By Hugh Pearson
Pakenham Secondary College’s chess team placed third in the 2022 Victorian Schools Secondary Girls Chess Finals on Wednesday 5 October.
The four students competing for Pakenham Secondary were year eight students Malia Nimaya, Marinella Salvador, Alexandra Fitzgerald and Maeve Harkess.
Pakenham Secondary College Principal Aaron Smith commended the students and gave praise to the school’s “outstanding chess program”.
“This excellent result shows that our chess program is growing from strength to strength,” Mr Smith said.
“We congratulate our year eight team for their wonderful achievement in the recent Chess State Finals.”
Penleigh and Essondon Grammar School won the competition with 19.5 points, followed by Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School with 10.5 points and Pakenham Secondary College who came third with 10.5 points.
Pakenham Secondary were awarded third place, missing out on second in a tie break.
The year eight students have been mentored by teachers Sergio De Lima and Christian Ampongan, who have been running the chess program over the last 12 years.
Pakenham Secondary College has previously won the National Interschool Chess Championships in 2018.
However, the school hasn’t competed since 2019 due to Covid.
