Notre Dame crowned champions at NSW Medical Sports day

Medicine students at The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Sydney Campus are jumping for joy after bringing home the Overall Champions trophy for the first time at the 2011 New South Wales Medical Students Council Sports Day. However, the 30 Notre Dame students who participated had to withstand an agonising final countback of scores by the judges before being declared the eventual winners. This year’s Sports Day was held at St John’s College at the University of Sydney and saw Notre Dame compete against medical students from five other universities in NSW. The students applied their friendly competitive spirit across four disciplines – touch football, soccer, mixed netball and tug-of-war – to determine which medicine school would emerge victorious. After finishing in third place last year, Notre Dame’s campaign started in a slow fashion by finishing fourth in the touch rugby competition. Student Natalie Lucas was recognised for several dazzling plays and a sensational try. Notre Dame’s soccer team had victory snatched away from them by the University of Sydney in a heart-stopping penalty shootout during the final. With scores deadlocked at full time, the Notre Dame team lost 2-3 in the shootout. The roles were reversed in the mixed netball competition as Notre Dame sailed through the round robin stages undefeated and clinched the final with a 17-9 victory. The highlight of the event was the tug-of-war which saw 12 Notre Dame students outmuscle their competitors to claim another first place which put the University in a good position to win the overall title. President of The Medical Association of Notre Dame University Sydney (MANDUS), Brent Doolan, says that despite claiming the Overall Champions trophy, the highlight of the day was the interaction between the first and second year Medicine students. “It was fantastic to see the two cohorts of Medicine students unifying and developing really good friendships,” Mr Doolan said. “This strong relationship between Notre Dame’s medical students will hold the School in good stead for its title defence next year. “Notre Dame’s School of Medicine at the Sydney Campus want to thank the NSW Medical Students Council for their time and effort in organising this great event for the medical students in this State.” Media Contact: Leigh Dawson (+61) 8 9433 0569, Mob (+61) 0405 441 09