Messenger Community News’ top 20 SA athletes to watch in 2017
FROM sprinters and shooters to golfers and basketballers, Adelaide has no shortage of young sporting talent. Here’s Messenger Community News’ guide to the top 20 local athletes to watch in 2017.
FROM sprinters and shooters to golfers and basketballers, Adelaide has no shortage of sporting talent on the rise.
SA-based youngsters have won Olympic and Paralympic medals, represented their country on the international stage and triumphed over seasoned veterans twice their age in the past 12 months.
As a new year begins, we present Messenger Community News’ guide to the top 20 local athletes to watch in 2017.
LIAM BEKRIC (SWIMMING)
IT WILL take a lot for the Norwood Swimming Club member to top his 2016 over the next 12 months but he will try. Last year Bekric, 15, finished fourth in the S13 100m breaststroke final at the Rio Paralympics and won the secondary category of the Messenger Community News School Sports Awards. Bekric has retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye condition that has resulted in tunnel vision.
ALEX PRICE (CRICKET)
PRICE’S decision to choose cricket over football is paying off. Last year the Sturt left-arm orthodox won women’s Grade Cricket’s highest individual honour, the Karen Rolton Medal, represented Adelaide Strikers and toured Sri Lanka with Australia A. Price, 21, had previously played in the SA Women’s Football League.
LACHY BARKER (GOLF)
IT WILL be a massive year for the Willunga teenager, who has landed a golf scholarship at Iowa State University. The move follows him winning the Malaysian Amateur, finishing third in the Australian Boys’ Amateur, claiming both the Golf SA junior and senior Vardon trophies, and prevailing in Glenelg’s club championships in 2016.
GEORGIA IANNELLA (SOCCER / CRICKET)
THE Prospect teenager’s talent on the soccer pitch is matched by her potential as a cricketer. Iannella represented Australia at the Asian Football Confederation Under-16 Women’s Championship qualifiers and made her W-League debut for Adelaide United all while featuring in the state under-18 girls’ cricket squad.
JACOB RIGONI (BASKETBALL)
THE Sturt basketballer made a big impression in 2016, getting named in the all-star five after the FIBA under-18 Oceania championships in Fiji and playing his part in the Sabres’ run all the way to the Premier League grand final. Rigoni, 18, averaged 10.68 points and 4.91 rebounds per game for Sturt this past season. He hopes to help SA win a national under-20 title in Bendigo in February.
CHARLOTTE KEMPENAERS-POCZ (TENNIS)
THE Glengowrie youngster won last year’s 12-and-under Australian girls tennis championship after beating Queensland’s Hana Sonton in the decider. Kempenaers-Pocz, who took out the primary category of Messenger’s School Sports Awards in 2015, hopes to help Glenlea to back-to-back women’s State League titles.
SAMANTHA SIMONS (BASKETBALL)
THE Forestville basketballer enters 2017 flying high after claiming gold medals as part of the Australian team that won the under-17 world titles in Spain in July and the Oceania under-18 championships in Fiji in December. After finishing a one-year scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport, Simons is an SA young gun with a bright future in hoops.
BEN HINKS (SAILING)
THE four-time national junior sailing champion entered this year off the back of a whirlwind 2016, which included representing Australia for the first time at the Optimist European Championship in Italy and winning the primary school category of the SA Sport Awards. Ben, 12, competes for Adelaide Sailing Club. The Flagstaff Hill resident wants to one day race at an Olympics.
HARVEY BRENNAN (CRICKET)
BRENNAN’S strike power makes him one to watch this year. The state under-19 cricketer clubbed 172 off 74 balls in a match for St Peter’s College and a quickfire 36 as he captained Saints to their first Messenger Bowl grand final victory since 2010. Brennan, 17, is also emerging in Prospect’s A grade after making his debut in October.
HANNAH PETTY (NETBALL)
TANGO product Petty will line up for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the inaugural Super Netball competition. She earned state and national underage selection last year and will represent Australia at the Netball World Youth Cup in Fiji this month.
SAM DRAPER (FOOTBALL)
WHAT progress will the former soccer player, who spent part of his childhood in England, make after another year of Aussie rules and an AFL pre-season at Essendon? Draper looms as one of SA’s most intriguing draftees or rookies ahead of 2017, following his switch from soccer centre-back to South Adelaide ruckman last season.
LEWIS ABDUL (SURF LIFESAVING)
ABDUL is making a splash in surf lifesaving. The Moana Heights youngster won the SA Surf Life Saving Athlete of the Year for a second consecutive time in 2016, claimed nine gold medals at last year’s state championships and has previously been named in the Australian team. Abdul, 17, is a member of Grange Surf Life Saving Club.
EMMA ADAMS (SHOOTING)
THE Woodcroft sharp shooter will this year look to continue her rise in air rifle competitions after narrowly missing out on selection for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Adams, a member of Reynella Small Bore and Air Rifle Club, has multiple awards under her belt and represented Australia at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
JONTY SCHARENBERG (FOOTBALL)
THE Glenelg midfielder was arguably one of the unluckiest players to be overlooked at last year’s AFL national and rookie drafts after earlier being tipped as a potential top-10 pick. Expect under-18 All-Australian Scharenberg to fire for the Tigers this season and use the disappointment as motivation to prove the doubters wrong.
MOLLY FARMER (ATHLETICS)
THE 14-year-old shot to prominence after winning the women’s 70m at the Bay Sheffield athletics carnival last month before taking out the senior 120m title at Maryborough in Victoria. St Michael’s College student Farmer also won the female sprint sash at the Pre-Bay Sheffield event to announce her arrival in the SA Athletics League open ranks.
RYAN YATES (SOCCER)
WEST Torrens Birkalla teenager Yates received the John Aloisi Rising Star Award as the best young player in SA soccer’s Premier League last season. The midfielder played 18 games and scored two goals to help the Eagles to a third-place finish before bowing out in the preliminary final. The Football Federation SA National Training Centre graduate has represented Australia at under-16 level.
EBONY MARINOFF (FOOTBALL)
MORPHETTVILLE Park footballer Marinoff will debut for the Crows next month in the inaugural AFL Women’s league. She was involved in a quirky moment last year when she abruptly ended a boundary TV interview to re-enter the field and kick a matchwinning goal for SA against NSW/ACT.
TYSON BRAY (CRICKET)
NORTHERN Districts cricketer Tyson made 107 off 223 balls in his A-grade debut against Port Adelaide at Port Reserve on November 5. The 18-year-old’s impressive knock was believed to be the club’s highest individual score on debut and pointed to more big scores for the emerging batsman in 2017.
MELARN MURPHY (ATHLETICS)
THE daughter of dual Commonwealth Games gold medal-winner Tania van Heer-Murphy has her sights set on the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Murphy won the under-16 100m, 200m and 400m races at the state junior athletics titles at Mile End in February and in November finished second in the Port Adelaide 120m women’s final in her SA Athletic League debut.
BEN JARMAN (FOOTBALL)
THE son of two-time Adelaide and Hawthorn premiership player Darren Jarman finally became a Crow when the club picked him in last year’s AFL rookie draft. The classy small forward/midfielder was considered unlucky to miss selection in the national draft and will be keen to continue his family’s proud tradition in 2017.