BASKETBALL THE Western Port Steelers will take on top-ranked side, Chelsea Gulls, in the semi-final series of the division one Big V competition on Saturday 11 August. Both of the Mornington Peninsula sides come into the best-of-three series in hot form, with the Gulls winning their past 14 matches and the Steelers having won 10 of their last 11 games. While the Gulls enjoyed a bye through the opening round of the finals, the Steelers faced, and convincingly defeated the Warrnambool Seahawks (97-71) by 26 points at home. The Steelers look to continue their winning momentum into their next home…
Author: Ben Triandafillou
NETBALL HOPE OF finals isn’t completely lost for the Peninsula Waves under-19s side despite losing their fourth place on the ladder to fifth ranked City West Falcons on Wednesday 8 August. In their second last round of the normal season, the Waves lost to the Falcons (49-56) by seven goals as they tried to keep their finals dreams alive. While the Falcons gained the crucial points needed to jump into fourth place, they’ll still need to score a victory over second-placed DC North East Blaze in round 18 to ensure that the Waves can’t reclaim their top four position. The…
SHANE Nichols’ sole Group 1 winning mare, I Am A Star, is set to return to the races this Saturday 11 August, as she gears up for the fast-approaching Spring racing carnival. The quality mare missed the Autumn carnival due to minor injuries and hasn’t raced since November last year, but Nichols is confident she can get back to her best this campaign when she kicks off in the Group 3 Aurie’s Star Handicap (1200m) at Flemington. “She’s a bit limited in what we can target as she’s probably a bit behind the boys at Group 1 weight-for-age level, but…
BASKETBALL THE Big V finals series has arrived with four sides from the Mornington Peninsula ready to make their mark on Saturday 4 August. The high flying Chelsea Gulls will enjoy a bye in the first week following their 14th straight victory against Whittlesea (92-79) in round 18, while the other three sides will contest the opening round. The Southern Peninsula Sharks state championship women’s team were striving to land a home final and jump to fourth on the ladder following their round 18 match against Keilor Thunder, but were narrowly nudged out by the Hume City Broncos, despite their…
NETBALL PENINSULA Waves’ under-19s netball side is the only Mornington Peninsula team left in contention for the VNL finals which get underway on Wednesday 22 August at the State Netball and Hockey Centre. The under-19s side, who currently sit at fourth on the ladder, faced off against DC North East Blaze last Wednesday 1 August, with both teams hungry for a win to place them in a favourable position ahead of the finals. A one goal lead continually alternated between the Waves and the Blaze across the first three quarters, until the Blaze opened up a four goal advantage by…
BASKETBALL THE Finals Series kicks off on Saturday 4 August in the Big V, with several of the Mornington Peninsula sides still in the running for the championship trophies. The Chelsea Gulls division one men’s side is one of them, having been low flying throughout this season. The Gulls have put together 13 wins in-a-row after round 17, and have claimed 20 victories from their 23 matches. Chelsea Gulls head coach Peter Caspersz is hoping that winning momentum can continue through to the finals. “We’ve been flying,” he said. “But without getting ahead of ourselves we still need to put…
NETBALL THE Peninsula Waves and Southern Saints suffered respective blows from the Geelong Cougars and Hawks Netball in round 14 of the Bupa Victorian Netball League. Peninsula Waves struggled to match it with the Geelong Cougars as they run away with a 17 and 18-goal victory in the championship (49-66) and division one (45-63) games. Jess Maher put in a top performance for the Waves in goalkeeper and goal defence, while her sister, Alex Maher, was also dominant in the division one match, shooting at an 87 per cent success rate in both goal shooter and goal attack. The fourth-ranked…
PENINSULA boxer Jayde Mitchell isn’t going to let another injury stand in his way of a world title. Having overcome a recent neck surgery to take out his last fight against Ariel Alejandro Zampedri on Saturday 17 March, and jump into the top 10 world rankings, Mitchell is hoping he can do the same again after suffering an injury to his shoulder. Mitchell has had several weeks off to rest and recover from his injury through over-use but gets back into sparring this week. The Blairgowrie boxer was forced to bypass his match-up against Kerry Foley on Saturday 7 July…
MORNINGTON Peninsula’s wheelchair tennis talent took it to the world stage with a dominant victory in the World Team Cup on Sunday 3 June. Wheelchair tennis players, Riley Dumsday and Heath Davidson, competed in the BNP Paribas World Team Cup in the Netherlands, with the latter combining with four-time Australian Open champion Dylan Alcott, to claim their second quad title in three years. Davidson, of Rosebud, dropped the opening singles rubber to Israel’s Noam Gershony in the final but the top seeds quickly proved their status as Alcott levelled the tie with a convincing 6-0 6-0 win over Patrick Ben…
MORNINGTON Cycles owner Brad Clarke competed in one of the world’s toughest mountain bike races in South Africa on Wednesday 28 March. Clarke partnered with common competitor, Rohin Adams, in the gruelling eight-day Absa Cape Epic race and covered more than 650km of rugged land. With 650 teams entered into the competition, the pair managed to claim third place in the Masters category (40-49 years old) and finished 30th overall. For Clarke, it was his second time attempting the race which included 13,530m of climbing – that’s one and half times higher than Mt Everest – and the first word…
AFL New Zealand has recorded their first win on Australian soil after defeating a Mornington Peninsula interleague team on Friday 11 May. In a close encounter, New Zealand’s under-18 boy’s side (6.9.45) saluted by five points over the Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League boys (5.10.40) at Bluescope Oval, Hastings. After a spine-tingling Haka, New Zealand were first on the scoreboard as Quinn Pocock snapped the opening goal for the visitors. New Zealand looked to narrowly contain the lead throughout the match, but the home side didn’t cave in and continued to chip away at a 15-point margin heading into the…
THE WOMEN’S Peninsula Surfriders have recorded the club’s best finish in their first attempt at the Sailor Jerry Surftag Australian Championships on Friday 27 April. After taking out the qualifiers at Rye Back Beach last month, the women headed to the national championships for their first time at Duranbah Beach on the Gold Coast and finished up in seventh position. Peninsula Surfriders club president Lachy McDonald said they unfortunately headed up to the nationals not at full strength but couldn’t be happier with the end result. “To be competing at the nationals is something that we are quite proud of…
PENINSULA boxer Jason Whateley has fallen just shy of his dream gold medal at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday 14 April after being defeated by none-other than the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, David Nyika. After three attempts at qualifying for the Games, Whateley finally broke through earlier this year and cemented his spot in the 13-strong Australian boxing squad which headed to the Gold Coast for this year’s Commonwealth Games. Whateley entered the international competition with one goal in mind, a gold medal in the heavyweight division (91kg), and it took the world’s seventh best heavyweight boxer, David Nyika,…
APPRENTICE jockey Jessica Eaton officially transferred to Mornington-based trainer Chris Meagher two weeks ago and has quickly claimed her first Melbourne city winner. Eaton, who has been on loan to Meagher for the past six months, continued her winning relationship with the in-form mare Famelist, for Mornington trainer Gary Carson, when saluting at Sandown on Wednesday 18 April. Eaton has been aboard the seven-year-old mare at all four of her starts this preparation and has racked up three victories since storming home first-up in a benchmark 64 at Sale at $51 to win on Tuesday 27 February. Eaton was full…
MORNINGTON Peninsula boxer Adam Kaoullas is lining up for the Victorian State Welterweight Title on Saturday 19 May against a familiar boxer in Dillon Bargero at the Malvern Town Hall. The professional welterweight boxer faced Bargero in November last year where he almost had the fight won in the opening round until Bargero picked himself up off the canvas to fight it out until the end. Kaoullas took out the fight by unanimous decision after the fourth round but he is confident that he can claim the victory a lot earlier in this match-up. “He made it interesting that night…
THE Victorian Netball League season gets underway on Sunday 29 April with the Peninsula Waves and Southern Saints both looking to improve on their mid-table finishes from last year’s VNL Championships. Both the Waves and the Saints will head into their season openers at the State Netball and Hockey Centre, Parkville with a relatively new look, with the Waves recruiting five new players to their side and the Saints missing a number of players due to injury. Peninsula Waves finished their 2017 season in seventh place but championship coach Jess Whitfort is confident they can rise up the ladder after…
FATHER and son skaters Kevin and Harry Geary strapped on the green and gold to represent Australia at the Oceania Speed Skating Championships on Saturday 31 March. Kevin and his 12-year-old son Harry reached speeds of up to 40kph to claim a total of 10 medals at the international competition in New Zealand. Harry was one of the youngest competitors for Australia and competed against boys of up to two years older than him in the Cadet Boys division (under-14s). Skating over distances ranging from 300m to 21km, Harry shined over the long trips and landed two bronze medals in…
TENNIS players from across the world made their way to the Mornington Tennis Centre on Monday 19 March for the annual Mornington Peninsula Tennis International. The players which included Men’s Australian Open doubles semi-finalist, Marc Polmans, competed for a total of $50,000 in prize money which was spread over two tournaments. Mornington Elite Tennis Academy director Kate Antosik said the club really embraced the international tournament. “It’s a showcase tournament for our juniors to see the standard of play that they can aspire to get to,” she said. “There is only 10 of these international tournaments played in Australia each…
MORNINGTON Cup day displayed the dominance of Victoria’s leading trainers as Darren Weir and the Lindsay Park operation took out four of the nine races at the metropolitan meeting on Saturday 24 March. Weir secured both of the feature races with Stellar Collision winning the $200,000 Listed Hareeba Stakes and the Mornington Cup favourite King’s Will Dream saluting in emphatic fashion in the $300,000 feature. King’s Will Dream eased down past the post to defeat Harrison and the Tasmanian visitor Fastnet Dragon by five-lengths and consequently bought up his fifth successive victory since arriving in Australia. With the Mornington Cup…
DROMANA Football Club will host the annual Good Friday clash against Rye Football Club on Friday 30 March. The “local derby” between the two division two sides will be played at Dromana Recreation Reserve with the O’Rourke-Matthews Shield up for grabs. Dromana Football Club president Chris Strange said it will be a great local rivalry and promises to be a great day. “We just missed out on finals last year and got put into Division Two this year so we are probably at the top of the hill when it comes to this division,” Strange said. “Rye has recruited well…
THE father-son combination of Jamie and Sam Hodic, from Crib Point, has created history on Sunday 18 March as they guided the Melbourne Glacier’s Ice Hockey team to their first national title. Jamie, who took up coaching for the first time this season, and his son Sam, who captained the under-21’s side, created a memorable comeback, from last to first, to claim gold in the grand-final at the O’Brien Group Arena in Melbourne. Having finished at the bottom of ladder for the 2017/18 season, the Glaciers scored a wildcard entry into the finals series having been the hosts for the…
THE WOMEN’S Peninsula Surfriders are set for the national championships next month after taking out the Victorian and South Australian Sailor Jerry Surftag Qualifier at Rye Back Beach on Saturday 17 March. The Women’s Peninsula team (29.69) consisting of Hannah Trigger, Vee Bieber, Claudia Daymond, Nina Sinclair and Charlee West charged the chunky conditions to finish nearly 20-points clear of Torquay (10.33). Peninsula surfrider Charlee West was stoked with the victory and now has her sights set on the national championships at the Gold Coast on Friday 27 April. “It’s so special to be a part of this team representing…
BLAIRGOWRIE Boxer Jayde Mitchell returned in winning form on Saturday 17 March defeating South American boxer Ariel Alejandro Zampedri at the Melbourne Pavilion. Mitchell proved that his neck injury was no longer an issue, moving freely around the ring, and claiming victory in the third round of the fight. “The neck held up fine. I got clipped a couple of times and it held up brilliantly so there’s no issue at all and I couldn’t be happier with the way the night went,” Mitchell said. “It was all about recovering from the surgery and being comfortable and confident in the…
THIS racing season means more than usual for Mornington-bred jockey Jake Noonan as he aims to set a positive example for his newborn son, Isaac. Noonan “is more driven than ever” to be at his best and will head into the feature Mornington Cup meeting with high hopes as he boards the Michael Meaghan-trained Prussian Vixen in the $200,000 Listed Hareeba Stakes on Saturday 24 March. Noonan said his whole outlook and perspective on life has completely changed since his son entered his world on Thursday 2 November and is hoping to be a positive role model for his four-month-old…
MORE than 20 blind golfers from across Australia descended upon the Rosebud Country Club for the Victorian Blind Golf Championships and the ISPS HANDA Australian Blind Golf Open two weeks ago. The golfers competed over two days for the Victorian Blind Golf Championships on Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 March before teeing off for the national title in the ISPS HANDA Australian Blind Golf Open on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 March. Sydney’s Rod Mills was a standout in the men’s events as he led all the way in the Australian Blind Golf Open to secure the national title with…
THE PARKDALE Gift will be revived after 54 years on the sidelines and is set to showcase some untapped indigenous talent with two sprinters from far north Western Australia making the journey down south. The Gift which is set to return to the Gerry Green Reserve on Saturday 24 March has come to fruition through the efforts of former professional Parkdale runner Tim Mason who pursued the idea just over two years ago. “I ran at the Stawell Gift and now coach my daughter Georgia and we went down to the reserve a couple of years ago and thought it…
RIDING track work since the age of 12, Mornington-based horseman Clayton Douglas has risen through the ranks of the racing industry to ride his first Victorian metropolitan winner at Moonee Valley on Friday 2 February. It’s been no ordinary journey for the rider as he began his racing career on the picnic circuit just over seven years ago before finding his feet over the jumps. Douglas often works about 15 horses each morning before travelling across the state to pick up rides for numerous trainers but originally thought he would be too heavy to make the light weight needed to…
MORNINGTON Pirates women’s baseball team is hoping to add some wind to their sails this season under the guidance of new head coach Jo Schutt (pictured right). Schutt, who returned last year after taking several years off to take care of her children, is urging other mothers to come and join the newly-formed side which enters its second season. Schutt said that a lot of women, like herself, tend to stop playing the sport to focus solely on their children but after returning last year, is hoping to attract some of those players back. “Women will put themselves last and…
FRANKSTON and the Mornington Peninsula have quietly seen a rise in junior rock climbing talent. A Carrum Downs indoor climbing gym at Bayside Rock Climbing has become a base camp for state and national rock climbers with juniors as young as six-years-old taking to the main stage to represent their state. With over 100 competitors taking part at the recent Victorian State Lead Climbing Titles (roped climbing) in Brunswick, the gym managed to take out three of the top four spots in the youth D category for climbers born after 2006. The gold medal was won by 11-year-old Kai Robertson,…
ROSEBUD Country Club member Andrew Schonewille has secured his spot on the PGA Tour Series – China after winning a three-way playoff for the 15th and final card on Sunday 4 February. After sitting down with his coaches and planning out his year ahead, Schonewille decided to target the four-day Qualifiers at Mission Hills in Haikou on the Chinese Island of Hainan. Schonewille finished one over the card (73/70/70/76/289) to tie for 15th on the final day with fellow Australian Corey Hale and Singapore golfer Joshua Shou to head into a three-way playoff for the final spot on the series.…