Maribyrnong Sports Academy sports director award winner Luke Pilarinos. 74683 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
BY MICHAEL ESPOSITO
THE most prestigious award at Maribyrnong Sports Academy is only partly about sport.
It’s also about a commitment to personal development, leadership and academic achievements.
For the first time since the awards began, two Maribyrnong College students tied for the sports director award at the Maribyrnong Sports Academy’s Awards of Excellence night on 29 November.
The achievements of boxer Luke Pilarinos and lacrosse player Rebecca Lane could not be separated, according to the academy’s sports director Rob Carroll.
“They both had very high grade point averages, their academic scores are in the nines out of 10s across all of their subjects,” he said. “And they’re both representing Australia at international level.”
Lane, who plays for Footscray Lacrosse Club, represented the silver-medal-winning Australian under-19 lacrosse side at the world championships in Germany, while Pilarinos travelled to Kazakhstan to represent the Australian boxing team.
Lane was a bottom age player for Australia as a 16-year-old, and was named an MVP in the march against Canada.
Fellow Maribyrnong College student Danelle Mollison was co-captain of Australia and named in the All-World team. Five Maribyrnong College girls made the initial Australian squad, with Mollison and Lane making the final cut.
Pilarinos has shown dedication to his schoolwork, having achieved high grades despite spending weeks at training camps with the Australian squad.
The Year 10 Coburg resident received some one-on-one mentoring at the school by former world champion Barry Michael.
“The Commonwealth Games and Olympics are very much on his radar, not so much London but 2016,” Carroll said.
Thirty students were eligible for the award. They all had grade point averages of at least eight, and had represented their sport at state level or higher.
“The quality’s really getting higher and higher and some of our ex-athletes are doing very well, so this is proving to be an excellent pathway,” Carroll said.
“The program is still young, we’ve just reached the end of our first five years. Seventy-five students made Victorian teams this year, and 12 made Australian teams.
“We’re starting to see our recently graduated students making it on the world scene. From what we’re seeing now, there’s going to be more and more of it.”
