Pacific Hills Christian School student, Tahlia Geelan, has achieved a rare feat for a person of her age. The 12 year old has represented Australia in international sport and stood on the winner’s dais.
Tahlia competed at the FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Age Group Competitions in Tokyo and despite badly injuring her foot before leaving Australia, and having disruptions to her regular training schedule, she still managed to finish in second place! Her other major achievements have included taking out two national titles and winning the Under 13 category – despite only being 10 at the time!
Tahlia trains for 10 hours a week but she still finds the time to do athletics, cross country, bike riding, soccer and swimming. She is one of many Pacific Hills students who are performing well in sport.
At just 11 years of age, Ryan Kwok is proving a formidable opponent on the tennis court and is currently the number one ranked CIS (Combined Independent Schools) player in New South Wales for his age group! Ryan trains weekly at the Tennis Australia National Academy and his biggest accomplishment to date was being one of only four children selected by Tennis NSW to attend the Australian Open for the Super 10’s National Camp. Ryan continued his momentum by making it into the CIS trials where he won all seven of his matches! This achievement was made even more special because he is the first ever one-handed backhand player to make it into the CIS team.
“I’d like to be one of those well-known players like Roger Federer and get world grand slams.”
Ryan Chai is a Year 5 student at Pacific Hills and, although he has only been swimming competitively since he was six years old, he has become Age Champion of the Christian Schools Sports Association Zone Swimming. His dedication to the sport is obvious in that he trains four days a week.
Nathaniel Baker graduated from New Hope School (which is on the same site as Pacific Hills at Dural and caters for students with a moderate level of intellectual delay or who have an Autism Spectrum Disorder) at the end of last year and he was well known for his sporting prowess on the field and in the pool. His multiple achievements have been formally recognised by Combined Independent Schools which presented him with their Outstanding Secondary Contribution Award.
Nathaniel is one of only five individuals who have received the Award. Others include Australian cricketers Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy. Nathaniel is a remarkable athlete who first competed in the CIS Athletics Championships in 2009 before going on to swimming and cross country. He has amassed a total of 29 championship titles!
