Bond Bullsharks bring home trophy

Bond University is once again home to the prestigious Doug Ellis trophy, after the Bond Bullsharks were crowned the per capita champions for the second year running at the recent Australian University Games (AUG) in Sydney. Bond executive director of sport, Garry Nucifora, presented the trophy to Bond Bullsharks team captains Ben Green and Caitlin Liddelow at the university this week. It was the first time Bond has taken home the Doug Ellis trophy away from the Gold Coast. Mr Nucifora also recognised touch footballer Sam Johnson, netballer Zoe Kaesehagen and AFL player Alex Hamlyn for receiving ‘Green and Gold’ selection for their individual performances. The 163-strong Bond team was among more than 7,100 student athletes from 41 tertiary institutions who competed in the week-long Australian University Games. The Bond Bullsharks were represented in 16 different sports. Mr Nucifora said Bond had continued to ‘punch above its weight’ at the games. “This has become a bit of a habit for Bond, which has won the per capita trophy for winning the most pennants per student, 4 of the last 6 years,” he said. “While the Melbourne and Sydney universities share the weight of the student athlete population, we continue to have a real crack at these larger institutions and are on track to have a chance to finish in the top three overall in coming years. “We have high hopes for sport at Bond and this ongoing success makes a statement about what we can do.” Mr Nucifora, who joined Bond this month, said he was looking forward to sport being a continued focus for the university. “I’m very happy to be in this newly created position of executive director of sport. It is a great opportunity,” he said. “I’ve already learnt in my time here that Bond is an exciting place to be.” ENDS