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Gymnasts jump to success at state

Mareeba male gymnasts Oliver Hampton, Myles Dobbs Brown, Andrew Hawthorn and Frank Tulloch and competed at the state championships with pride.

Malanda triathlete Rohan Hickey was recently crowned an Australian triathlon champion. Photo by Sportograf.

Malanda triathlete takes on the world A MALANDA man will test himself against some of the best triathletes in the world after he was named the 20-24 age group Australian standard distance triathlon champion in Moolooaba recently and earned a ticket to compete at the world championships in Spain later in the year. 20-year-old Rohan Hickey has been competing in triathlons since he was nine years old, following in his mother’s footsteps who is an avid racer. Now a decade on from his first experience, he will be off to Spain in over 22-24 September for the World Triathlon Age-Group Championships. Rohan’s first triathlon was at Lake Tinaroo and he has since competed in close to 100 triathlons across the country including a few national championships and even a short distance world championship in 2018. “I really enjoy competing, the training and the racing and I have lots of friends who do it as well,” he said. For this year’s world championships Rohan,

will be racing standard distance which is a 1.5km swim, followed by a 40km bike and finishing with a 10km run. Rohan qualified for the worlds after coming first in the 20-24 age group at Australian Standard Distance Triathlon Championship held in Moolooaba in March, his highest achievement to date. He said his love for triathlon’s begun to grow after he qualified for a school national competition in 2018. “It was a bit of a surprise to win at Moolooaba, I didn’t think I would win it,” he said. “Last year I was in the opens category and I didn’t do as well, granted I didn’t train as much but this year I decided to give age groups a go.” In the lead up to the Australian Championships Rohan would be training roughly 10 hours a week with a 3km swim, an 8-14km run and a 40-50km bike ride. Rohan said the main thing that really pushed him to compete and win was his love for the sport.

Cross country champions

Holly Radcliffe, Len Davies, Lara Chambers, Harley Sweeper, Harrison Roos, Eli Smith, Dominic Serafini, Chloe Donovan from St Stephen’s Catholic College.

TO kick off the school holidays, students from St Stephen’s Catholic College and Malanda State High School took the track for the annual inter-school cross country. Although tough, participants put in their all to make it over the finish line, with the winners now preparing for the district cross country event in Yungaburra in May. ST STEPHEN’S CATHOLIC COLLEGE AGE CHAMPIONS 12 years: Harley Sweeper, Holly Radcliffe 13 years: Len Davies, Lara Chambers 14 years: Harrison Roos, Sophie Loudon

15 years: Elli Smith, Madeline Radcliffe 16 years: Dominic Serafini. Chloe Donovan Opens: Cayden Gauci, Natalie Millerd MALANDA STATE HIGH SCHOOL AGE CHAMPIONS 12 years: Sarah Polijee, Harrison Roos 13 years: Jacinta Teehan, Caden Allen 14 years: Bronte Grose, Jonty Cortts 15 years: Rachel Kidcaff, Beau Evans 16 years: Erika Koelman, Flynn Hyde 17 years: Paige Grose, Alistair Hickey Opens: Teesha Potts, Harvey Horan

PAGE 34 The Express, Wednesday, April 12, 2023

EIGHT young talented Mareeba Gymnasts recently competed at the Senior State Championships in Brisbane – one of the biggest competitions of the year. Angelina Tulloch (14 years Level 7 Under 15), Addyson Hampton (12 years Level 7 Under 13 years) Natalia Esposito (14 years Level 7 under 15) and Brydie Genge (aged 17 years Level 9 Open) competed for the ladies this year, with Angelina coming sixth on bars and Natalia coming fifth on vault. For the boys it was Andrew Hawthorn (18 years Level 7 Open), Myles Dobbs Brown (15 years Level 7 Open), Oliver Hampton (15 years Level 7 Open) and Frank Tulloch (aged 17 years Level 8 Open) who competed in the arena with Oliver coming 5th on floor and second in vault whilst Mareeba’s champion Frank Tulloch came first on floor and vault and third on rings. Oliver and Frank have since been selected to go onto the next level of competition where Oliver will represent Queensland on the MAG Level 7 Border Challenge Team and Frank joining the Level 8 State Team. Coaching director Kelly Tulloch was proud to see her crew come so far in the competition and said it is a testimony to their dedication in the lead up. “These gymnasts trained 10.5 hours per week which is half the hours that most of their competitors would have been training,” she said. “I have seen these kids grow up in the gym, as I have coached them all from a young age. I guide them as they put in the hard work to make themselves better athletes. “I am so proud of them all,

Natalia Esposito, Addyson Hampton and Angelina Tulloch spent hours preparing for the state championships.

and so happy for them as they continue to rise to the challenges of competition. It is not easy to step into the gymnastics arena with a lot of people watching down on them as they only get once change to perform a routine which they have trained so hard for.” Dedicated to his gymnastics, Frank has been working harder than ever before in the lead up to the state championships and is proud to be representing Queensland in May. With new goals set in stone, he is prepared to head on to the national championship with the lessons he learned from states behind him. “State championships was a great experience as I was exposed to many talented gymnast across the state which allowed me to make new lifelong friends within the sport,” he said. “With my competitive nature, to always strive and

achieve my best competing in such a high level environment fuels my hunger and determination to set and achieve new goals. “Finishing first automatically qualified me for the state team which will allow me to work alongside the best gymnast in the state to proudly represent Queensland at the Australian Gymnastics Championships. “In preparation for the Australian Gymnastics Championships my focus will be in the gym training harder than ever to make Mareeba and Queensland proud.” Frank will compete at Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast from 7-13 May this year whilst his team mate Oliver will be representing Queensland as an individual and a team member at the Queensland Border Challenge Competition in Brisbane from 24-29 June.

Cricketing legends to visit cape LOCALS will have the chance to rub shoulders with Australian cricket royalty at the Musgrave Super 8s Cricket Carnival due to be held over the May Day long weekend. Cricketing legends Doug Walters and Jeff Thomson will be attending this year’s carnival hosted at the iconic and heritage listed Musgrave Roadhouse. Teams from the cape will do battle with Ta-

blelands sides over the weekend long cricket carnival from Saturday, 29 April until Monday 1 May. Camping and alcohol will be available and there will be a barbecue dinner and memorabilia auction on the Saturday night. Members of the public are encouraged to come along and watch the social match be played in front of the iconic Musgrave Roadhouse.