News of Geoff Lemon (FB'99), James Thomas (M'04), Jack Sanderson-Baker (A'22), Edie Clarke (Fr'23), Charlie Cook (P'24), Dylan Jupp (P'24) and Ollie Peake (A'24) feature this month.

Geoff Lemon (FB'99)

Geoff Lemon (FB'99) and co-host Adam Collins took home the Best Sport Podcast award at the 2024 Australian Sports Commission Media Awards, held at the SCG on Wednesday 19 February 2025. Geoff and Adam were finalists in a stacked field alongside The Howie Games, ABC Sport Daily, The Female Athlete Project and Sportish. The Final Word prides itself on covering all aspects of the sport they love; from daily episodes during men's and women's test series and major tournaments, to weekly episodes covering the state of the game across the globe, as well as the fan favourite segment "nerd pledge", which we suspect is Geoff's favourite too! Fellow cricket tragics support the Final Word via Patreon, donating cricket-specific amounts each month which Geoff and Adam spend time unpacking and deciphering on the podcast. Make sure you listen to The Final Word wherever you get your podcasts – congratulations Geoff! 

James Thomas (M'04) and Jack Sanderson-Baker (A'22)

In January, James Thomas (M'04), Jack Sanderson-Baker (A'22), Heidi Calvert-Jones (Yr10 EM) and Harriet Sanderson-Baker (Yr10 A) competed in the annual Urquhart Polo Tournament (Tournament). Competitors in the Tournament participate in four games of polo over two weekends, culminating in the finals at Werribee Polo Fields on Sunday 26 January. A close fought competition, teams from around the State were of a high calibre, which makes the OGG/GGS Team win of the John Kelly (M'43) Shield (D grade) that much more impressive. Captained by James, Jack scored five goals and Harriet two for a winning result of 7-4. Congratulations to the OGG/GGS Team on this terrific win! 

Edie Clarke (Fr'23)

Edie is into the last month of her first season playing basketball with the Saint Mary's Gaels in the US college system. Edie is the latest to join the Australian pipeline of basketballers to attend Saint Mary's, highlighted by Australian Boomers Matthew Dellavedova, Patty Mills and Jock Landale (M'13). As a true freshman, Edie has had to bide her time coming off the bench in the majority of games for the Gaels, making an impact with her size and intensity when opportunities present themselves. While averaging around 3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, Edie has made an impact with her defensive ability, leading the team in blocked shots on the season. The Gaels currently sit fourth in their conference - the WCC - with the conference end-of-season tournament set to kick-off on 6 March. 

Charlie Cook (P'24) and Dylan Jupp (P'24) 

Charlie Cook (P'24) has been named Dux of Geelong Grammar School for 2024 with an outstanding ATAR of 99.1 in VCE. As Dux of the School, Charlie was advised by OGG President, Andrew Burgess (FB'81), that he is also the recipient of The Old Geelong Grammarians' Prize for Academic Achievement (OGG Prize) and will be added to the Honour Board in the Quad, along with other past recipients. In a big year for Perry House, Dylan Jupp (P'24) is Proxime Accessit for the Class of 2024 having achieved an ATAR of 99.05 through the IB Diploma Programme. Congratulations to Charlie and Dylan on their outstanding academic achievements! 

In addition to Charlie and Dylan, the School welcomed some of the top performing students from the Class of 2024 back to Corio for the annual High Achievers' Assembly. This year's House Prefects introduced their respective former housemates to the Corio Campus community assembled in David Darling Play House, celebrating their 2024 achievements and wishing them well in their first steps post-GGS. 

31 students from the Class of 2024 achieved an ATAR of 95 or above, up from 13 in 2023, and the School's median ATAR was 84.7. Over the past six years, the median ATAR has improved by more than five points; indicative both of the tremendous work done behind the scenes by the School's academic staff, and of the exemplary efforts of the Class of 2024. 

Ollie Peake (A'24) 

One of our newest OGGs, Ollie Peake (A'24), made his BBL cricket debut for the Melbourne Renegades in January. Ollie was called-up to the squad for the team's final three games before making his debut in the final game of the season; a must-win fixture against the Brisbane Heat. With the Renegades chasing 197 for victory, Ollie contributed 19 off 21 balls in a 84-run partnership with Jake Fraser-McGurk. The Renegades won the match but, due to other results, missed a spot in the finals.

The excitement didn't stop there for Ollie, as he was selected as one of a handful of young players to travel with the Australian test team to Sri Lanka to get a first-hand look at what it takes to perform on an overseas tour. Ollie was immersed in the tour, taking part in training sessions and meetings, and running water, towels and gloves out to the test team during the series.

Ollie left his mark on cricket at GGS, playing a critical role in the 1st XI's consecutive APS premierships in 2022/23 and 2023/24.