Fraser Coast’s 30 under 30 young guns and success stories
From a ballerina and police officer to gifted musicians, entrepreneurs and sports people, here are 30 of the Fraser Coast’s young men and women who are making their mark. See the full list.
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The Fraser Coast has incredible young people who are leading the way in the community.
From studies to business, cultural endeavours and sport, there are young people succeeding in every field.
Here, we celebrate their accomplishments and share a little bit about what the up-and-coming generation is achieving, in no particular order.
Sara Diana Faraj
Named the Fraser Coast’s Young Citizen of the Year in early 2022, this 21-year-old is kicking goals from setting world records to hosting community youth forums.
Sara Diana Faraj is the President of Zonta Hervey Bay and has set the record as the youngest Zonta president in the world.
In 2022, Ms Faraj was a QUT Pathways to Politics for Women program graduate, finalist for the Fraser Coast Business and Tourism Awards for Con Souvlis Young Achiever and the recipient of a Diverse Leaders Scholarship from the Women Leaders Institute.
Ms Faraj was also a Hervey Bay Queensland Youth Parliamentarian in 2021, and a co-author for community book Making Hervey Bay Home.
She has received various awards including a Four Lions Youth of the Year speaker achievement and bronze award for cultural contribution.
Ms Faraj is heavily involved in the Fraser Coast community, taking on roles as a community culture cafe volunteer, Environmental Committee member, St Vincent De Paul sleep out leader and Sports event volunteer.
J’maine Hopgood
NRL star J’maine Hopgood started out as a junior for the Hervey Bay Seagulls and rose all the way through the ranks to play for reigning premiers, the Penrith Panthers.
But next year Mr Hopgood will pull on the jersey for the Parramatta Eels, the side the Panthers beat in the NRL grand final and their Western Sydney rivals, in a move he hopes will allow him to spend more time playing in the top grade.
Mr Hopgood had a sensational year for Penrith’s NSW Cup team, captaining the side to a premiership and being named the competition’s Player of the Year.
He was also named man of the match after the side beat the Canterbury Bulldogs 44-10, with Hopgood scoring two tries.
“It was awesome to be a part of,” he said.
Mr Hopgood said after talking with Parramatta coach Brad Arthur, he knew if he worked hard he would have the chance to break into the 17 and after being in the grand final, he knew the club was hungry to get back there and win.
Xanthe O’Connor
In 2020, Xanthe O’Connor achieved her ultimate goal with the creation of the Hearts and Hands Signing Choir.
It’s an all-inclusive, all abilities choir that welcomes people from all walks of life and has provided a sense of community among the group.
She recently won the Individual Achievement Award for Autism Queensland’s Creative Future Awards, this has also seen her efforts recognised in the media.
She is an inspiration to her peers and the broader community for her enthusiasm and “go get it” attitude.
She confidently welcomes everyone to choir every Monday night, marks the role and participates in all choir decisions.
Ms O’Connor’s role with the choir is entirely of a volunteer capacity.
She graduated Hervey Bay Special School as 2020 School Captain.
During her last year of education, she was able to manage a full school schedule, intensive speech therapy and choir rehearsals and performances.
Ms O’Connor is also a committee member of Special Needs Fraser Coast.
Last year she was named the Young Cultural Award winner at the annual Fraser Coast Australia Day Awards.
Matthew Hauser
Former Hervey Bay triathlete Matthew Hauser is making a name for himself on the world stage.
In 2021, he competed at the Tokyo Olympics, with a huge crowd turning out to watch him compete in the triathlon events.
At the time, Mr Hauser’s proud parents Vicki and Darren told the Fraser Coast Chronicle they were relieved he had made it through his first Olympics and through a gruelling and hot event.
“We’re just so proud that he made it through to the finish line and standing up, so that’s good,” Ms Hauser said.
“It’s been a very long journey as any elite athlete would tell you, we’re just so thankful for the support of the local triathlon club and all of the local business that have supported Matt as well.”
Ms Hauser said she was thankful to have the support of the crowd during her son’s event.
She said she wouldn’t put into words how hard Hauser had worked to get to the Olympics.
“It has been a very long journey,” she said.
“With elite sport, people only see the top of the iceberg, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes.
“He’s had accidents and injuries, some really low points, some really high points, winning the World Junior Championships.
“We’re just grateful that he made it to the starting line of his first Olympics.”
Alec Braund
Maryborough-raised tennis star Alec Braund, 18, hit a career highlight when he received a wildcard into the 2022 Australian Open Junior Tournament.
Despite a broken ankle in September 2021 which derailed some crucial training in the lead up to the match and Mr Braund not progressing past the first round in the tournament, it was still a huge achievement.
At 14-years-old, Mr Braund represented Australia at the 2018 ITF World Junior Tennis Finals in the Czech Republic and won the under 14’s Australian Clay Court Championships.
He is also a five-time winner of the Eddie Machin Award, a Tennis Queensland accolade that recognises the best junior regional athlete of the year.
Bonnie Quinn-Hennessey
Fraser Coast ballerina Bonnie Quinn-Hennessy has had an impressive career so far.
In 2015, she won the Suncorp Wish Upon A Ballet Star competition, and represented the Fraser Coast in Australia Ballet School.
In 2018, she and her teacher, Pamela Marshall, claimed the cultural awards at the Fraser Coast Australia Day Awards.
Today, Ms Quinn-Hennessy is with the Queensland Ballet Academy.
Leonie Kingdom
Hervey Bay folk singer Leonie Kingdom hit the ground running with her career, when her debut single Night Terrors reached number one on the Triple J unearthed charts.
Ms Kingdom, who is a regular artist played on Triple J, has performed alongside numerous indie artists such as Ocean Alley.
At the time of publishing she has more than 1700 followers on her Facebook page.
Karen Boulton
Fraser Coast woman Karen Boulton, has dreams of representing her city as a government minister.
The aspiring politician was named Fraser Coast’s Young Citizen of the Year in 2019 and represented Maryborough at the Queensland Youth Parliament in 2020.
She told the Fraser Coast Chronicle in 2021 she hoped to establish a youth support centre on the Fraser Coast with the aid of the region’s local, state and federal politicians.
Josie Desgrand
Influencer Josie Desgrand first gained a following after she documented her inspirational weightloss journey online, where she lost half her body weight (60kg) in one year.
As a result, she gained hundreds of thousands of followers on her social media page, @nolongerfatjosie, which she now uses to promote a healthy lifestyle and body positivity.
She recently gave birth to her second son, Ollie, in July 2021, and documented a six-week fitness challenge after she was six weeks postpartum.
At the time of publishing, her social media account has more than 131,000 followers.
Robbi Jan
Daughter of Maryborough dentist Spike Jan and social media influencer Robbi Jan, 25, first rose to fame on Instagram, and her profile now has more than 232,000 followers.
Now based in Los Angeles, she runs a successful YouTube channel called The Miracle Mindset, where she discusses mental wellbeing, business, life and motivation.
On Instagram, Ms Jan posts about fashion and beauty, fitness and life with her partner.
Jasmin Corby
Young Cultural Award of the Year recipient for 2022 Jasmin Corby endeavours to represent her indigenous heritage through her furnishing work.
According to information on the Fraser Coast council website, Ms Corby’s work has been showcased at Hervey Bay High School and has inspired students to incorporate their own cultural heritage into their designs.
The talented youngster has mentored other young women to take on roles within furnishing studies through the Girls Academy at Hervey Bay State High School, according to the council’s website.
Jacob Donnelly
Jacob Donnelly was the recipient of the Fraser Coast council’s Young STEM award for the Year in 2022.
Information on the council’s website reveals Mr Donnelly completed a two-year Certificate III in Information Digital Media and Technology.
He also completed his Dell Certification to become a qualified Dell Technician.
According to the council’s website, Mr Donnelly helps repair laptops for his school, operate audio and visual equipment for assemblies and troubleshoot any technical problems for students and staff.
Hunter Murdoch
Generously giving his time, Hunter Murdoch has coached the under-12 runners up team and represented Maryborough Magic in basketball at regional and state under-16 championships.
According to the council’s website, Mr Murdoch was selected for the Basketball Queensland Future Development program where he attended a development camp for the top 40, under-14 male players in Queensland.
In 2020, Mr Murdoch was also selected for the Queensland Basketball team in the Australian Primary School Championships.
According to information from the council, Mr Murdoch is also a soccer player who was invited to England as part of the West Ham United Academy elite tour in 2019.
In 2022, he was named the Fraser Coast’s Young Sportsperson of the Year.
Lewis Akaveka
Fraser Coast’s Young Volunteer of the Year for 2022 Lewis Akaveka has dedicated many hours of his time helping community organisations.
Mr Akaveka has volunteered at the Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre, and the Neighbourhood Hive where he helped with Open Day.
He even volunteers during his school holidays, having helped with cleaning and painting the Neighbourhood Hive in preparation for its opening.
Information on the council’s website reveals in October 2021, Mr Akaveka won the Community Choice award at the Fraser Coast Social Plan Pitch Night for a project to facilitate cooking classes for young adults leaving home.
In 2017, he also co-ordinated an event to raise money for Tonga after the islands were devastated by a cyclone.
According to the council's website, the donations were used to provide food, supplies and new doors on a youth centre in Nuku’alofa.
Henry Rider
Hervey Bay’s Henry Rider is a wheelchair basketball athlete.
This talented sportsman has volunteered as the Wheelchair Basketball Coasters president and captain and won the Fraser Coast’s Young Volunteer of the Year award in 2021.
His determination and love for basketball led him to achieving the council’s sportsperson of the month award in July 2019.
After a chance meeting with Michael Oxley, who had just returned from the under-25 women’s world wheelchair basketball at the time, is what sparked Mr Rider’s interest in the sport.
He also represented Queensland at the national junior wheelchair basketball titles in 2019 at Townsville.
Ella Tracey
This talented youngster and Hervey Bay State High School student won the council’s Young STEM of the Year award in 2021.
Ella Tracey was a regional STEM ambassador for the Education Department and led other students in their “vision of developing, and creating a school wind farm”, according to the council’s website.
Ms Tracey was also the leader of a team at the Queensland STEM girls summit, where the students brain-stormed and problem-solved “real world issues” with students from across the state, according to the council.
In Brisbane, she also represented Hervey Bay State High School at a state-wide bridge building competition.
Owen Taylor
In 2021, the Fraser Coast’s Young Sportsperson of the year was Owen Taylor.
According to the council’s website, Mr Taylor’s “professionalism, commitment, and attitude” have “set him up for success” as a young athlete.
Mr Taylor was selected in the Queensland under-14 Softball Squad and has also played in the Queensland Titles in Hervey Bay.
He also played in the under-13 Queensland Indoor Hockey Team for Maryborough, according to the council.
Iluka Clifton
Iluka Clifton is a prominent figure in the local community for her commitment to the environment, not for profit community groups and as an entrepreneur.
In 2021, she was named the Fraser Coast’s Young Citizen of the Year.
One of this youngster’s achievements was organising, planning, and running of her own community event Groove for Good, where she raised money for the neighbourhood centre and other local organisations.
According to the council, Ms Clifton also spoke at a council meeting where she brought long plastic straws she had found while picking up rubbish - which she often does on her weekes.
She asked councillors for plastic straws to be banned on the Fraser Coast, according to the council’s website.
Her motion was passed to stop the use of plastic straws and other single use plastics at council events.
Beth Mooney
Gifted cricketer Beth Mooney has pulled on the gloves to wicket-keep for Australia, but long before that she played the sport in Hervey Bay.
When she was 11 years old, Ms Mooney was identified as the best catcher in her team during zone trials in Hervey Bay, and was advised by the team’s coach to try wicket-keeping.
In her teenage years, Ms Mooney played for the Hervey Bay’s boys’ Cavaliers team until 18 years old, as there were no women's cricket teams at that time.
In 2020, Ms Mooney was selected for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, and named the Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World in 2021.
Keira Stephens
Gifted swimmer Keira Stephens started her sporting journey at the Hervey Bay swim club under coach Paul Jones.
She won a silver medal in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke at the 2018 Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championship in Cairns, and finished fourth in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke at the World Para Swimming Championships in London in 2019.
Speaking to the Fraser Coast Chronicle in 2018, Ms Stephens dreamt of competing at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Her dream became a reality in 2021 when she competed at the games, taking home two bronze medals and an Australian record.
Adriana Mageros
Queensland University of Technology graduate Adriana Mageros is the newest journalist to join the talented Fraser Coast Chronicle news team.
Adriana grew up in Brisbane and graduated in 2016, with a Bachelor of Journalism with distinction.
She moved to Bundaberg in February 2022 to pursue her career in journalism and now lives in Hervey Bay, covering regional news for the Fraser Coast.
Since arriving she’s quickly become a familiar face at community events like Relish Food and Wine Festival and has taken a keen interest in council, covering everything from the recent budget and e-scooter trial to decisions which impact our pets and hip pockets and controversy over the Maryborough and Hervey Bay library and administration buildings.
She comes from a musical background, and has played the violin and piano since she was eight years old.
Julia Hill
Talented violinist Julia Hill arrived in Japan in September on her New Colombo Plan Scholarship.
The gifted musician has been developing her talent for years.
The former Urangan State School student has received many accolades since she began performing.
In 2014, she won Most Outstanding Instrumentalist at the Maryborough Eisteddfod.
She also featured solo violinist at the Creation Generation Performance and SHOWCASE awards – Queensland Department of Education and claimed the Highest Academic Achievement for Year 10 recipient at Urangan State High School.
She was also a member of the Fraser Coast Council‘s Youth Ambassador Program (2013-2015).
Grace O’Hanlon
Maryborough-born hockey star and Olympian Grace O’Hanlon is a goalkeeper for the New Zealand Black Sticks.
She made her Olympics debut in the 2021 games for the Black Sticks, after winning gold at the Gold Coast in the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
Growing up, O’Hanlon played for Maryborough Brothers, was part of a Maryborough under-13s team on her first rep journey.
The young hockey star then lived and trained in Perth for two years, and later qualified for New Zealand where she later moved in early January 2017.
Cara Wessels
Senior Constable Cara Wessels received an Assistant Commissioner’s Certificate in 2022 for her quick-thinking actions when she was called to an incident in which a man had self-harmed.
An event to honour the region’s police officers was held at Maryborough City Hall, with Maryborough MP Bruce Saunders, Hervey Bay MP Adrian Tantari, Superintendent Michael Sawrey and Assistant Commissioner Brian Conners attending.
The first aid Const Wessels provided and the assistance she gave the man, alongside her partner, until paramedics arrived, likely saved his life, Acting Inspector Brooke Flood told those gathered.
Timo van Hest
Timo van Hest was voted the region’s favourite bartender by Fraser Coast Chronicle readers in 2021.
Mr van Hest moved to Hervey Bay from Brisbane about two-and-a-half years ago, bringing with him 11 years of experience working in bars.
He has now opened Bar Soma, a cosy boutique bar on the Esplanade in Scarness, with business-partner Neil Yates.
Mr van Hest said Bar Soma will focus on serving “late-night food” and “quality drinks”, with menus that would change every five to eight weeks.
“It’s a way for us to keep challenging ourselves and keep our patronage interested in what’s next,” he said.
Bar Soma will officially open its doors in the coming weeks.
Hannah Cullum-Sanders
Hannah Cullum-Sanders, 18, made her Hockeyroos squad debut in 2022 when she represented Australia in a four-game series against New Zealand.
The former Aldridge State High School student discovered her love for hockey at just five-years-old.
Ms Cullum-Sanders grew up playing hockey in Maryborough and represented the Fraser Coast until she was 17.
She now lives in Brisbane where she plays for Redcliffe Leagues in the Brisbane Premier League.
Ms Cullum-Sanders said it was a “dream come true” to represent Australia in the overseas tournament in early 2022.
“It filled my heart to know that I wasn’t just representing Australia but representing my family, friends, club, and home,” she said.
Toby Powers
In June 2022, Toby Powers placed silver in the Junior (under-20) Triathlon World Championships race in Canada.
The 19-year-old started training for triathlons at the age of 12, and is still with Hervey Bay Triathlon Club.
Earlier this year, Powers told the Fraser Coast Chronicle he trained nearly 20 hours a week outside working hours.
“Training is very difficult as I also work full time so I have to very particular with the training I do,” he said
Due to the poor water quality at the time of the event in Montreal, the race became a duathlon (run and ride) instead of a triathlon.
Powers finished the race in 51 minutes and 57 seconds.
Cruz Baker
Cruz Baker won the Junior Sportsperson of the Year award for the under-14 age group in 2021.
Information from the Fraser Coast council shows Mr Baker has scored more than 1000 runs in the last three seasons playing cricket.
The talented youngster was even made the “face” of a New Zealand bat making company’s youth collection, according to the council.
Mr Baker is also a talented softball player having competed in the Wide Bay and Queensland Softball Teams in under-12 and under-14 age groups.
Alexandrea Rossiter
Alexandrea Rossiter was the recipient of the Young Cultural Award of the Year award at Australia Day celebrations in Maryborough in 2019.
The talented performer has danced in dozens of local eisteddfods since she was a child, and also plays the flute.
At the Maryborough Eisteddfod in 2018, she competed in the under-12, under-15 and under-18 categories.
She took home a first place award, three second achievements, and three third places awards, along with two Highly Commended achievements.
She is a talented ballerina and was also awarded the Most Outstanding Literary award for 2018.
Hannah Karrasch
Hannah Karrasch was named the Fraser Coast’s Young Sportsperson of the Year in 2019.
She was introduced to volleyball by her older sister, and has made some incredible achievements throughout her sporting journey.
Ms Karrasch was an Aldridge State High School where she was selected in the school’s volleyball excellence program and was a member of the Queensland under-19 Maroon Volleyball Team that competed at the Junior Volleyball Championships.
Information from the Fraser Coast council reveals that Ms Karrasch’s international career started with the Australian Youth Women’s Volleyball Team where she competed 11th Asian Youth Girls Champions in Chongqing, China in March 2017.
In 2018, she also played at the 19th Asian Women’s Volleyball Championships in Vietnam.
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