After an unprecedented double victory by our Boys' and Girls' team last year, the 2024 spring season of sport saw our Girls’ team once again claim the APS Sport Combined Athletics Premiership! This is the second consecutive win for the Wesley Girls’ team since their seven-season winning streak from 2012-2018 and is testament to the depth of talent and commitment of the whole team.
Held at Lakeside Stadium in October, ‘the finals’ saw our girls triumph convincingly, despite the pressure and significant competition from archrivals Haileybury and Caulfield Grammar who finished in second and third place respectively.
‘Going back-to-back is a hard thing to do,’ said team Co-Captain Olivia da Costa-Alves (OW2024), ‘and to be able to achieve this when other schools are looking so strong was something really incredible.’
For Co-Captain Charlotte Nielsen (OW2024), the secret to their success was their strong team bond. ‘It goes way beyond being just teammates; we truly care about each other,’ she said. ‘It’s that love and connection that fuels our passion for athletics, and makes every achievement feel so special.’
Olivia sees their motivation to win stemming from that same place. ‘As much as athletics is an individual sport, at the end of the day we are a team, and so when we lose the motivation to put in the work for ourselves, we do it for each other.’
Head Coach of Athletics, Tim O’Shaughnessy, was full of praise for their efforts. ‘Charlotte and Olivia were an amazing inspiration with their motivating emails and team bonding exercises,’ he said. ‘Team Manager, Nana Owusu-Afriyie, also had the team as tightknit as I have ever seen at Wesley.’
The boys finished in a respectable third place in a very tight result, with only 16.5 points separating the top three schools – a huge effort amongst fierce competition.
Congratulations to all our spring athletes and their amazing coaches for their extraordinary achievements, and to all members of the Girls' team for this outstanding victory.
