​​Training and hard work has returned awards and pride for our amazing and dedicated HPV Teams. Our 8 teams all showed wonderful comradery and spirit not only at the event but also in the months prior to the challenge unfolding. Working behind the scenes was our College community, parents, teachers and friends all supporting and bolstering the teams moral, with such strong backbones it is no wonder our St Mary’s teams prevailed!  

Spotted on the sidelines cheering for the speeding HPV’s was our Mayor George Seymour, he mentioned being keen to see how St Marys finished – we are sure he would not be disappointed with our results! Also cheering on the barriers were many St Marys friends and family, thank you to all supporters, together every bit of cheer helped our teams. 

Our “No Worries” Open Boys were in front from the beginning gaining a pole position in the starting line-up, their enthusiasm never wavered with an eye on the finish line.  After 24 hours and 498 laps they were still in the lead crossing the finishing line as overall winners.  This is a huge achievement for the team and a clear return on their investment of time and dedication to training consistently through the last 12 months.  “Cyclonics” were a step behind in 3rd place. The Open Girls “Fireflies” and Open Mixed “Scorpions” powering through-out the night to a strong 2nd place in each of their categories. The Junior Girls “Cyclopedias” in their second year of racing achieved 3rd place.  All our teams achieved enviable results with-in the pool of 131 teams from across Australia competing in this year’s HPV Challenge. 

Former SMC students also played a key role in the success of this event.  Lachlan Waldock managed our highly successful “No Worries” team while past students Geoffrey Marshall,  Mikeely Waldock, Jessica Pitt, and Molly Pitt took on race marshalling duties.  

The St Mary’s Drone and Robotics teams had dedicated many hours of their own time in Lunch breaks and after school to build and practice for the Technology Challenges. The results speak for themselves, The Drone entries took the podium for St Mary’s and our Robotics Teams fought for 5th and 15th in a very technical challenge. 

Overall our School was well represented throughout the weekend, all students, staff and parents/helpers can be applauded for showing true St Mary’s spirit. What a wonderful event for our College to participate in each year with pride. 

Drone – Rescue Challenge Results 

St Mary’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd place 

Robotics Challenge Results 

St Mary’s 5th Place and 15th Place 

Human Powered Vehicles Challenge Results 

Open Boys - 1st No Worries, 3rd - Cyclonics 

Open Girls - 2nd Fireflies 

Open Mixed - 2nd Scorpions, Inertia 10th, Revved Up 19th 

Junior Girls - 3rd Cyclopedias 

Junior Boys - 5th Wildfire