LOCAL SPORT
BONNEY MAKES IT FIVE IN A ROW
Under 14 Female Age Group Winner - Mia Kleinig
Under 14 Male Age Group Winner - Ben Young
Under 15 Female Age Group Winner Jemma Walters
Under 15 Male Age Group Winner - Mitchell Little
Under 16 Female Age Group Winner Claire Redding
Under 16 Male Age Group Winner - Jack Kleinig
Open Male Age Group Winner - Samuel Saunders
Open Female Age Group Winners Alaska Lipscombe & Lucie Whitworth
FIFTH CONSECUTIVE TITLE FOR BONNEY The 2019 Grant High School Swimming Carnival was held last month with Bonney successfully defending its 2018 title and making it five wins in a row in the pool. Along with the usual pool events, there was also an Iron Man Championship with Alaska Lipscombe emerging as the female champion and Aaron Ramsey taking out the male event in the senior category. HOUSE CHAMPIONSHIP 1st • Bonney - 957; 2nd • Gordon - 774; 3rd • Gambier - 555; 4th • Henty - 506 Left - Championship winning captains from Bonney (from left) - Simone Morony, Josh Telford, Claudia Edmonds & Samuel Saunders
STILL FLYING THE MOUNT GAMBIER FLAG As we look at the local basketballers that have either been selected in the SA Country Under 18 teams for the upcoming national championships next month or as Pioneers squad members, or in some cases, both, we profile the young career of Emily Close, who might have flown the Mount Gambier coop, but is still proudly from Mount Gambier and is part of the Under 18 SA Country team. EMILY CLOSE Emily Close has headed to Westminster School in Adelaide this year but she is a born and bred Mount Gambier talent and she is set to represent SA Country at the upcoming Under 18 national basketball championships in Townsville. Playing since she was five years old when she headed out to the Icehouse for Under 8 development sessions, Emily was a long time representative of the local association through the Lakers program and she has been representing SA Country six years – starting in the Under 13 age group. It is the third time Emily has been chosen as part of SA Country’s teams for the national championships – a step up from the
usual Country Cup in Albury and other major tournaments in Melbourne where SA Country sends teams. “I enjoy the opportunity to play against the best around Australia, as well as meeting new people,” Emily said. There can certainly be no doubt that the Limestone Coast is blessed with some of the State’s top coaches and Emily has mainly local coaches to thank for her development as a player, as well as the opportunity to be part of the Titans program at Tenison Woods College in previous years. She is now representing Westminster in their A grade girls basketball team. “My first junior coach was Beth Serle, who has supported me all
the way through my junior career, “Emily said. “Other coaches that have had influenced have been Trevor Semmons and Bryan Green. The coach that has had the biggest impact on my basketball improvement is Dan Stratford through school, club, Lakers and SA Country.” Once Emily has settled into life at boarding school and completed her commitments with SA Country at the national championships, she will look to find a spot at a district club in Adelaide.
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