SU fencing club at NIJFS Round 3 at Sullivan (minus Edward Lilley) Last Saturday 11th January it was Sullivan’s turn to host a round of the 2019/20 NI Junior Foil Series. This was Round 3 of the series and 15 SU fencers had entered, including for the first time, 2 from the Prep School. Five medals were won by SU fencers in total, 3 silver and 2 bronze. U10s Year 6 Prep fencer Sam Snoddy put in an impressive performance in his first ever competition, starting off with 5 wins from 6 in his poule to take the 2nd seed position for the direct elimination stage. He then progressed through the quarter and semi-finals to reach the final, but lost to the no.1 seed to take silver. U12s After the poule stage in the girls’ U12s Amelia Penny was 4th seed, but was knocked out in the quarter-finals, finishing 5th overall. In the Boys’ U12s, Prep year 7 Myles Wilkinson (in his first competition) and year 8 Noah Currie were seeded 3rd and 5th respectively after the poules. In the knock-out stage they reached the quarters where they put in strong performances, but both were beaten 7-10, Myles finishing 5th and Noah 6th. U14s Year 9s Charlie Beimers and Alexandra Ong were the SU female representatives in this age group. Charlie only dropped one fight in her poule to take the 2nd seed position, while Alexandra ended up seeded 5th going into the direct eliminations. Alexandra lost in the quarter-finals (finishing 5th), but Charlie went on to put in her best performance to date and reach the final, but only after a hard fought 15-14 win in the semi. In the final she lost to the no.1 seed, taking the silver medal. In the Boys’ U14s Edward Lilley, Lewis Currie and Finn Neely finished the poules ranked 3rd, 5th and 9th. Finn, carrying a number of injuries, suffered a narrow 14-15 defeat in the last 16, while Edward and Lewis made the quarters to finish 5th and 6th. U16s Victoria Morris had a superb start in the Girls’ U16s, finishing the poule stage unbeaten to take the no.1 seed position. Izzy Evans was close behind, seeded no.2, with Alex Atkinson and Rachel McKillen no.4 and no.6. Rachel was knocked out in the quarters to finish 6th, while Alex and Izzy made it to the semi-finals. Here Izzy was knocked out by the eventual winner and then Alex had to withdraw from the competition due to an arm injury picked up in her quarter-final fight, the two of them finishing joint 3rd. The final was a rerun of the previous 2 rounds, Victoria against the top RoI U16 from Dublin. This time Victoria failed to get the win, finishing with the silver medal. The Boys’ U16s had Alexander Penny and Keir Murray finishing their poules with seedings 4 and 7. Both were however knocked out in the quarters, with Alexander finishing just outside the medals in 5th and Keir finishing 7th. Round 4 takes place on Sun 9th February 2020 in the Queens Leisure Complex in Holywood. Boys U10 Medallists Girls U16 Medallists Sam En Garde Girls U14 Medallists Alex Ahead on Points David White SUFC Coach 15 Jan 2020

On Tuesday 17 December 2019, Adam Bell (Year 13) picked up the award for top candidate at GCSE Moving Image Arts. Adam is an extremely talented pupil and continues to be a huge asset to the art department, studying both MIA and Art and Design at AS Level. A massive congratulations to Adam and of course his wonderful teacher, Mrs Jenny Simon who has been a wonderful inspiration to so many of our young filmmakers over her short few years in Sullivan.

The Royal Belfast Academical Institute (RBAI) was the venue for the 2nd round of the N Ireland Junior Foil Series, held last Saturday 7th December. Twelve Sullivan Upper Fencers took part, 5 of whom brought back medals: 1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze. U12s In the girls’ U12s Amelia Penny finished third to win a bronze medal, while in the boys’ event Noah Currie also finished third to take bronze. Although this was only Noah’s first ever competition and Amelia’s second, these results reflected how much both these young fencers had put into their training and practice since starting fencing in September. U14s Finn Neely got off to a flying start in the U14 boys event, winning all 5 of his poule fights in convincing style to take the no.2 seed position going into the knock-out stage. Here however, he suffered a surprise narrow quarter-final defeat to finish in 5th place. Year 8 Josh Andrews had his first experience of competition in this age group, just losing his last 16 fight to finish 13th. In the girls’ U14s Alexandra Ong made it to the semis where she put up a good fight but lost 7-15 to finish 3rd and take bronze. U16s The poule stage of the girls’ U16s saw Victoria Morris win 6 from 7 fights, Izzy Evans 5 from 7, Alex Atkinson 3 from 7, Rachel McKillen 2 from 7 and Angharad King 1 from 7, giving the 5 SU fencers seedings 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 respectively going into the knock-out stage. Unfortunately this meant that 4 of the 5 ended up in the same half of the last 16 draw, and resulted in Izzy knocking out Rachel and Victoria knocking out Angharad, leading to Victoria meeting Izzy in the semi-final. Victoria won this fight to go into the final, with Izzy taking bronze. Alex, in the other half of the draw, lost her quarter-final to finish 5th, while Rachel and Angharad were placed 6th and 7th. The final, between Victoria and the top RoI U16, was initially close fought, but in the end was a convincing win for Victoria 15-10. The boys’ U16s had Alexander Penny and Keir Murray finishing their poules with seedings 4 and 8. Both were however knocked out in the quarters, with Alexander finishing just outside the medals in 5th and Keir finishing 8th. Round 3 takes place on Sat 11th January 2020 in the SU Sports Hall. David White SUFC Coach 18 Dec 2019

Former Sullivan Upper School pupil Fergus Jemphrey (2008-15) stole the show at Twickenham as his two tries not only earned Cambridge a 15-0 win over arch-rivals Oxford in the 138th Varsity Match, but also won him the prestigious Alastair Hignell Medal. The old England full back, four-time Cambridge blue and BBC radio rugby commentator, Hignell, presented Jemphrey with his man of the match award at the end of the game. The former Loughborough University graduate, who is completing a PGCE course at Cambridge, scored a try in each half playing on the wing. “You just dream of scoring at Twickenham. It’s a cliché, but you get the first one over and then think keep going, keep going. You get in the corner, but both my tries were quite close as well,” he said. “You’re looking at the big screen thinking ‘did I get it or not?’ I just about got it – I can’t believe it, it’s unreal. “It was just so much fun to play in with the crowd. You can hear the noise, it was class.”

N Ireland’s most prestigious annual senior fencing event is the N Ireland Open, and the 2019/2020 Open took place last Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th of December in Grosvenor Grammar School. Sullivan fencers Izzy Evans, Victoria Morris and Alexander Penny took part, Izzy and Victoria in the women’s foil, Alexander in the men’s foil. This was the toughest competition of the year to date for the 3 SU fencers as they continued to make their transition from junior to senior fencing. Izzy Victoria First up was the men’s foil event, and on completion of the poules Alexander held a seeding of 14th. He then had a tough draw in the knock-out stage and was beaten by the 2nd seed to go out in the last 16 and finish 14th. After the poule stage in the women’s foil, Victoria was seeded 3rd and Izzy 5th. Izzy got as far as the quarter-finals to finish 5th, while Victoria made the semis to take 3rd place and a bronze medal. Women’s Foil Trophy Winners The next event for SU fencers will be the N Ireland Junior Foil Series Round 2 at RBAI in Belfast on 14th Dec 2019. David White SUFC Coach 12 Dec 2019

P7 (and P6) pupils and their parents are warmly invited to visit the school. Pupils considering entry to Sixth Form are also welcome. Copies of the school’s prospectus will be available and there will be opportunities to meet pupils and teachers and to observe a variety of school activities. The Headmaster will speak briefly in the School Hall at 9.30 am, 10.30 am and 11.30 am. Please see link below – Education Authority (EA) admission process. https://www.eani.org.uk/parents/admissions

The second home (N Ireland) open fencing tournament of the year, the Derry Open, was held last weekend 16th and 17th Nov in the Magee Campus of the Ulster University. Three SU fencers took part: Izzy Evans and Victoria Morris in the women’s foil, and Alexander Penny in the men’s foil. In the first poule round of the women’s foil event, Izzy and Victoria both won 3 out of their 5 fights. Then in the second round Victoria won 4 from 5 and Izzy 2 from 5, making Victoria the 2nd seed and Izzy 4th as they went into the knock-out stage. Both made it to the semi-finals, Izzy losing a tough fight with the no. 1 seed 10-15 to finish third, and Victoria taking a convincing 15-5 win to go into the final. In the final Victoria was unable to overcome the top seed, finishing with the second place trophy. The first poule round of the men’s foil saw Alexander win 1 fight from 4, then repeat that result in the second round. After going into the knock-out stage seeded 10th, he lost his last 16 fight, but as the youngest competitor in the event, Alexander put up a strong performance against much more experienced fencers. Women’s Foil Trophy Winners The next event for SU fencers will be the N Ireland Open at Grosvenor Grammar School on the 7th and 8th Dec 2019. David White SUFC Coach 21 Nov 2019

Prior to half term the 1st XI boys travelled to Dublin to play in the Irish Schools competition The first game was playing against Kings Hospital School. This game was played at their school. Sullivan started well in a competitive match. Sullivan took the lead through D Girvin. Kings Hospital School then increased the pressure on Sullivan and scored two quick goals one after the other. Sullivan were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty stroke when a shot on goal hit a defenders foot, they were only awarded a penalty corner, this was defended by Kings Hospital. Final Score Sullivan 1 (D Girvin) v Kings Hospital 2 The second and third games were played the following day at High School, Dublin. The morning match was against Kilkenny. Again this was another tight match, one goal was the difference in the two teams. Sullivan 2 (T McClintock and H Yarr) v Kilkenny 1 Sullivan went into the final game against Ashton, from Cork, knowing that only a win would allow them to progress into the semi finals of the competition. The game was played well by both teams and it was only with the last hit of the ball that Ashton managed to score. Final Score Sullivan 0 v Ashton 1 After missing out on the semi-final, traditionally those teams play a friendly game. Sullivan played against Newpark, Dublin. As usual these games are more relaxed and in a great spirit. As a result: Final Score Sullivan 6 (D Girvin 2,H Yarr, J Crookshanks, F Todd and C Smith) v Newpark 6 The squad that attended the competition: F Todd, P Haley, S Anderson, M Trimble (C), B McDowell, H Yarr, D Girvin (C), T McClintock, D Erskine, P Rose, J Crossan, J Crookshanks, C Matthews, C Smith, R Turner, T Moore and H Dunlop {gallery}NewBHN{/gallery}

Round 1 of the 2019/2020 NI Junior Foil Series was held last Sunday 3 November 2019 at Hunterhouse College in South Belfast. This was the first junior competition of the new fencing season and the first of six NIJFS championship rounds to be held across the school year, each round in a different school or club. Ten Sullivan fencers entered the event, with 7 of them winning medals. U12s Year 8 beginner, Amelia Penny, was our only entrant in the girls’ event in this category, finishing a creditable 5th in her first ever competition. U14s Finn Neely and Edward Lilley both made the semi-finals in the boys’ U14s. Though neither made the final, both came away with bronze medals for joint 3rd. In the girls’ U14s Charlie Biemers took a bronze medal, while Alexandra Ong suffered a narrow defeat in her quarter-final to finish just outside the medals in 5th. U16s In the girls’ competition in this age group Victoria Morris, the current U16 champion, didn’t lose a fight all day, taking gold in the final with a convincing 15:6 win. Izzy Evans and Alex Atkinson fought their way through to the semi-finals, where they both lost (Izzy knocked out by Victoria), both finishing in the bronze medal positions. Alexander Penny won 5 out of his 6 U16 poule fights, making him second seed going into the knock-out stage, while Keir Murray was seeded 6th with 2 poule wins. Keir finished 6th overall, while Alexander made the last 4, losing his semi-final fight to finish up with a bronze medal. Round 2 takes place on Saturday 14 December 2019 in RBAI in Belfast. Regards David White SUFC Coach

The first home (N Ireland) fencing competition of the year, the North West Open, was held last Saturday 19th Oct 2019 in the Coleraine Campus of the Ulster University. Five SU fencers took part: Alex Atkinson, Izzy Evans, Angharad King and Rachel McKillen in the women’s foil, and Alaxander Penny in the men’s foil. SUFC fencers plus coach at the 2019 North West Open In the women’s foil, all 4 SU fencers made it through to the quarter-finals, with Alex, Izzy and Angharad going through to the last four. In the semi-finals Izzy lost to the eventual winner, while Alex knocked out Angharad to go through to the final. Here she was unable to overcome the top seed and came away with the silver medal. Alexander Penny was the only SU representative in the men’s foil event, where he fought through to the quarters, but was knocked out to finish just outside the medals. Women’s Foil Medallists The next event for SU fencers will be Round 1 of the Northern Ireland Junior Foil Series at Hunterhouse College on the 3rd Nov 2019. David White SUFC Coach 22 Oct 2019

The 1st XI as they set off for Dublin to play in the All Ireland Championships. They play: Wednesday 23 October 2019 v Kings Hospital School (Dublin) starting 1:30 pm at their school Thursday 24 October 2019 v Kilkenny College starting 11:15 am at High School, Dublin v Ashton School (Cork) starting 3:15 pm at High School, Dublin Friday 25 October 2019 – depends on previous results Best of luck to the boys!

The 1st XI hockey squad had a very enjoyable tour in Edinburgh from the 17-20 October. As well as taking in many of the historic and well known sights they played 2 very competitive matches against Inverleith and Grange hockey clubs, coming out with a win and a draw.