner of the race set to determine the overall champion. King’s College won the race, however St John’s College came in second, meaning both colleges finished tied on 96 points, leaving them as joint winners.

The girl’s competition was just as fierce with Women’s, St John’s and Grace all competing for the championship.

In the end, the winners for the women’s division were Women’s College, taking the overall women’s oar from Grace College who were the 2010 winners.

Australian Uni Games Wrap

The UQ Baseball team in high spirits after their final at this year's Australian Uni Games on the Gold Coast.

The Australian Uni Games recently took place on the Gold Coast, with the University of Queensland sending its biggest team to date.

UQ finished 4th overall out of the 43 universities that competed.

UQ Sport and Recreation Manager Adin Hewat said UQ should be proud of the efforts of all of their athletes.

“UQ is proud to have high calibre athletes enrolled to study, our scholarship program and elite athlete friendly university status enables us to support our students to juggle study and competition,” Adin said.

“UQ fielded the largest Queensland team with over 300 athletes, and we were confident of achieving some great results going into the Games,” she said.

A great story out of the Games was the UQ Baseball team who picked up silver, only just losing 8-7 at the bottom of the 9th innings against Monash. This capped an impressive performance when considering it was the young club’s first Uni Games.

The women’s athletics team excelled by finishing 1st overall, with their result being boosted by Caitlin Sargent who successfully defended her 100m and 200m titles.

UQ also dominated the women’s golf with UQ Sports Achievement Scholarship holder Christina Mew winning by an enormous 38 shots (yes, this is not a typo!).

The cycling team took out six golds with UQ placing first in women’s badminton, ultimate frisbee, men’s volleyball, women’s volleyball, men’s water polo as well as Rebecca Pegg picking up gold in the women’s 400m freestyle.

2010 sports award recipients announced!

Our latest sports award recipients and University Blues were announced at the UQ Annual Blues & Sports Awards Dinner last Friday.

Sportswoman of the Year Danielle Prince with UQ Vice-Chancellor Prof. Paul Greenfield

Sportsman of the Year was won by cricketer Chris Hartley (Sheffield Shield Player of the Year, 2010) while rhythmic gymnast Danielle Prince (Commonwealth Games gold medal, 2010) was named Sportswoman of the Year.

The event is named after its distinguishing award, the University Blue – a form of recognition of outstanding achievement in university sport, awarded at many institutions throughout the UK and Australia.

Recipients of a UQ Blue for 2010 were:

Sportsman of the Year Chris Hartley with UQ Sport Chairman Dr Douglas Porter

Campbell Schmidt (triathlon)
Danielle Prince (gymnastics)
David Watts (hockey)
James Hanson (rugby)
Jacqui Day (hockey)
Joanna Sterling (windsurfing)

Half Blue awards were won by:

Blair Sheard (ultimate disc)
Caitlin Sargent (athletics)
Francesca Paterson (rowing)
Ian Prior (rugby)
Tim Buchanan (rugby)
Marriki Watego (touch football)
Pippa Savage (rowing)
Shane Johnston (hockey)

Congratulations to the following clubs and officials who took out other awards on the night:

Hulbert Bursary: Uni Rebels Touch Football Club
Club Coach of the Year: Mick Heenan (rugby)
Club Volunteer of the Year: Catriona Arthy (rugby)
Club Administrator of the Year: Scott Young (australian rules)
Service Awards: Andrew Lossberg (cricket); Bruce Brown (rugby)

As well as celebrating the fantastic achievements of all of these awardees, the dinner also commemorated 100 years of sport at UQ – a milestone that will officially fall next month.

UQ Sport would like to thank everyone who came along to help celebrate this momentous occasion and once again congratulate all award recipients.