Despite current restrictions, Sheldon College was thrilled to be able to host our annual Gift race yesterday.

First held in in 2011,’The Gift’ is a 1500m race involving our top 12 female and male students' competing against each other and their own personal best time. ‘The Gift’ is a yearly highlight of the College calendar, made particularly special as students from years 4 to 12 compete equitably. A handicapped race, whose participants are chosen by Head Athletics Coach, Mr Ben Norton, affords each athlete an equal chance of winning. The fastest amongst the competitors start the race last. Yesterday, Year 12 student Riley Niven struck out a whole 95 seconds after the first runner! As the competitors could theoretically all finish at the same time, it makes for a fantastic, highly competitive race!

Since the inauguration of the race, the Sheldon College Sporting Community has been fortunate enough to have the wonderful Gallagher family sponsor prize money for each winner. The winning students are awarded with a $50 cheque, kindly presented by the Gallaghers. Unfortunately, due to the current COVID restrictions, parents and external community members could not be on campus to watch the race, which meant the Gallaghers were unable to attend for the first time in the race’s history. Thankfully, our media team, was able to record the video to allow the Sheldon community to watch the hotly contested race. Once restrictions have eased, the Gallaghers will present prize cheques to the winners on assembly.

Congratulations Ashley Harris, Year 5 and Riley Niven, Year 12 on being crowned the 2021 fastest female and male runners respectively. Both athletes put on an outstanding performance, with Ashley achieving a personal best time, and Riley running the fastest time ever recorded in ‘The Gift’ race. We cannot wait to see who takes the crown next year!