Gippstar winners announced

Gippstar has been a little quiet in the past few month’s but we have worked diligently to find some of Gippsland’s top sporting achievers and are pleased to announce the Gippstar Open and Junior winners from September 2021 to June 2022.  We will be bringing these athlete’s together at our Awards night later in September

The Junior Gippstar winners are:

September –  Lucas Furlan of Toongabbie for his achievements in his sport of Clay Target Shooting. Lucas was Junior High Gun Winner over the 4 days at Northern Territory Trap Championships 2021 in Darwin. He was also the Junior winner in 3 State Championships Double barrel, single barrel & points score. This was a very high level competition and his performance was outstanding, for a 14 year old to finish 3rd overall in the open section against some of the best clay target shooters from every State of Australia and dominate the Junior section (Under 18’s) was very impressive.

October – Mitchell Moschetti of Phillip Island for his achievements in his sport of Australian Rules Football. Mitch won Gippsland Power’s 2021 Best & Fairest after a great season competing against some of the best young players in the country. Mitch also captained his team, and thrived in the role, averaging over 22 disposals a game, while also registering plenty of tackles as a key part of his skillset.  Mitch also represented Vic Country in the Under 16’s National Australian Rules Football Carnival in 2019.

November – Xanthe Wade of Stratford for her achievements in her sport of Equestrian. Xanthe was awarded Reserve Champion Australian Showjumping Sub-Junior after competing at the Pony Club Australia National Championships in the Sub Junior (10-12yrs) Showjumping competition representing Victoria Winning the first class, placing 3rd in the second class and eleventh in the 3rd showjumping class she finished just five points behind the Champion to claim the Reserve Title.

December – Liam Farley of Traralgon for his achievements in his sport of Clay Target Shooting. Liam was selected for the Victorian State Junior Team for 2022 National Championships

January – Eliza Dunbar of Traralgon for her achievements in her sport of Tennis. Eliza, who’s home Club is Traralgon, is also a member at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. Eliza recently participated in the Kooyong Ladies Singles Open Club Championship and was successful in winning this prestigious title for the first time over Zoe LLewellyn, Eliza also was victorious in the Kooyong Under 21 Singles Championship as well, taking out this title in February 2022

February – Molly Cargill of Traralgon for her achievements in her sport of Swimming. Gippsland Championships was held in Warragul from February 25th to February 27th 2022. Molly swam in 17 Individual events, age and open and swam in 6 relays for Traralgon Swimming Club and won 10 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze individual medals and 4 gold and 2 silver medals for relays.  At the end of the meet Molly was awarded the Jewell Family Trophy for the Female Champion of the meet.

March -Teddy Ripper of Sale for his achievements in his sport of Swimming. Teddy had a very successful result at the Australian Age Swimming Championships, achieving Silver in the 14 years 200m breaststroke. In the Victorian Age Swimming Championships, achieving “Gold” in the 14 years 200m breaststroke. Teddy was also able to achieve Bronze medals in both the 14 years 100m breaststroke and the 50m breaststroke as well.

April – Kayla Wilson of Churchill for her achievements in her sport of Swimming. Kayla swam in Age Para Classification S6 in the Australian Age Championships where she won 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medals. A truly outstanding result in her first National Championships. Kayla also swam at the State Age Championships in the Multi-Class category S6 where she won 11 gold medals from 11 events. Kayla had not sum at this high level and it set her up for the National Age Championships in Adelaide in April.

May – Chris Axford of Korumburra for his achievements in his sport of Volleyball. The Volleyball Victoria Country Championships took place in Horsham 11-13 June, 2022. Chris coached and played setter for the Men’s Div 2 team that earned a bronze medal in the championships.  He was Volleyball Victoria State League co-captain, Eastside Hawks Mens Division 1 team. Eastside Hawks is a Melbourne based team requiring Chris to travel twice weekly to training in addition to games held in South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

June – Kaelem McCurdy of Korumburra for his achievements in his sport of Clay Target Shooting. Kaelem won the overall high gun for the Gippsland Budge Shield series which is a series of competitions shot at all Gippsland clubs, this is an amazing effort for a Junior to win the Open.

The Open Gippstar winners are:

September – Matilda Van Berkel of Traralgon for her achievements in her sport of Australian Rules Football Women (AFLW).  In winning Gippsland Power Girls 2021 Best & Fairest she was the ultimate utility player. Often stationed in defence and capable of clunking intercept marks with ease, Matilda could go forward and become a leading target, and even had the versatility to be effective in the ruck. Matilda’s consistency over the season was a key factor in her 2021 Best & Fairest achievement.

October – Shannen Lange of Sale for his achievements in his sport of Australian Rules Football. Shannen claimed the 2021 Trood Award and Rodda Medal for the Gippsland League’s Best & Fairest, ending up polling 14 votes from his 10 games over the season, with four of those being best-on-ground performances. Shannen returned home to play for Sale this season after having a successful playing “stint” with Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football League.

November – Cohen Wade of Stratford for his achievements in his sport of Modern Pentathlon/Tetrathlon.  Cohen competed in the Thoroughbred Industry Careers Pony Club Australia National Tetrathlon Championships, competing against athletes from across Australia he was awarded the silver medal.  He was a Gold medallist at the State Tetrathlon Championships held in December winning the Victorian Senior Male State Title for a second year in a row. This is Cohen’s 5th straight State Championship title. He was also awarded the Jan Dear Memorial Award for consistent performance and service to the sport of Tetrathlon.

December – Ricky Cochrane of Traralgon for his achievements in his sport of Australian Rules Football.  Ricky played for the Traralgon Tyers United Football Netball Club in the North Gippsland Football Netball League, and was victorious as the League’s Senior Best & Fairest for Season 2021. Ricky won the Seniors Sel Burley Medal in dramatic fashion with his victory coming down to the last vote card of the season, as a result of a best-on-ground performance in the final home and away game against Gormandale

January – Alex Vuillermin of Morwell for her achievements in her sport of Rowing. Alex’s completed in the NSW State rowing championships. Alex and her pair partner won the PR3w2, winning gold. This performance rewarded her with an invitation to national selection trials.  Alex was selected into the Australian rowing team for 2022 where she competed as a PR3 Athlete. Alex competed in Gavirate, Italy in May 2022 and then onto the World cup 1 which was held in Belgrade, Serbia.

February – Tim Fraser of Trafalgar for his achievements in his sport of Lawn Bowls. Tim Fraser (Trafalgar Bowling Club) contested the Men’s Final of the Strzelecki North Champion of Champions event against Moe Bowling Club’s, Michael Smogavec at Newborough Bowls Club. Tim was victorious coming away with the win 25–24. A great display of bowling from two young stars of the future was very much applauded by the huge crowd of spectators. Both players had previously won their respective Club Championships to be eligible for this event.

March – Andrew Brady of Glengarry West for his achievements in his sport of Clay Target Shooting.  Andrew is the National Champion of Champions Winner 2022, he made the All Australian Team 2022 and is a member of the Victorian Open Winning Team at the National Trap Championships 2022

April – Jessica Jackson of Longford for her achievements in her sport of Surf Lifesaving Beach Flags. Jessica competed in the Open Beach Flags event at the National Championships Surf Life Saving held at Broadbeach She came equal 9th missed final of 8 by one spot. Jessica was selected to Represent Victoria as a beach athlete in the Surf League Teams Event.

This is her first year as an open competitor.

May – Jack Green of Maffra for his achievements in his sport of Billiards. Jack has qualified to represent Australia in two International Tournaments, the first being in Albi, France from October 8 to 15, then he will participate in the World 8-Ball Pool Championships in Killarney, Ireland, from October 19 to 27. Jack’s chance to represent Australia has been a long time coming since he qualified for the team back in 2019.

June – Debra Vuillermin of Morwell for her achievements in her sport of Golf. Debra, as a member of the Morwell Golf Club, recently competed in and was successful in winning the Womens Morwell Golf Club Championship for 2022. At the same time, Debra also claimed the Division 1 Handicap title as well with a net 238 result for the three rounds.

Congratulations to all our winners!

The new Gippstar year for 2022/2023 has commenced and nominations for July/August will close September 3^rd.

Please note that you can nominate for the following categories as well:

– Team of the Year

– Club of the Year

– Special Achiever Award

– Gippsland Sporting Champion

These Annual awards can be nominated at any time during the current Gippstar year.

If you would like to recognize the sporting achievements of a Gippsland athlete or any of the above categories, nominations can be made online at the Gippsland Sports Academy website www.sportgippsland.org.au