Young bowlers among the best in the state

High school students from Parkes Christian School have come up against the top 16 schools in the state in lawn bowls and have proven they are among the best. In Merrylands the Christian School had three teams competing in the State Lawn Bowls Finals. Annie Teague, Luke Bilsborough and Mila Ballantyne secured second in the state and were congratulated for this outstanding achievement. In a commendable sixth place was Ethan Lacey, Charlotte Ballantyne and Saxon Guess and in 14th was Briley Farrell, Laila McHattan and Rafa Thomson. Parkes Christian School teacher Mr Greg Ballantyne praised all of the students efforts. "They competed with focus, respect and real team spirit, and our whole school can be proud of their achievement," he said. The students were coached by Sam Teague and were able to train weekly at the Parkes Bowling and Sports Club before the big competition. Parkes Christian School said all nine students have done the school proud and they can't wait to see what next year brings. PCS secondary students weren't the only ones to to recently compete in lawn bowls competitions as primary students too tried their hand at the sport and came away with some impressive results. Thirteen students headed to Dubbo for the Primary Lawn Bowls Competition. PCS was proudly represented by four teams who throughout the day played several rounds against each other as well as teams from Coonabarabran and Dubbo. After all teams had played one another, the top four teams advanced to the semi finals. The teams to advance were PCS team A consisting of Ella Ballantyne, Maggie McConnell and Indiana Gemmell with three wins, PCS team C consisting of AJ van Wyk, Chelsea Ray and William Withers with three wins, PCS team D of Tiah Lewer, Samuel Jones, Hesindu Hingurugoda Arachige and Matilda Hurst with three wins, and Coonabarabran with four wins. Unfortunately PCS team B of Josie Baker, Owen Collier and Maddison Hartwig were just one win shy of advancing through to the semi finals with two wins. Team A faced Coonabarabran in a thrilling match of the first semi final game. Team A won the first round, Coonabarabran narrowly took out the second by just an inch, leaving it all up to the third round to decide who would move through to the finals. After a tight finish Coonabarabran claimed the win and advanced, knocking team A out. Meanwhile team C and team D faced-off in the second semi-final with team D taking the win and moving on to the grand final against Coonabarabran. This meant team A and team C both finished in third place earning well-deserved bronze medals. In the final match, Coonabarabran claimed the championship against team D, with team D proudly bringing home the silver medal. Parkes Christian School were proud to report that each match was competitive and full of great teamwork, encouragement and sportsmanship all day.