All cheers as Theobald, Berg earn awards

CHEERLEADING ace Maddy Theobald and shot put champion Emma Berg are joint winners for April in Bendigo’s Sports Star of the Year awards.

The pair capped thousands of hours training by striking gold in their chosen sports and both are now multiple monthly winners in Sports Star of the Year.

Theobald and her Australian team-mates won the elite division at the ICU World Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Florida recently.

It was a closely fought duel between Australia and New Zealand for the title.

The NZ team led after the first routines, but Australia hit back with a near-flawless run of flips and throws in round two.

Australia moves up to premier division and against the powerful United States, Canada and Norway for the 2024 world titles.

On the athletics front, Berg became a national open shot put champion for the third time where she achieved a best of 15.15 metres in Brisbane.

The mark surpassed her previous gold medal-winning puts of 14.24 meters in 2019 and 13.87 meters in 2022.

From Swan Hill, Emma has devoted many hours to athletics and is a multiple state and Victoria Country championship winner.

The Peter Barrett-coached athlete competes for South Bendigo Athletics Club is also kept busy studying and working, but also a coach and mentor to several of Athletics Bendigo Region’s up-and-coming field stars.

A long-term goal for Emma is the 2026 Commonwealth Games in regional Victoria.