¹ú²ú̽»¨

¹ú²ú̽»¨'s Men's Hockey team. Credit: UniSport/Peter Goodman
4 December 2018

The University of Queensland is Australia’s top-ranked sporting university after being crowned inaugural champions.

Introduced in 2018, UniSport Nationals feature two flagship events – Nationals Div 1 and 2 – as well as a number of standalone competitions.

535 student-athletes competed for ¹ú²ú̽»¨ at 2018 Nationals events, including Triathlon, Distance Running and Orienteering.

Team ¹ú²ú̽»¨ won nine Div 1 champion pennants – the most of UniSport’s 43 member universities – to be named overall champion.

¹ú²ú̽»¨ Sport chief executive Bryan Pryde said the achievement continues ¹ú²ú̽»¨’s rapid improvement at UniSport-sanctioned events.

“Over the past three years, ¹ú²ú̽»¨ has risen from finishing 20th overall at 2015 Australian Uni Games to now be the number one-ranked university in Australia,” Mr Pryde said.

“The result is a tremendous achievement, and is testament to our commitment to grow and support student sport at ¹ú²ú̽»¨.”

In addition to the nine pennants, ¹ú²ú̽»¨ placed second in five sports, and was third overall in a further seven.

Mr Pryde said a significant number of elite-level student-athletes represented ¹ú²ú̽»¨ at Nationals events.

“The team that competed at Nationals Div 1 event on the Gold Coast featured 35 (Elite Athlete Friendly University) athletes, including 19 recipients,” Mr Pryde said.

“This group of elite student-athletes regularly contests state and national-level events, and certainly helped drive performances across a wide array of sports.

“I extend my congratulations to every student-athlete that competed for ¹ú²ú̽»¨ in 2018, and look forward to Team ¹ú²ú̽»¨’s continued success at Nationals events.”

¹ú²ú̽»¨ is likely to field Nationals Div 1 teams in Basketball (Women’s), Rugby Sevens (Men’s) and Volleyball (Women’s) in 2019 after earning promotion from the Nationals Div 2 competition.

2018 UniSport Nationals Div 1 – ¹ú²ú̽»¨ Results

Champion Pennants (9):

Athletics (Men’s & Women’s)

Beach Volleyball (Women’s Pairs & Mixed Fours)

Handball (Mixed)

Hockey (Men’s)

Judo (Men’s)

Squash (Mixed)

Touch Football (Mixed)

Second Placings (5):

Badminton (Men’s)

Beach Volleyball (Men’s Pairs)

Fencing (Men’s & Women’s)

Tennis (Women’s)

Third Placings (7):

Cheer & Dance (Mixed)

Cycling (Men’s)

Judo (Women’s)

Rowing (Women’s)

Sailing (Open)

Taekwondo (Men’s)

Volleyball (Men’s)

2018 UniSport Nationals Div 1 – Overall Rankings

 

Ranking

University

Pennants

Second Placings

Third Placings

1

The University of Queensland

9

5

7

2

The University of Sydney

8

7

10

3

The University of Melbourne

8

4

7

4

Monash University

7

4

2

5

The University of New South Wales

6

3

3

6

Queensland University of Technology

5

5

6

7

University of Technology Sydney

4

14

7

8

Griffith University

3

3

6

9

RMIT University

2

7

3

10

Australian National University

2

3

1

11

Bond University

2

1

1

12

Macquarie University

2

1

0

13

Southern Cross University

2

0

0

14

Federation University

2

0

0

15

Victoria University

1

2

0

 

Media: Jamie Mitchell, ¹ú²ú̽»¨ Sport, JamieM@uqsport.com.au, 0423 785 752.