Sailing to handicap win
From the windswept waters of Lillydale Lake to the rough seas of Port Phillip Bay, two sailors helped their crew cross the finish line with an impressive handicapped first place win in the Mornington Cup.
Members of the Lilydale Sailing Club (LSC) Jenny Campbell and David Thomas were part of the four-person team who crewed the Cole 43 ‘Minna’ on 14 January, racing from St Kilda to Mornington as part of the Hobsons Bay Yacht Club annual event.
“We just had a magic day out there. Everything seemed to be going just right. Minna likes a slightly stronger wind and we had a slightly stronger wind,” Ms Campbell said.
Despite the rain and the headwind, Ms Campbell and Mr Thomas, captained by Richard Downey, finished the race in four hours and 40 minutes.
Bradley breaks barriers time and again
Often it can be difficult to find activities, social groups, and sports for young people with disabilities, but Bradley McMeeken has stunned everyone with a reminder that anything can be achieved with determination and hard work.
Prior to finding his way to competing in triathlons, Bradley was struggling to lift his arm above his head.
By April 2024, he was holding 78 medals – with his national gold medal being the top of his list.
Dual milestones for Brit
A love of footy drove Croydon North MLOC player Brit Grech to reach two major milestones in the game.
On Saturday 20 April the key forward not only played her 200th senior game but kicked her 400th goal, scoring four in the opening round of the women’s season.
“Going into the game, I was so nervous. I needed to kick four goals to get the 400. The first quarter, I ran out and was just too nervous. The ball was flat. I was complaining to the umpire that the ball was flat, like ‘how am I gonna play?’
“And then came the second quarter, I kicked a goal and I’m like, ‘all right, I’m on’. The nerves dropped. I can focus now.”
Men’s laser run record set by Yarra Ranges teenager
A young Yarra Ranges athlete continued to make waves in the laser run but this time not in his own age category, setting a men’s record on the national stage.
Mitchell Pointon, 14, was crowned as the 2024 Australian Men’s Champion at the Laser Run National Championships held in Geelong on 14 April, setting a record for the fastest time by an Australian athlete in the current race format.
Mid season draft picks two eastern suburbs rookies
The eastern suburbs were well represented in the AFL’s mid season draft with two former Montrose Football Club players selected for the sport’s top league.
At pick number four, Box Hill Hawks VFL player Max Hall was chosen by St Kilda for his midfield and half forward talent.
18-year-old Iliro Smit became Collingwood’s newest draftee coming in at pick number 10.
The 200cm tall ruckman was selected for his hitouts, physicality and aggression, with the club’s head recruiter Derek Hine commenting he would sit nicely as “a developing ruck” behind current listed player Oscar Steene.
McMahon whistles 500th
Racking up 500 umpired games over nearly three decades, Mooroolbark’s Matthew McMahon started his humble umpiring career as a teenager.
Stepping out onto the field for the 500th time donning the umpires green on Saturday 15 June, it was made even more special for McMahon as his daughter, 15 and son stepped out with him as both a field and goal umpire respectively.
“I get paid to watch the greatest game on earth, AFL football, from the middle of the ground,” he said.
Athletes head to the Olympics
Three athletes made their debut at the 2024 Olympic Games, with Warrandyte’s Abbey Caldwell taking on the 800m race, Mooroolbark’s Tayleb Willis looking to claim a podium in the 110m hurdles and Tim Anderson from Eltham taking on the rapids in the canoe slalom.
Boxer Harry Garside and cyclist Kelland O’Brien made a return to donning the green and gold in their second appearance after debuting in 2020 (2021).
Unfortunately for Garside, the 27-year-old fell to Richard Kovacs by unanimous decision in their round of 16 clash.
Making it through to the repechage round, Tayleb Willis, was already living out his Olympic dream, even if he didn’t make it further.
“He’s just always said ‘mum, I will get to the Olympics one day’, and the fact he’s done it at the age of 21, it’s just remarkable,” his mum Christine told Star Mail.
“He lives, breathes and sleeps hurdles. That’s just all his life. He won’t do anything else.”
Kelland strikes Olympic gold
In the space of 24 hours, Lilydale local Kelland O’Brien became both a world record holder and a gold medallist at the Paris Olympic Games.
As a member of Australia’s Men’s Team Pursuit, O’Brien, a decorated national cyclist who went to Lilydale High School and started his career at Lilydale BMX Club, helped bring the team closer to gold on Wednesday 7 August.
O’Brien, alongside his teammates Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn, completed the pursuit race in an incredible three minutes and 42 seconds to claim gold over arch-rivals Great Britain.
O’Brien said the team had a plan and stuck to it, not putting too much pressure on themselves after the record ride.
“It was a heated battle as it always is, hats off to those guys they rode an amazing race, and we just stuck to our process and nailed it,” he said.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the boys and Tim (coach Tim Decker) for getting it done, we’ve said all along it’s going to be won on day three and it was.”
Croquet 130 and croquet titles
It was a big year for the Lilydale Croquet Club, marking the 130 year anniversary of the club’s establishment, as well as bringing home some spring season titles.
The October milestone celebrated the second oldest club in Victoria, with Lilydale setting up at Melba Park in 1894 and retaining the location ever since.
In the present day competition, the Handicap team finished in first place ably led by their captain Murray Howlett and did not lose a game all season.
The Level Play division 2 team also finished in first place, with Alan Jones captaining the team to victory.
Uhr-Henry becomes a Hawk
A Chirnside Parkian is the newest Hawthorn Football Club rookie recruit, seeing him switch codes to potentially play at the professional level.
Jaime Uhr-Henry, 21, is known for his skill on the basketball court playing for both the Bulleen Boomers and the Dandenong Rangers in NBL One.
But the 209cm tall Uhr-Henry has been scouted by the Hawks as a potential ruck in a category B rookie pick up for the 2025 season.
“Standing at 209cm, Jaime clearly has some exciting physical traits, along with his professional basketball background we believe his progression will be one to watch,” Hawthorn national recruiting and list manager Mark McKenzie said.
Charlotte’s nationals tilt
Charlotte May, a Grade 6 student from Mount Evelyn, loves most sports but it was the discovery of shot put that led her to compete at nationals among some of the best athletes in her age group.
And she did all of this while pushing through an extremely rare condition called Juvenile Neutrophilic Eccrine Hidradenitis (JNEH), of which she is the only known case in Australia, something that brings on sharp pain in her feet and saw her at one stage using a wheelchair.
But the 11-year-old returned from the School Sport Australia competition, held in Sydney from 28 to 30 November, with a finishing position of eighth.
“It was really good because I got to have competition not just in Victoria, which I’ve had a lot, but more like the whole of Australia, which was really good because then I got to meet others,” Charlotte said.
