Grosvenor In View Magazine 2025

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losing out, unfortunately, in the final of their Northern Ireland Bowl Competition. Our thanks go to Mrs Murdock and our netball coaches last year: Mrs Kirk, Mrs Hainsworth, Miss Lunny, Mrs Prior and Mrs Logan. Our Grosvenor cricket season was a fantastic combination of teamwork, talent and sporting spirit. Notable highlights came in the form of several semi finals, with the Under 12s losing out after a fine run of victories; the 2nd XI made the semi-final of the 2nd XI Cup; and the 1st XI lost narrowly in the Schools’ Plate semi-final. A special mention to the staff members: Mr White, Mr Winters, Mr Thompson, Mr Lendrum, Mr Hamilton, Mr McDowell, Mr Nelson and Mr Young, all of whom pour so much time, energy, commitment, and expertise into each team they take. In Athletics, Grosvenor pupils enjoyed considerable success in the Track and Field County Down District Championships, followed by the Ulster Schools’ Championships. Well done to our team of 6 Year 8 girls who finished in seventh place overall at the Year 8 Ulster Track and Field Competition. Further up the School, our athletes secured an amazing total of six gold medals at Ulster level, including Dominik Lipowski (Junior Boys Discus), Jacob Cochrane (Junior Boys’ Triple Jump), Emily Hobbs (Junior Girls Walk), Jude Glover (Intermediate Boys High Jump and Noah Harper (Intermediate Boys 1500 metres). Our Junior Boys 4 by 100 metres Relay Team, comprising Jacob Cochrane, Zayn Ahmed, Jeydhel Cabuhal, and Isiah Erhabor, performed superbly to claim a further gold medal. Elsewhere, Ben Sykes started off his amazing season with a silver medal in the Intermediate Boys 100 metres, while Eva Lasini performed impressively to claim bronze in the Mini Girls Shot Put. At the All-Ireland event, Jacob Cochrane performed superbly to win gold in the Junior Boys triple jump. Ben Sykes did not fail to impress once again, delivering a dominant display to achieve victory in the Intermediate Boys’ 100m event, equalling the Irish Schools’ record as he secured gold for the second consecutive year. The season did not end there for Ben Sykes, Noah Harper and Jude Glover. Noah and Jude represented Ulster at the Tailteann Games in the 1500 metres and high jump events respectively. Our Irish champion Ben Sykes represented the Irish Mens Under 20 team in the 4 by 100 metre relay in Germany in June. Alongside the accomplishments of our students, our school coaches deserve much praise for their superb commitment – Mr McDowell, Mrs Murdock, Mrs Kirk, Mr Thompson, Mrs Buchanan and Mr Nelson. In table tennis, we enjoyed another outstanding year. Amongst numerous successes for both boys and girls, our Under 19 Boys Team secured the Ulster Schools’ Table Tennis Team Championships and the Girls Under 19 Team secured a silver medal in the same competition. The Boys Team continued their run of success with victory in the Under 19s All Ireland Table Tennis Championships. As well as his team success, Karsten Close continued

In rugby, our teams faced many challenges against tough opposition, but the spirit remained strong through a full season of highs and lows, under the leadership of Mr McDowell as Master of Rugby, and with the support of Saturday rugby coaches Mr White, Mr Thompson, Mr Cowan and Mr Hamilton. The most successful team is perhaps our very own Under 13s who capped off a remarkable season in the most emphatic fashion, storming through their end-of-season tournament undefeated and without conceding a single try. In girls hockey, we saw continued individual and team success under the leadership of Mrs Murdock, ably supported by Saturday hockey coaches Miss Thompson and Mr Moffett, our after-school coaches Mrs Hunter, Mrs Rankin and Mrs Sneddon, and a number of assistant coaches. Our First X1 Team reached the semi-final of the Stevenson Bowl at the beginning of the season and ended the season contesting the final of the Senior Plate, where unfortunately we lost out narrowly. Whilst disappointed on the day, the girls had an amazing season and were unfortunate not to lift the trophy. Our annual Year 8 tournament saw a total of 18 schools joining us, providing the first opportunity that most schools get to play 11-aside matches at a young age. In boys hockey, Mr Nelson, Mr Young and Mr Donnell led the players through an exceptional season, working alongside our fantastic past pupil coaches. Amongst the highlights of the season were two major victories. The First X1 were crowned McCullough Cup Tier B Champions, defeating Methodist College Belfast in the final in December. Shortly following this success, the First X1 also retained the Burney Plate with a determined victory against Kilkeel High School. The 2nd XI also enjoyed a competitive season and reached the semi-finals of their cup competition, where they were narrowly defeated. James Shields has continued to represent Ulster, at Under 18 and Under 19 level, and won a bronze medal at the UK School Games at the very start of the season, as well as scoring a goal representing the Under 19s in a series of matches against Wales. In netball last year we had 5 teams entered into their respective age groups for Blitz competitions. The teams were also placed into their knock-out Cup Competitions, with notable performances coming from the Intermediate Team in particular which reached the semi-final stage. The Minor Team had an excellent year,

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