The Ulster Finals were held at Mallusk playing fields on a cold but thankfully dry day. Each race had approximately 150 runners who had qualified from their district. A number of our athletes were placed in the top 25 in their race: Girls Junior – Nia McNally, Senior – Anna Blake Boys Mini – John McNally, Minor – Conor Brady The Inter boys ran well and a number were in the top 40 which is good for the future as most have another year in this age group. The best results of the day were Emma Hanna in Year 8 who finished 11th overall and Harry Speers in year 14 who finished 15thand qualifies for the All Ireland event on Saturday 8th of March in Cork. Well done to all who took part.

Congratulations to Victoria Duxbury who is the latest winner of the Rainbow Communications Sports Award (in partnership with the Mary Peters Trust). Victoria is the current North Down Young Sports Person of the Year, the third Sullivan pupil to win this award in recent years, following in the footsteps of Rory McIlroy and Katie Kirk.

Congratulations to all the pupils who took part in the Cross Country at Delamont. Just under 50 attended the event and in each race there was an average of 150 runners from various schools. Those who finished in the top 15 qualify for the Ulster event on Wednesday 12 February 2014 at Mallusk. Sullivan pupils who qualified were:GirlsYear 8Emma Hanna          7th Year 10Nia McNally3rd Year 13Jemma Speers5th Anna Blake6th BoysYear 8John McNally7th Year 9 Conor Brady 6th Year 10Adam McKenna11th Year 11/12Daniel Watkins 4th Jonny Brattle    5th Stephen Hodgson11th Year 14Harry Speers    5th The Intermediate Boys Team came 2nd: Jacob Robinson, Jonny Brattle, Stephen Hodgson, Marc Jeffrey, Alex Mills, Daniel Watkins, Connor Trimble, Ryan Wolseley

Sullivan Fencing Mid-Season Update Victoria is Number One! Congratulations to year 14 pupil Victoria Duxbury on reaching the number one spot in the Senior Irish Women’s Foil Rankings. Victoria is now a clear 50 points ahead of her nearest rival, Dublin based Portuguese fencer Joanna Ramahlo. This achievement is due to some remarkable 2013/14 competition results, including wins at the West of Ireland and North West Opens, 3rd place at the Scottish Open and 8th at the Welsh Open. On Saturday 25th January, Victoria won at the N Ireland Open in Belfast and became the first female NI fencer to win foil at our main home fencing event for 9 years. These are deserved successes for Victoria whose remarkable dedication to her sport has set an excellent example for the younger fencers at Sullivan and has been an inspiration for young fencers across N Ireland. Victoria maintains a strict training regime including fencing and fitness training 4 days a week at Sullivan Upper Fencing Club, Belfast Fencing Club and in one-to-one training with her personal coach, ex Olympic fencer Johnny Davis. Victoria is also away numerous weekends from September to May, competing across the UK and Ireland, and most recently competing in World Junior (U20) International events in Slovakia, Poland and Croatia. Rachel Philpott Year 12 pupil Rachel Philpott has also set a superb example for junior fencers at Sullivan, having competed in every major Irish fencing event in the 2013/14 year so far, and having brought home either silver or bronze in every one.  Bronze medals were won at the Irish Open in Dublin, NI Open in Belfast, South of Ireland in Cork and West of Ireland in Galway, and silver at the North West Open in Derry. These results have earned her 3rd place in the senior Irish women’s foil rankings, just 2 behind Victoria. She has also represented N Ireland at the 2013 Fencing Five Nations Tournament and at the Sainsbury UK School Games. Later this month she will be travelling to London to compete in the British U17 National Championships. SU Junior Fencing Sullivan fencers are also making an impression in junior competition.  In the NI Junior Foil Series, with 3 rounds completed out of 5, Erin Maginn currently leads the U12 girls rankings, with Rosemary Adams holding 3rd. In the U12 boys Turlough Smyth also holds 3rd. In the U14 girls Ella Reid and Rachel Smyth are currently joint 3rd, while last year’s U14 girls champion Emily Maginn currently leads the U16 girls, with Iona O’Neill holding 2nd place. David White SUFC Coach 3 February 2014

On the 23 January 2014, the Chemistry Elite Squad travelled to the David Keir building on the Stranmillis road to take part in the regional ‘Top of the Bench’ chemistry competition. Overall we finished 5th in Northern Ireland for Chemistry. When you put it like that, it’s not so bad! I would like to thank Miss Chambers for making this possible, providing transport for the event, and for all her hard work put in to this competition. By Sonny Erskine (Year 10)

Charlie Roberts competed with the NI squad in Munich, Germany last weekend (24-26 January 2014) and  he is now World Karate Confederation International Open Cadet Champion in Wado Kata. In the Kumite event for Cadet heavyweight brown/black, he was knocked out in the second round by the narrowest of margins by the eventual champion who came from the USA. The whole NI squad performed excellently bringing back 17 medals with two Champions.

It also follows a great effort by Victoria, the previous fortnight, at the Scottish Open. Again, the entries were very strong, with the Scottish fencers seeking qualification for the Commonwealths. Victoria managed to achieve a 3rd place, eliminating the No7 ranked UK fencer, and only succombing to the UK No 4 in the semi final.

Please find below link to the Year 13 & 14 Politics pupils contributing to the Radio 4 World Tonight news report on Thursday 23 January 2014. They all did very well and the School got a free plug for the Spring concert. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03qflj2 (Sullivan pupils speak at 18 minutes in)

Medallion Shield 3rd Round Friends School Lisburn 3-5 Sullivan Upper School On the 18 January Sullivan Upper travelled to Lisburn to play Friends in the 3rd round of the Medallion Shield. The two teams had met twice already this season with both teams having one victory each. It promised to be a close affair. When the second half began Friends acquired some valuable territory and possession in the Sullivan half. This paid off for the home side when they were awarded a penalty straight in front of the posts. The impressive full-back duly converted to give the home side a slender 3-0 lead at the start of the second half. The game was continuing to be quite open and one felt the next score would win the game. Both sides had good territory and possession but failed to convert that into points due to two very good defences. Sullivan were awarded a penalty on the 10 metre-line with about 15 minutes to go. Rory Jemphrey lined up a difficult kick and unfortunately failed to get the three points and Friends cleared their lines. Friends hit back at Sullivan and threatened to kill the game off. Great defence was shown by the Sullivan team to keep them in the tie. Then it was the away side who were piling on the pressure and Sullivan were getting closer and closer to getting an absolutely priceless score. When Friends cleared Sullivan showed great determination to get right back at them and they tried des With one minute to go Sullivan’s David Cunningham, who had come on for Stephen Brush midway through the second half, stole a Friends’ line-out in their 22. The line-out which has functioned well all season for the Holywood side came to the rescue again. The Sullivan pack mauled and tried to power their way over. The impressive Friends pack stopped them from doing so. Sullivan were showing great perserverance to try and score and the ball was kept in the forwards. Countless pick-and-go’s were piling heavy pressure on the Friends defence, which stood firm for now. A penalty was awarded to Sullivan. It was the last play so the line-out wasn’t an option for them and neither was a penalty kick. Alex Aston took a quick penalty and again the ball was kept in the forwards. This pressure finally paid off for the away side when flanker Charlie Gregg squeezed in a vital try for Sullivan to win the match! Players and fans alike went mad. The Friends players were in utter disbelief. Rory Jemphrey missed the conversion but it didn’t matter. Sullivan had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The Holywood side showed unbelievable character for a dramatic win in hard conditions. They advance into the 4th round were they will play Ballyclare away.

Junior Drama Club – Performance Night We are would like to invite you to our Junior Drama Production nights on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 January 2014.  Junior Drama Club members have been rehearsing three short performances of scripts adapted or written by Sixth Form Directors. We present our adaptations of ‘Finding Nemo’, ‘Alice In Wonderland’ and a brand new play, written specially for Junior Drama, ‘The Wingman’.  The performances will begin at 7.00 pm, in the School Drama Theatre. Tickets are now on sale at break time in the Green Room, priced £3.50 each.  Any queries about tickets can be addressed to Ms Patterson, cpatterson536@c2kni.net.

Congratulations to former pupil, Michael Robson (who completed Upper Sixth in June 2013) who has gained his first three full international caps for Ireland in recent matches against Spain. This is a tremendous achievement for an 18 year old and we wish him every success in what we hope is a long international career.

The junior netball team have had an excellent start to the sporting year. They have won the Belfast Area Netball League.  After a tough semi-final against Rathmore they faced  Methodist College in the final and won 17-9.  They now go on to represent the Belfast area in the Northern Ireland Finals. Eve Presho and Laura McCaw have made the RDA Netball squad, with Rachael Gowdy and Emer McEvoy making the reserves list. This is an excellent achievement for the girls.