College honours students, principal

Two Olympians, two doctors and a former principal have been inducted into Bunbury Catholic College’s hall of distinction.

BMX rider Lauren Reynolds and rower Alex Hagan, who were 2012 and 2016 Olympians, received the honour, as did clinical psychologist Dr Pia Broderick and London-based quantitative analyst Dr Iain Clark.

All four are former students of the school while Terry O’Brien, who was known as Brother Albert during his time as principal, was also inducted.

Mr O’Brien was the third principal of Marist Brothers, as the college was then known, and served between 1962 and 1967.

He was flown from Adelaide to attend Thursday night’s function, which coincided with the school’s presentation night.

“It is a great honour and I am very emotional about it all,” Mr O’Brien said.

“There has been an unbelievable change at the school – in the 1960s we had no government funding so we had to raise funds ourselves for anything we did.

“I loved every minute of it though. I was young and enthusiastic and really enjoyed it.”

Mr O’Brien said the establishment of the school oval, named Albert Oval in his honour, as a major achievement of his time in Bunbury.

Thursday was the second time a group has been inducted into Bunbury Catholic College’s hall of distinction.

The inaugural group, announced in 2014, included former Bunbury mayors and State Government ministers John Castrilli and David Smith.