Athletics

The first day’s first event was Athletics. Run like a full-on international athletics meeting, the children had to be very aware of which events were happening where and when and did well to step up with some outstanding performances. Leanne Cockerill (twice), Ella Watson and Isa Al Khalifa all won events, with Sarah Stewart, Isabel Looby, Nyasha Chihwayi earning silver medals. The girls’ 4x100m relay team ran well to get a bronze and Rafi Little set a new school record for the 600m. Every event that our athletes competed in earned them points and a fantastic second place finish for the team was fully deserved.

Ella Watson, Euan Boyle, Evie Jones, Isa Al Khalifa, Isabel Looby, Jad Hinedi, John Wilkie, Leanne Cockerill, Nathan Busek, Nicholas Santiago, Nyasha Chihwayi, Rafael Little, Sarah Stewart, Wilma Tautenhahn, Zoe Markley, Zouheir Hamdan, Robbie Leap, Liana Al Khatib.

Swimming

Ideal conditions were few and far between for swimming, following on from the long athletics event plus a change of venue and format. Again, the St Chris swimmers stepped up to the challenges and again, it was the girls who set the tone of success for the team. Sarah Stewart, Mia Sum, Ella Watson and Isabel Looby all medalled across multiple races, ably supported by Nathan Busek, Nick Santiago, Robbie Leap and Jad Hinedi. A very impressive third place and some individual medals were delightful results on the night.

Sarah Stewart, Mia Sum, Isabel Looby, Ella Watson, Nathan Busek, Robbie Leap, Nicholas Santiago, Jad Hinedi.

Girls’ Football

Girls’ Football has been on the rise at St Chris which continued at the BSME Games. They dominated their group with Hanna Hevesy personally scoring more goals than seven other teams put together. The hosts were dispatched in the quarter-finals and a strong Al Khubairat team sent likewise in the semis. Hanna confirmed her place as Golden Boot winner with the clinching goal to win first place for the girls in a true team effort where everyone contributed to not a single goal conceded. Isabel Looby’s fine performances throughout the tournament earned her the Best Player award. Well done, girls!

Erin Jardine, Dara Clifton, Amnah Albustani, Grace Dawson, Leanne Cockerill, Sarah Stewart, Phoebe Beckett-McIlroy, Hanna Hevesy, Isabel Looby, Noha Barbir.

Boys’ Basketball

Drawn in a tough group, the boys nonetheless worked hard to finish joint top with two wins out of their three games. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the format this wasn’t enough to qualify for the quarter-finals. Despite some resolute performances, the boys found it difficult to overcome their disappointment and couldn’t quite achieve the next win that would have bumped them up the final positions.

Jad Hinedi, Euan Boyle, Faisal Fakhro, Abboud Abi Ramia, Sam Stubbs, Nathan Busek, Abdulla AlAali, Zouheir Hamdan

Boys’ Football

The boys stepped into the unknown having been drawn into a pool of unfamiliar teams, and started really well with a win followed by two draws and that was good enough to send the boys through to the quarter-finals. Same opposition, same pitch, same stage of the competition as their female teammates the previous day but unfortunately, the boys couldn’t match the same result. The nature of the format meant that the team had to pick themselves up for a semi-final to go to fifth place. Sam Stubbs inspired the necessary performance but having gone off injured, couldn’t do the same in the fifth place final, leaving our players in sixth place overall.

Sam Stubbs, Nicholas Santiago, John Wilkie, Abboud Abi Ramia, Zouheir Hamdan, Nyasha Chihwayi, Faisal Fakhro, Nathan Busek, Abdulla AlAali.

Girls’ Netball

The girls went into the netball on a high of individual and team success and immediately extended their run of great results with a 100% win record in their group. They stormed through to the semi-finals but were eventually beaten by a DESS team that had been even more successful on the goals front. This obvious disappointment made the girls even more determined to leave with another medal and duly earned their fully-deserved third place to round off the whole weekend with a win for St Chris.

Emily Elsdon, Emily Osbourne, Evie Jones, Erica Barry, Leanne Cockerill, Maddie Stewart, Sarah Stewart, Grace Dawson, Isabel Looby.

Overall

Every individual and every team earned us points over the course of the weekend. It was with great pride and delight that St Chris finished in third place overall out of the now sixteen schools that were the best the Middle East had to offer. A tremendous achievement and thanks must go to all the competitors who gave their best efforts for this outcome. Further thanks to the teachers – Mr Armstrong, Mr Dales, Ms Lambert, Mrs Lodwig, Yavor and Mr Holness. Well done to everyone involved!