Sports Archives - Page 72 of 118

Perfect Weather For Lachlan PSSA Cross Country Trials

April 30, 2021 By Maggi Barnard

Participants from Parkes East Public School competing at the Forbes Racecourse on Monday at the Lachlan PSSA Cross Country trials.

The Lachlan PSSA Cross Country trials were held at the Forbes Racecourse on Monday with a strong turn-out of students from across the region, including Parkes primary schools.

Winners on the day were guaranteed a spot in the Western Trials on Wednesday, 9th June at Geurie with the top six making it through. Parkes East Primary School had seven athletes qualify for the Western Trials. From there the winners proceed to the State PSSA titles on 16th July to battle it out against the top junior distance runners in the state.

Forbes turned on beautiful weather and the action track side was just as spectacular with some tight and intriguing racing throughout the day to keep the large crowd entertained in one of the first PSSA events since COVID.

Participants arrived at 10:30am for a walk through before the main action began at 11:15am with the under 12/13 years boys over 3km, followed by the under 8/9 years girls 2km run.

The trials finished with the under 10 girls at 12:30pm before official presentations and formalities.

The Ripple Effect Of Kindness

April 16, 2021 By Maggi Barnard

Rebecca Miller doing a lap at Northparkes Oval on Saturday morning. She joined runners in the weekly parkrun to take a break from her laps on the oval.

Parkes business woman Rebecca Miller is currently attempting to run nine marathons in nine days in a mammoth effort to raise $100,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation and three other charities.

After two years in the making and several hurdles along the way, like COVID and flooding, she started her 355km run in the pitch dark in Parkes last Saturday – the distance from Parkes to Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney.

Rebecca is dedicating her run to little Lilly Wyburn, who fought Leukaemia form the age of two and sadly lost her battle in November 2017 when she was eight and a half years old.

“Lilly touched so many lives in her short time on earth,” said Rebecca, who is wearing a special necklace she received from Lilly’s mum Jodie to help her get through this massive challenge.

Rebecca is raising funds for four foundations dedicated to supporting families and finding a cure for childhood cancer: Bandage Bear Foundation, Carrie’s Beanies for Brain Cancer, Leukaemia Foundation and CanAssist.

She said doing a marathon every day for nine days was going to challenge her emotionally, mentally and physically, but with the amazing support of so many people cheering her on, she was confident she could do it.

The community support was on show on Sunday with a fun day organised. Rebecca managed to run about 200 laps of Northparkes Oval to complete 50km each day giving her a big boost to take on the remainder of the challenge the rest of the week.

She ran in Orange on Monday and Tuesday, and then went on to Bathurst, Lithgow and will run in Katoomba today. She is expecting to arrive at Westmead tomorrow. If you would like to donate to The Ripple of Kindness project go to https://au.gofundme.com/f/the-ripple-of-kindness-project

King Of The Mountain

April 9, 2021 By Maggi Barnard

Parkes businessman Peter O’Donnell’s BMW 335i (right) carried promotional material for the 2022 Parkes Elvis Festival at last weekend’s Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour event.

With the King on board, Mt Panorama’s most travelled race car came away with a class win at last weekend’s Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour event and lots of publicity for the Parkes Elvis Festival.

Backed by Spinifex Recruiting, Parkes businessman Peter O’Donnell’s BMW 335i carried promotional material for the 2022 Parkes Elvis Festival themed on the King’s 27th film, Speedway.

Apart from two blown rear tyres on Conrod Straight at around 250 kilometres an hour, and a minor fuel leak from a loose clamp, the car preformed faultlessly from the start to the finish and won the B1 High Performance Forced Induction class. They finished 26th outright (of the 60 that qualified) and won the class by 16 laps.

“The Parkes Elvis Festival has a motor racing theme next year and what a way to promote through a great motor race such as the 6 Hour at Australia’s most famous circuit,” said Peter.

Peter started the race with car racer Peter Johnston taking over at the first schedule pit stop, while car preparer Garry Mennell completed the next two stints before he handed off to Peter Johnston for his second period behind the wheel. For the final run to the chequered flag, Peter O’Donnell returned to the drivers’ seat.

The BMW is Mt Panorama’s most experienced and prolific enduro campaigner. It won the 12-hour race twice outright (when it was a production car event) and has five class victories. In all, the various driving crews have stood on the podium as a place-getter in 10 of the 13 contested enduros.

The car has an astonishing finish record, completed more laps, and covered greater kilometres than any other car on Australia’s most famous racetrack. The venerable coupe has chalked up an amazing 3,318 laps of Mt Panorama and 20,614.734 kilo-metres in practice, qualifying and racing in the 12-hour, six hour and other events at the circuit.

Swimming Club Championships Tomorrow

March 19, 2021 By Maggi Barnard

Blake and Matty Price after a successful Sunday at the Griffith Carnival last weekend.

The highlight of the Parkes Sharks Swimming Club season takes place this weekend with several key events including two match races.

The club championships will kick off at 2pm tomorrow (Saturday) with a warm-up commencing at 1:30pm.

The two key events include the Bob Barter Shield, an invitational event for the fast-est seven swimmers in the club, and the Aston-Brien Cup. It is an invitational event for the 11 and under swimmers taken from club nights and carnivals over the whole season.

At the end of the day in the 200m individual medley race swimmers will have to finish as close to their nominated times as possible. The one who is the closest will receive the Maurice Hollaar Cup. If swimmers do not nominate a time, the time recorded on SwimCentral will be used.

There is still time to register for the event, with entries taken until 10pm tonight.

Each age division will have some exciting match-ups, with a broad range of swimmers having represented at various school and country swimming events at a representative level.

At the beginning of the event, the national JX awards will be presented.

These are for swimmers who have achieved a set standard in various events over the course of the previous season.

St Patrick’s Day Bowls

March 19, 2021 By Maggi Barnard

It was a grand celebration of St Patrick’s Day at social bowls on Tuesday.

This same week last year, we were reeling with the news of COVID-19 restrictions ceasing all our activities. A year on and we’re back and celebrating! Eighteen wee bairns kicked up their green heels in a grand manner for Tuesday’s St Patrick’s Day social bowls. The verdant-hatted spider had all the gals vying for that pot of gold, with Jan skipping off with the green goodies.

Magic didn’t happen for Beth Thomas, Eileen Bradley and Joan Simpson on Rink 10, as they went down to the lively team of Betsy Johnstone, Wendy Hendry and Kim Evans, still smiling with Irish eyes after scoring a 7 on one end. Valmai Westcott, Kay Craft and Brenda Davies took yonks to build a score and tried to hide in the clover on Rink 11 after their minor loss against Kerrie Nutley, Gwenda Carty and Maree Grant. Helen Heraghty, Merilyn Rodgers and Rhona Went used up all their allotted wishes in their game vs Hilda McPherson, Di Howell and Jan McPhee on Rink 9. The tricksters in team McPhee took the win.

To play social bowls call the club on 6862 1446, between 8:30 to 9am. Play commences at 9:30am. Good luck to our four contenders travelling to Orange to play in the District Singles on Tuesday.

Plenty Of Places For Parkes Swimmers

March 5, 2021 By Maggi Barnard

Meg Turner with her 15 years age champion award from Mountains and Plains Summer Championships.

It has been an exciting few weeks in the pool for Parkes Sharks with plenty more to come in March.

School carnivals have kept our officials and swimmers busy, with some excellent results and selections into the next level of competition.

In Mountains and Plains action, Bailey, Blake and Matty Price, along with Meg Skinner competed at the recent Tottenham short 33m course carnival. Bailey achieved three second places and a third, Blake five first places and two seconds, Matty six first places and a second. Meg Skinner enjoyed the short course by taking a whopping 17 seconds off her time for the 100m freestyle. From the Lachlan Trials held last Friday, the following Parkes Sharks swimmers were selected to attend the Western PSSA carnival in Dubbo on 12th March: Quinn Kriedemann, Savannah Latu, Finlay Quince, Lily Phillips, Timmy Longhurst, Marcus Skinner, Chelsea McMaster, Meg Skinner, Charlotte Orr, Eamon Moody, Katie Forbes and Clara Rice.

The Parkes Public Girls Junior 4×50 freestyle relay and the Parkes East Girls Senior 4 x 50 freestyle relay teams also qualified.

The competition in Dubbo will be to qualify for the State PSSA carnival in Sydney on 31st March.

In the Catholic Schools competition, KhanJackson qualified to swim in the Sydney Carnival after achieving four first places and a second.

Entries for the Christian Schools Sports Association haven’t been finalised yet, however Samuel Quince, Walter Smeaton, William Ellis, Nicole Ellis and Kelly Ellis are expected to advance, with Kelly taking out the Boys 11 years point score.

At a club level, training has been continuing with the club championships only two weeks away on 20th March.

By Jay Quince

Khan Jackson qualified in the Catholic Schools competition to swim in the Sydney Carnival with four first places and a second.

Parkes Sharks winning mixed relay team at Tottenham.

Endeavour Dragons On The Big Stage

March 5, 2021 By Maggi Barnard

The Parkes Dragon Boat Club combined with Bidgee Dragons from Wagga Wagga at the ACT Regatta held in Canberra last month for three events, and competed in one event as just the Endeavour Dragons.

The Parkes Endeavour Dragons did themselves proud on the big stage at last month’s regatta in Canberra.

The Saturday morning was glorious, and the water was calm as the colourful marquees of twenty-three clubs lined the shore of Lake Burley Griffin, while hot air balloons soared overhead.

The Parkes team combined with Bidgee Dragons from Wagga Wagga, and the first race of the day was the 2km turn race. The combined team paddled their hearts out and finished in 13 minutes with Endeavour Sweep Bill Thomas navigating the tricky turns.

Next were the 200m sprints, starting with women’s heats. No place was gained in this category, but Parkes stayed with the field. Opens followed, with Endeavour’s Linda Snyman sweeping. Linda stayed calm and cool throughout the long line-up calls and did a fabulous job bringing the team in second, in both heats.

Finally, Parkes raced in the mixed heats, the only category not combined with Wagga. The Parkes team of fiery Endeavour dragons shone in this event. They were ecstatic to cross the line first in both heats against very tough competition.

When the announcements for the finals were called, the team expected to make it into the B finals, as the A finals are for the cream of the crop. But when the Endeavour Dragons were called for the mixed category A finals, the spontaneous cheer from the Parkes/Wagga marquee was one of elation.

“It was a dream moment for a coach,” said Beth Thomas. “I’m proud to say we came in fourth, a mere second or two behind the leaders. It is due to the hard work, dedication and real teamwork of each crew member to get us over the line,” said Beth.

If you would like to try out paddling, call Beth on 0418 253 045 for more information.

By Beth Thomas

4,000 Steps In A Morning

February 26, 2021 By Maggi Barnard

To play social bowls on Tuesday call the Parkes Bowling and Sports Club on 68621446 between 8.30 – 9am with exercises to begin at 9:30am.

Have you ever heard someone utter: “bowls isn’t exercise”? Apart from walking over 4,000 steps during a morning of bowls, it has been proven that many muscle groups get a workout – biceps, shoulders, abs are all well-used, but one of our club experts has proven that glutes do the majority of the work!

With wide smiles of anticipation, 26 young ladies donned their workout gear and hit the mats for their weekly session on Tuesday.

On mat 18, Cherie Frame/Liz Byrne, still fresh from their recent state representation, proved too fit for Marja Iffland/Heather Harvey.

Mat 15 was witness to a great wrestle. The difference in score was only one point as Kay Craft/Hilda McPherson/Di Howell flexed their muscles against Chris Curteis/Chris Cox/Maureen Miller. Sweat dripped and the heart rate quickened as Team Miller gained the advantage over the last 5 ends to draw level, and then win the tussle.

The action on mat 16 proved that tried and true muscles work longer with better results. Joan Simpson teamed with Gwenda Carty/Laurie Keane demonstrating to their opposition how it’s done, rising to success over Lynn Ryan/Eileen Bradley/Kim Evans.

The physical exertion continued on mat 17, where Jan McPhee and Rhona Went limbered up against Brenda Davies and Robyn Morgan. Team Went scored a run of winning ends which pushed up their score to an unbeatable high.

Finally, on mat 19, Fran Dixon/Carol Reed/Rosemary Mitchell set the pace in their game, winning 9 ends to 7 against Helen Heraghty/Merilyn Rodgers/Lorraine Baker.

By Lea Orr

Parkrun Launch ‘Blessed’ With Torrential Rain

February 12, 2021 By Maggi Barnard

READY, SET, WET… Parkes Shire Mayor Ken Keith cut the ribbon as parkrun volunteers organisers Ronel van Wyk (right) and Dan Greef (left) look on at the start of the 5km course. Photos: Keith Turk

It took two years of planning and organising and on Saturday even the weather made a special effort to make the launch of parkrun in Parkes a memorable one.

Parkes participants were joined by runners from all over the Central West, the Blue Mountains and even Canberra in torrential rain to run the 5km course starting at North-parkes Oval.

Parkes Shire Mayor Ken Keith turned up with his raincoat and umbrella to cut the ribbon to set off the 41 participants. The Mayor welcomed the worldwide phenomena to Parkes, saying he had seen it by chance on a recent visit to Newcastle. “It was just wonderful to see the whole community taking part. After all the serious runners had left, the parents with their children, some still in strollers, joined in.” He said he hoped the Parkes community would embrace the local event, and thanked the volunteers who had put in all the effort to bring it to our town. After his official duties he showed his support by walking the course.

A very happy runner at the finish line of the 5km parkrun course.

Dan Greef, one of the volunteers who was instrumental in organising the event for Parkes, thanked the Parkes Shire Council for a grant through the Sports Council and Northparkes Mines to get the starting kit for parkrun. He said the Council staff who offered great assistance in setting up the 5km course was greatly appreciated.

The heavy rain on Saturday not only proved challenging for the runners who had to traverse puddles, mud, wet grass and other obstacles, but the volunteer time keepers experienced difficulties with the wet screens on their mobile phones. All participants who have registered with parkrun receive an email after the event with their time and other statistics of the run. The volunteers had to try and fit the times to runners like a jigsaw puzzle after Saturday’s event.

The free, weekly, community event with no time limit for all ages and levels of fitness for running, jogging and walking is organised by volunteers. Participants on Saturday were full of praise for the Parkes volunteers’ friendliness and encouragement in the rain.

The runners and walkers spread out over the 5km course, which follows a double loop behind the sports ovals. It is a challenging course with some steep hills and a variety of surfaces.

Parkrun has over 1,400 events in 22 countries, with Australia boasting over 400 events. Parkes was one of four new events to launch in NSW on Saturday.

Parkrun is a good event to attract tourists as dedicated parkrunners will travel far and wide to increase their tally of events as was evident on Saturday with so many runners travelling to Parkes despite the inclement weather.

A runner from Canberra was wearing his special 250 parkrun shirt, indicating he had already done that amount of events. Two other runners from the Blue Mountains said they had competed at all the events in NSW and made sure thet were at the first one in Parkes.

By Maggi Barnard

Some of the 41 participants at the starting line of the first official parkrun in Parkes.

Parkrun (5km) every Saturday morning at the Northparkes Oval 7:50 am for 8am start. Register for free to get a barcode and print it out to bring for every run. Go to www.parkrun.com.au. Be there at 7:50am for a start at 8am. Open to all walkers, joggers and runners.

Parkes Picnic Races Back This Year

February 12, 2021 By Maggi Barnard

Image source: https://parkespicnicraces.com.au/

Planning for the premier event on the Parkes and district social calendar is well underway.

The Parkes Coradgery and Diggers Pic-nic Races are scheduled for Saturday, 12th June. “The outbreak of COVID-19 created numerous challenges for our community, families and businesses, but we feel it is important that this important community event goes ahead,” said Stafford Orange or the organising committee. The race day will be a COVID–19 compliant event.

“We would like to thank all the patrons and generous sponsors for their support in the past and reassure all community members that the Parkes Picnic races will be bigger and better than ever this year.”

The spectator area is in great condition and the venue is now considered one of the best in the Central West with its renovated grandstand and covered bookies rink.

Over the years the June long weekend has become a ‘Back to Parkes’ weekend, with many residents opening their homes to friends and relatives. The weekend attracts visitors from all over the state, and interstate.

There will be food on offer from the Quota Club, utilising the canteen in the new renovated grandstand space. There will also be full bar facilities on course, and several commercial and private marquees providing food and alcohol. Mark the date in your diary for an afternoon of fun and entertainment.

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