Rising stars to be honoured

AS part of tonight’s 2023 Bendigo Sports Star of the Year gala, winners of the Maxine Crouch and Cyril Michelsen Trust Funds will be announced.

Finalist in the awards are drawn from monthly scholarship winners and this year include a range of young and talented sports people.

 

Sophie Hughes, canoeing

Hughes competed at the Victorian Sprint Canoeing Championships in February and was a standout at the meet in Nagambie. Her tally of six gold medals included four in singles and two in pairs. Among the many highs was a time of 52.58 seconds in the 18-and-under K1 200m showdown. Hughes also competed at the National Championships and won bronze in the under-16 K4 200 metre sprint.

 

Nate Hadden, cycling

The talented teenager won all three disciplines – time trial, scratch race and points score to be the Bendigo and District Cycling’s elite men’s track champion for 2021-22. Just days after ruling the track, Hadden, 16, was Victoria’s highest-placed rider in the under-19s event of the Tour of Gippsland, finishing seventh. In July, he had a racing stint in Europe which included victory in the Gistel Jr, a 96km kermesse in Belgium.

 

Belinda Bailey, cycling

Fourth placing in the under-19 division of the Mitchelton Tour of Gippsland, 17-year-old Bailey was fourth in the opening stage, won stage two, and then the criterium. A year-high was competing at the UCI world road cycling championships in Wollongong where she was 52nd in the under-19s. Her start to this year included seventh place in the under-19s road race at the national titles in Ballarat and 13th in the time trial.

 

Blake Agnoletto, cycling

Blake claimed a podium finish in a kermesse raced in the Ruiselede region in Belgium. The 19-year-old was third in a race of almost two hours. He also raced in Zonnebek in his first racing campaign in Europe. In July, Agnoletto won the Tour of the Tropics, his first AusCycling National Road Series title. On the track, Blake teamed with Oliver Bleddyn to be runner-up in the national madison (50km). Earlier in the night, Blake was third in the 125th Austral Wheelrace.

 

Lucia Painter, AFL

A brilliant season in midfield or defence by Painter in the NAB League girls season was capped by winning the Bendigo Pioneers’ best and fairest award. She was named on interchange in the NAB League Girls Team of the Year and also represented Victoria Country at under-16s level.

 

Will Whiteacre, netball

Whiteacre was named as a training partner in the Australian 17 and Under men’s team. A brilliant year on the court included striking gold in the 17-and-under final at the Australian Men’s and Mixed Netball Association national championships. Whiteacre who plays both wing attack and goal attack plays for South Bendigo. Will is also a junior umpire at the Golden City Netball Association.

 

Lila Keck, AFL

A midfielder with the Bendigo Pioneers and Strathfieldsaye Storm, Lila was among 46 17-year-olds who played at the AFLW Futures Program where she had 21 possessions and kicked a goal. Her outstanding play across last season has earned a place in the AFLW Academy Program.

 

Mia Harvey, basketball

Harvey represented Victoria Country at the Basketball Australia national under-16 championships in July as a bottom-age player. She scored 10 points in the bronze medal play-off with Victoria Metro at Warwick Stadium in Perth.

 

Dash Daniels, basketball

A superb year on the court by Daniels included gold with Australia at the FIBA Oceania under-15 championships in Guam in November. Daniels was selected in the tournament’s All-Star Five. Earlier in the year, he played a key role for Victoria Country at the national under-16 titles in Perth. The young guard scored 31 points in a 95-97 loss to NSW Metro in the clash to decide fifth and sixth.

 

Silver Bell Morris, soccer

Just days after playing a key role in Australia’s successful run at the Asian Football Federation under-18 women’s championships, Morris signed a scholarship contract with A-League club Western United. Playing at centre-back, Silver Bell started in four of the five matches in Manila. Born in a refugee camp in Myanmar, Silver Bell first played soccer when she was six. Her first football club was Golden City in the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League. In 2022 she also played for Football Victoria’s Emerging Matildas.

 

Sam Kay, boxing

Victory at the national titles earned Kay a place in Australia’s team for the World Youth Boxing Championships in La Nucia, Spain in November. He fought in the 51kg division, flyweight, at the biggest tournament of his career. Trained by Danniel Burton, key worked incredibly hard to win gold at the 2022 nationals after he claimed silver three years earlier. The lead-up to the world titles for Key included training camps at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

 

Ryan Kalms, soccer

A defender with Melbourne City, Kalms was in the Joeys squad for the AFC under-17 Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers in Shepparton in October. A big year for Kalms included the JSSL 7s in pro section against teams such as Tottenham Hotspurs, Valencia and Japan’s top Academy side in Singapore. He first played with Strathdale in the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League and was co-captain of Melbourne City’s under-16 A-League team last year.

 

Grace Fahy, tenpin bowling

The 21-year-old was up against many of the world’s best as she represented Australia at the International Bowling Federation World Cup on the Sunshine Coast. After a couple of tough years because of COVID and lockdowns, Fahy rediscovered her passion for tenpin bowling. She re-joined the National Training Squad in April and won three of four ranked events. At the World Cup, Fahy won five of 15 matches in the singles event to be seventh in her pool on 2831 pins, game average of 188.7.

 

Cameron Keenan, lawn bowls

The 18-year-old has earned a place in the Australian Pathways Jackaroos program to be run across the next 12 months. Highs in 2022 included winning the boys singles, pairs, and open triples at Bowls Victoria’s under-18 state championships. In December, he played in the six-day Ultimate Bowls Challenge, a $500,000 tournament on Moama’s greens. Keenan plays for Moama in Bendigo pennant.

 

Jasmine Nevins, cricket

The talented batter from Kangaroo Flat played a key role in Victoria’s run to the final at the national under-19s championships in Perth. Nevins hit a team-high 53 runs for Vics in the championship decider which was won by the unbeaten NSW Metro by six wickets at the WACA. Among the highs in the start to 2023 have been representing Victoria in Women’s National Cricket League action. Jasmine marked her second match for the Vics by scoring 36 off 37 deliveries in a score of 8-210 against Queensland.