Bullsharks crowned Per Capita Champions at Australian University Games

The Bond Bullsharks were crowned per capita champions for the second year running at last week’s Australian University Games (AUG) in Sydney.

The Doug Ellis per capita trophy is awarded to the university winning the most pennants per student numbers, and this year marked the first time Bond has received this prestigious trophy away from our ‘home turf’ on the Gold Coast.

Over 7,100 student athletes from 41 tertiary institutions took part in 32 sport competitions in the week-long Games, with The University of Sydney claiming the coveted title of 2014 Overall Champion University by securing 17 of the 77 Gold medal pennants on offer.

Second place went to defending champions The University of Melbourne and third place to Monash University, while the John White Spirit of the Games trophy was awarded to WA’s Edith Cowan University.

Bond’s Sport & Recreation Manager, Jackie Parra, said she was incredibly impressed by the breadth and depth of talent of the Bond athletes.

“For a small university like ours to be so competitive, and perform so well, at a national level in 16 different sports is a great achievement,” Jackie said.

“Bringing home the per capita trophy after taking on the Sydney universities on their home soil was no mean feat, and it was fantastic to see our athletes branch out into new events for the first time this year, like women’s AFL and rowing.”

One of Bond’s strongest performances came unexpectedly in the dojo. Bond was awarded a Silver medal in the men’s team event for Judo and came third overall (across both teams and individuals) for Judo.

We also performed well in touch football, with both our men’s and women’s teams taking home Bronze medals.

Long distance runner Joshua-Kaleb Faulkner also scored a Bronze medal in the 10,000 metre event, which he completed under extremely warm conditions in an excellent time of 35 mins, 24.59 seconds.

A stellar performance by our Bullshark athletes at last year’s AUG saw many teams and individuals promoted from lower divisions to Division 1 in 2014.Although this did mean we didn’t receive as many medals as in previous years, competing in higher divisions this year earned us serious points and ensured we retained our per capita champion’s crown.

A number of Bondies were honoured with ‘Green and Gold’ selection by a committee of University Team Managers, Competition Managers and Technical Officials, in recognition of their individual performances at the 2014 AUG.

These included Sam Johnson (men’s touch), Zoe Kaesehagen (netball) and Alex Hamlyn (women’s AFL).

At the Bond AUG team dinner, the following students were awarded Bond Sport & Recreation AUG Trophies for their contribution:

• Team Bond Female Player of the Games – Daisy Swindon-Macmillan (women’s touch)
• Team Bond Male Player of the Games – Joshua-Kaleb Faulkner (long distance runner)
• Team Bond Manager of the Games – Corey Wedding (men’s basketball)
• Team Bond Spirit Award – Jake Upfield (basketball and men’s eight rowing)

Team Bond Spirit Award winner, Jake Upfield was originally supposed to compete in Bond’s rugby 7’s team, but unfortunately the team had to withdraw from the Games at the last minute due to extensive injuries.

“Jake then stepped up and competed superbly in not just the men’s basketball team, but the men’s eight rowing team, proving himself an all-round athlete and a great team player,” Jackie said.

“With such a talented team of multi-disciplined athletes, we are already keenly anticipating a strong performance at next year’s AUG which will be held right here on the Gold Coast.”

Way to go Bullsharks!

To see photos of the Bullsharks in action at AUG 2014 - check out the Bond Sport and Recreation page on Facebook, or Bond_sport on Instagram