Sunshine Coast’s top school sporting talents of the last 20 years
The Sunshine Coast has served as a stomping ground for a number of elite and professional athletes over the last 20 years. Read about their high school heroics here.
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The Sunshine Coast has served as a stomping ground for a swag of sporting talents who have launched themselves all the way to the elite and professional level.
From national and state heroics to outright club and individual legend status, here are some of the Sunshine Coast’s best ever high school sporting stars from the past 20 years.
Multiple schools were contacted before the time of publishing
Coolum State High School
Isabella Nichols (2015 graduate)
Quickly making a name for herself in the surfing world, Isabella Nichols is a high ranking female surfer from Coolum.
Nichols, 25, began surfing aged nine and quickly rose through the professional ranks, winning the 2022 Margaret River Pro.
She currently holds a top 15 position on the World Surf League rankings.
Megan Prinsloo (2019 graduate)
Women’s rugby union star Megan Prinsloo took a major step towards her professional dream after being added to the 2023 Queensland Reds Super W Squad following a standout year on the Sunshine Coast.
Prinsloo, 21, was captain of the 2022 Nambour Toads premiership winning open women's team and also represented the Sunshine Coast Stingrays, South Queensland and Queensland Country Orchids.
The damaging backrower, who is the first player from the Sunshine Coast to be selected, said she was extremely proud.
Good Shepherd Lutheran College
Alexa Leary (2019 graduate)
After suffering horrific brain injuries in a devastating cycling accident on the Sunshine Coast, Alexa Leary was in a fight for her life in a coma.
She spent 111 days in a hospital and rehabilitation ward but rallied against her life-changing injuries to become one of Queensland’s most inspirational tales.
In July 2022, Ms Leary was back in the pool as a member of the Swimming Australia Para National Development Squad.
“It’s great to be back in the pool, I’m doing mainly freestyle, I can do a little bit of backstroke but my arm isn’t the best so it’s very hard, I can’t do butterfly and I hate breaststroke,” she said.
“I’ll be moving to the Gold Coast soon to be with my coach and I’m going to push myself as I want to win gold for Australia at the Paralympics.”
In April 2023 she was officially announced as a member of the Australian Dolphins team for the World Para Swimming Championships.
Maggie Harmer (2020 graduate)
Noosa Tigers, Maroochydore Roos and Good Shepherd Lutheran College star Maggie Harmer was drafted to the Brisbane Lions in the 2021 AFLW draft and made her debut in 2022.
Before making it to the elite level Harmer was named in the 2021 AFLW U19 All-Australian team after her efforts with Queensland in the national U19 championships.
In 2022 she was placed on the inactive list after injuring her ACL.
Anna McKenna
Anna Mckenna is a solo ultra trail runner who competed in her first 100km race in December 2021 after she “got into trail running at the start of the year”.
In the 100km premier race, Anna McKenna stormed home to become the first female in the events’ history to be crowned the overall winner, well ahead of the men’s field, and in a time just 60 seconds off the previous female course record in 9:04:13.
“I’ve been training really hard and I wanted to see what I could do,” Anna said.
Currently based in Sydney, Anna was crowned Ultra Trail Australia 100km Champion in 2022.
Maroochydore State High School
Lani Pallister (2019 graduate)
Pallister has stamped her name on the international swimming stage with her most recent achievements coming at the FINA World Swimming Championships in Melbourne.
The 20-year-old took home three gold medals in both the 400m and 800m freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle relay.
She is a record holder in two sports for the 4x200m freestyle relay and the youth age group in the 100m rescue medley and 200m super lifesaver for surf lifesaving.
She holds the Oceanian, Commonwealth, and Australian records in the short course 1500m freestyle and the Australian record in the short course 800m freestyle.
Pallister was the first female World Short Course champion in the 1500m freestyle, winning the inaugural event for women at the 2022 edition and is a three-time Pier to Pub open water swim winner.
Pallister is now with the Griffith University swim club and is the goddaughter of Olympian Dawn Fraser.
Eric Hipwood (2014 graduate)
Hipwood began playing Aussie rules for the Kawana Park Eagles before switching clubs to the Caloundra Panthers and being selected in the Brisbane Lions development academy at 13.
When he was 15 he made his senior debut for the club before playing his final year of junior football for the Aspley Hornets.
During his high school years he represented the Queensland schoolboys team and was also a talented cricketer, accepting an invitation to join Maroochydore State High School‘s sports excellence program while in grade 10.
He was later drafted to the Brisbane Lions in 2015, debuting the year after and has since gone on to play 132 games for the club.
James Bazley (2012 graduate)
Bazley was a member of the Maroochydore State High School cricket academy and while at school achieved regional and state representative honours.
He began playing for the Sunshine Coast Scorchers as a junior in the Queensland Premier Cricket competition and was later selected to represent Australia at the 2014 Under-19 World Cup.
He received a rookie contract with the Brisbane Heat that same year.
He represented the Australian XI in 2015 and joined the Hobart Hurricanes in 2016 but suffered a career-threatening groin injury.
After sitting out the 2017, 2018 and majority of the 2019 season Bazley returned to the Queensland Premier Grade and was later signed to the Brisbane Heat in 2020.
He’s since played 34 matches, taken 31 wickets and averages 25.55 with the bat.
Shae Wools-Cobb (2013 graduate)
Wools-Cobb, 26, began his golfing career in Mudjimba and frequently featured in a number of junior and amauter tournaments across the Sunshine Coast.
He made his professional debut under coach Grant Field in 2018 at the Queensland Open and still plays regular competitions at Pelican Waters.
Isobel Dalton
Isobel “Izzy” Dalton, 25, represented Australia in the women’s national under-17 soccer team before playing for Lewes in the English FA Women’s Championship.
Dalton said she has “let the sport take me all around the world while competing in major tournaments and leagues on the biggest stages”.
In 2019 she graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Sociology and studied Justice and Law online at the Queensland University of Technology.
Mitch Coleborn
A pro surfer from Nambour Mitch Coleborn, 36, has appeared in surf films Modern Collective, Cluster, BS! and Stranger Than Fiction.
Coleborn was contracted to US surf company Volcom since he was 18 for almost two decades.
In 2022 Coleborn released his first solo edit, Fungzetti.
“My buddy Luke Cheadle did all the music, and Rhys Carlill did all the editing,” Coleborn told Stab magazine in June 2022.
Other notable mentions from Maroochydore SHS include athletics stars Emma Lawrence (2012 graduate), Alana Anderson (2005 graduate), Teniele Richards (2006 graduate) and Nicole Kay (2015 graduate) who all still hold school records.
St Teresa’s Catholic College
Lilly Mills (2018 graduate)
Mills began playing for the Tewantin-Noosa Cricket Club before progressing to the Sunshine Coast Scorchers as a junior.
In 2019-20 Mills played in one match for Brisbane Heat before playing for Queensland at the end of the 2020-21 season.
She changed clubs to the Perth Scorchers in the WBBL for the 2021-22 season and has also since played for Western Australia.
Nick Chapman
Chapman grew up playing for the Noosa Dolphins and the Sunshine Coast Stingrays before relocating to Brisbane in 2015.
In the past three years Chapman has represented the Australian 7s team and more recently signed a developmental contract with the ACT Brumbies for the 2022 season.
Glasshouse Christian College
Holly Lubke
Lubke has competed at an elite level in a number of international mountain biking competitions.
She has competed for the ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast at Cycle Sunshine Coast and was on the Australian under 23 team at the recent XCO World Champs.
Noosa District State High School
Jocelyn Jeloudev (1999 graduate)
Jeloudev attended Noosa District State High School before joining the Queensland Academy of Sport in Brisbane in 2000.
She received a college sponsorship at Troy State University in Alabama and made the All-American Team as pitcher before going on to play professionally in the Italian league, European World Cup for Austria, Russia and Ukraine.
She is a Queensland and Australian softball representative and was recently inducted into the Queensland Softball Hall of Fame.
Jake Friend (2007 graduate)
Friend originally played for the Noosa Pirates before he joined the Roosters on a scholarship when he was 15.
In 2008, he progressed from SG Ball Competition through to Toyota Cup and then to the NRL in just four months.
He made his first grade debut at the age of 18 and went on to play 264 games for the blue, white and red and is the club’s second most-capped skipper with 121 games.
He played in grand finals in 2010, 2013, 2018, 2019 and won premierships in 2013, 2018 and 2019.
He played one Test for Australia in 2016, represented Queensland on three occasions, and was recognised for his efforts during the Maroons’ 2020 Origin win as the recipient of the Ron McAuliffe Medal as Queensland’s Player of the Series.
Friend is a two-time recipient of the Jack Gibson Medal, awarded to the Roosters’ Player of the Year in 2011 and 2016 and was named the Sydney Roosters’ Clubman of the Year in 2018.
Friend announced his immediate retirement from rugby league in 2021, following extensive medical advice.
Rocky Elsom (1997 graduate)
Elsom began playing for the Noosa Dolphins and the Noosa Pirates on the Sunshine Coast when he attended Tewantin State School and Noosa District State High School.
He represented the Wallabies from 2005 until 2011, playing 75 matches, the most capped blindside flanker ever, and took over the captaincy duties in 2009 from Stirling Mortlock.
Elsom is one of Australia’s most decorated players, having won Herald Super 14 player of the year in 2007, Wallaby of the Year in 2008, European Player of the Year in 2009 and having been inducted into the European Cup Hall of Fame in 2010
Sunshine Beach State High School
Moses Mbye
Before breaking into the NRL Mbye was an exceptionally gifted sportsman at school that excelled at a range of sports.
He won multiple age championships in cross country and athletics as well as being an elite touch footballer.
The former Noosa Pirates junior made his NRL debut in 2014 for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
In 2018 Mbye joined the West Tigers and was announced captain in 2019 before representing Queensland in the three match Origin series.
Mbye now plays for the St. George Illawarra Dragons and has accumulated 187* appearances in the NRL.
Keahi De-Abiotiz
After growing up as a surfer in Noosa De-Abiotiz quickly realised there were too many down days between swells, and the popular surf town was too overcrowded.
He turned to kiting at age 11 and after winning his first open national title at 16, he decided to look beyond freestyle and discovered wave kiting.
He has since focused on competing in wave events and chasing swells around the world, becoming the PKRA wave champion during his first year on tour (2011) and he then went on to win four consecutive world titles on the KSP and PKRA World Tours.
Harrison Roach
Roach is an Australian surfer who won many school surfing titles and was a state champion before graduating.
He is a two-time winner of the Duct Tape Invitational event at Biarritz in 2012 and Noosa in 2013.
He has also won three Longboard Pro titles in a row (2012-14) and two Noserider titles (2011,13) at The Noosa Festival of Surfing.
Ella Boot
Boot is an Australian lightweight professional boxer who made her professional debut in December of 2021.
Prior to her professional career, Ella was an amateur Australian boxing champion with six years of amateur boxing and nine years of karate background.
Boot competed at the Junior Commonwealth Games in India while still in Year 12 where she won a silver medal
She has won numerous State and National boxing titles, a Commonwealth Games gold, World Championship bronze and competed at international tournaments against some of the highest class female boxers in the world.
Julian Wilson
Coolum product Julian Wilson was a regular on the World Surf League’s Championship Tour for the past decade and even donned the green and gold on the Olympic stage in Tokyo.
Throughout his career Wilson was sponsored by brands such as Hurley, Nike, Red Bull, Oakley and FCS.
Before turning pro Wilson won multiple school, district, regional, state and national titles in the individual divisions and was also an age champion in cross country.
It‘s estimated the 34-year-old received more than $1.5m throughout his career.
Matthew Flinders Anglican College
Katja Dedekind (2019 graduate)
Dedekind competed at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games, her second Paralympics after punching well beyond her weight when she won a bronze medal on debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
At the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, she won the gold medal in the women’s 50m freestyle S13 in a world record time.
Phoebe Wills-Grace (2019 graduate)
Wills-Grace has represented Australia twice in kayaking, winning several gold and silver medals in the Under-18 division.
Phoebe also represented Australia in surf lifesaving when she captained the Australian Youth Surf Lifesaving Team in the International Rescue Challenge against six nations, with her team winning the overall International Challenge Cup.
She now has her sights set on making the Australian Olympic kayak team in 2024 and or 2028.
Ryan Marsh (2020 graduate)
In Year 11, triathlete Ryan Marsh competed for the Australian team in the World Triathlon Championships held in Lausanne in September 2019, in which he achieved ninth place.
He was selected as part of the Triathlon Queensland Team for 2019/2020 Season and competed in the Australian Junior Triathlon Series for Triathlon Queensland.
Josh Fabiani (2022 graduate)
While at school Fabiani competed in the 2022 State Athletics Championships followed by the Nationals where he won a silver medal in the under-18 400m.
In 2021 at the Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney he won a silver medal in the under- 18 4x400m relay, won a gold medal in the under-19 beach relay at the National Aussie Surf Lifesaving Championships and won a state Gold medal in the 400m at the Queensland State Athletics Championships.
He is currently at Griffith University in Gold Coast studying a Bachelor of Engineering and science and competes in the 400m and also dabbles in the 200m.
His sporting goals are to make the Olympics in 2032 and to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games in 2026 in Melbourne.
Nick Selman (2013 graduate)
Selman was one of the best all round sports students at Flinders, having represented at a state level for both cricket and Aussie rules.
He played a number of seasons of first class county cricket for Glamorgan in England and has played for the Sunshine Coast Scorchers for the best part of 10 years since he finished school.
Tessa Wallace (2010 graduate)
Wallace is a 200m breaststroke silver medallist swimmer from the 2010 Commonwealth Games and represented Australia at the 2012 Olympics.
She made the semi-final of the 200m breaststroke at the London 2012 Olympic Games where she finished eighth and her achievement was especially impressive as she had overcome a serious knee injury and a bout of ross river fever that saw her nearly quit the sport.
Erica Fowler (2010 graduate)
A former Magpies VFLW player, Fowler was promoted to the AFLW list in 2019 and has not taken a backwards step since then.
Standing at 180cm tall, Fowler is an aerial target in the forward line with the ability to assist in the ruck.
The 28-year-old has previously represented the University of Queensland in the Rugby Union Aon Uni 7s Series, using her rugby skillset to impact on the Aussie rules footy field.
Lia-Belle Wiese (2022 graduate)
Wiese is an all round whiz in the water and is definitely a name to remember for years to come.
Some of her major achievements include being a member of the USC Spartans Swim Squad, Queensland Talent Identification Camp, Queensland team for duel in the pool, McDonald’s Youth Development Squad, national finalist and state medallist; Australia Open Nationals for swimming in 2022.
Ashlee Unie (2013 graduate)
A Firebirds fan growing up, tenacious and mobile defender, Unie will live out her childhood dream when she dons the purple dress in 2023.
She debuted in Suncorp Super Netball with the Sunshine Coast Lightning in 2020 but her career hit pause due to an ACL injury at the start of 2021.
Having recovered from that setback, the qualified physiotherapist has made the switch to the Firebirds and is eager to establish herself at the elite level.
Beerwah State High School
Reed Mahoney (2015 graduate)
Before cracking into the NRL in 2018, Mahoney played his junior club football for the Kawana Dolphins and the Beerwah Bulldogs and played in a number of Sunshine Coast regional teams.
The former Parramatta Eels player joined the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2023 and has since gone on to play 110* NRL games.
He is the current co-captain of the Bulldogs and in 2021 was selected in the Queensland Maroons squad.
Sunshine Coast Grammar
Jordan Mercer
Hailing from a family of iconic ocean athletes, Mercer has blazed a trail in surf sports since the age of 16, running, paddling and swimming her way to Surf Ironwoman victory.
A Surf Ironwoman Series Champion and ten-time World Champion, the talented Aussie has also won the gruelling 52km paddleboard crossing from Molokai to Oahu an incredible six successive times.
Tate McDermott (2015 graduate)
Wallaby number 936, McDermott made his Test debut in 2020 and has gone on to represent Australia a further 21 times, scoring two tries.
He first represented his country for the Aussie Sevens at age 18, earning 20 caps on the World Series, before returning to Queensland with the Reds where he has flourished into one of the country‘s premier scrum halves.
McDermott was a junior for Flinders Rugby Club in Buderim before attending and graduating from Sunshine Coast Grammar.
The 24-year-old made his Super Rugby debut in 2018 and was instrumental in Queensland‘s successful Super Rugby AU campaign in 2021.
He has played 70 matches for his state, was elevated to co-captaincy in 2022 and recently re-signing with rugby Australia through until the end of 2027.
Blake Enever
Enever was a teenage rugby union star, honing his skills with Sunshine Coast Grammar and the Sunshine Coast Stingrays.
After playing for the schools first XV in 2007 and 2008, Enever went on to play for the Queensland Reds, the ACT Brumbies and the Australian Wallabies.
In 2022 the 30-year-old returned to the region to offer private coaching clinics for rising Sunshine Coast rugby union talents.
He said his passion to contribute towards the success of Sunshine Coast rugby union was a major reason behind the launch of Enever Coaching.
“I’m so grateful for the opportunities I got from Sunshine Coast rugby union who set that platform for me to jump straight into higher honours and representative rugby,” he said.
“I’m extremely passionate about further developing rugby union and individual talent on the Coast and would love to help provide any kind of guidance or coaching experience to the next generation of players.”
Billy Miller
Born in Brisbane, Billy Miller is an Australian water polo player who started in the sport at the age of 14.
Studying property development, he was eligible to compete at the World University Games where he helped the Australian team claim a historic gold medal in 2009.
He completed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the Australia men’s national water polo team.
The team made it to the quarterfinals, losing 8-11 to Serbia, the eventual bronze medallists.
Miller finished as Australia’s top scorer with 13 goals in the competition.
He currently plays for the North Brisbane Polo Bears and the Queensland Breakers.
Lucy Dring
Lucy Dring is a 20-year-old swimmer who started competitive swimming when she was eight.
Dring is studying Para-Medicine part time and says swimming at the Olympics is her ultimate goal.
Performing strongly at the Australian Championships held on the Gold Coast in April this year, Dring set personal bests in both the 200m and 400m individual medleys.
Dring says goals for the next few months are to focus on improving her backstroke and breaststroke and to qualify for the Australian A team with the possibility of competing in America.
Immanuel Lutheran College
Ashley Noffke
Noffke grew up playing his junior cricket for school and the Maroochydore Cricket Club, while representing the region at state schoolboy titles.
As he matured into his fast bowler’s physique, Ashley progressed to first grade at the Swans, where his 38 appearances culminated in a premiership in 1994-95.
He joined the Sunshine Coast Scorchers in 1995 where he also gained selection for Queensland.
From 2001 to 2006 the Bulls contested six Pura Cup finals, winning three, with Noffke a key member.
In 2008 he played his first and only match for Australia in an ODI against India.
Tom Cox (2006 graduate)
Cox, a talented rugby union outside back attended the University of Queensland after graduating high school.
His performances in the Queensland Premier Grade competition saw him earn a spot with the Australian 7s team in 2009.
In 2012 Cox signed a one-year-deal with the ACT Brumbies where he went on to play one match in that same season.
Alyce Wood (2009 graduate)
She competed in the women’s K-2 500m event at the 2016 Summer Olympics and in the women’s K2 500m and women’s K1 500m at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
In 2017 she won her maiden World Championship title in the K1 1000m.
She has also won a string of World Cup medals. In the Under 23 Category she won two Bronze Medals at the World Championships (2014: K1 500m and 2015: K2 500m).
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Wood competed with K-2 partner Alyssa Bull where they made the A-Final of the K-2 500m by finishing second in their semi-final.
Wood also made the final of the women’s K-1 500m at the 2020 Olympics and finished in eighth place.
Alana Boyd (2001 graduate)
The 2008 Australian Champion, Boyd failed to make the final at the 2008 Summer Olympics, but did at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she finished in 11th place.
She won the gold medal for the women’s pole vault at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, which she retained at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
She has competed at six world championship events and her personal best jump of 4.81m, achieved in July 2016 on the Sunshine Coast, was an Australian record at the time.
Harri Jones
Harrison “Harri” Jones, 23, is an Australian racing driver and the reigning Australian Carrera Cup Champion.
He is a current driver for 12-time Porsche Supercup Teams Champion BWT Lechner Racing in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, and Scherer Sport PHX in the Porsche Carerra Cup Germany.
Raised in Buderim, Harri is also a Driver Development Coach in Australian Motorsport.
Heath Tessman (2001 graduate)
Tessman started his career as a professional rugby union player in 2010 playing for the Melbourne Rebels.
He moved to play for the Emirates Western Force in 2012 and played professionally until 2020.
Tessman says he holds “great interest in the medical/health Industry, specifically the fields of management, sales and coaching”.
Matthew Boyd (2005 graduate)
Before making it to the Men’s 2014 Commonwealth Games Pole Vault final Boyd was a talented junior athletics star.
He competed at the World Junior and World Youth Championships for pole vault while still in high school.
He is the son of Denise and Ray who are both gold medallists in past Commonwealth Games, Ray in the pole vault and Denise in the 200m sprint.
Dimity Stoyle (2008 graduate)
Dimity Stoyle is a professional surfer who competes against the top female surfers in the world and spends her spare time working as a DJ.
Raised in Buderim, Stoyle grew up surfing with her dad and caught her first wave at the age of four.
Competing at 12, she made it onto the world tour in 2014 and 2015 – which meant she was one of the world’s top 17 female surfers and has been sponsored by Billabong.
A recent achievement was winning the final of the Oakberry Tweed Coast Pro in March 2022.
Luke Farrell (2011 graduate)
Luke Farrell was in the Australian Junior Triathlon team and became the under 19 age group world triathlon champion.
Farrell graduated from his Year 12 studies with full honours and had a career goal of living and racing the European circuit whilst undertaking further studies in French and IT.
Farrell and his family always enjoyed an active sporting life.
His mother is a former national level netball player and high level netball coach and his father is a two time Paralympic Weightlifter.
Jacinta Boyd (2003 graduate)
Jacinda Boyd was a world class sprinter and long jumper from 2004 - 2010.
Her sporting achievements include claiming the title of becoming a National Champion and a spot in the top eight athletes at the World U20 Championships.
St Andrew‘s Anglican College
Jack Payne (2017 graduate)
Payne played junior football for the Noosa Tigers and at the age of 13, was selected to join the Brisbane Lions academy after a talent scout caught notice of him playing school football.
He was also originally a promising discus thrower, representing Australia at the Oceanic Games.
However, at the age of 17 he gave up this opportunity to pursue a life in the AFL instead.
He was drafted to the Brisbane Lions in 2017 and has since played 34 games for the club.
Pacific Lutheran College
Kaylee McKeown
McKeown became a household name and an inspiration for the next generation of swimmers after a sensational performance at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 20-year-old USC Spartans-trained swimmer won gold in the 100m and 200m backstroke as well as the 4x100m medley.
She medalled in 14 of 15 events at the Tokyo Olympics, FINA World Championships and Birmingham Commonwealth Games, eight were gold.
She was also crowned Young Achiever of the Year at the Women’s Health Australia 2022 Women in Sports Awards.
Honourable Mention
James Nash State High School
Tino Fa‘asuamaleaui (2017 graduate)
Current Gold Coast Titans captain and Melbourne Storm premiership winning player Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, played school rugby league and rugby union for James Nash SHS whilst playing club footy for the Gympie Devils in the Sunshine Coast and Gympie Rugby League Competition.
Fa’asuamaleaui represented the Sunshine Coast Falcons from under 16s and made his NRL debut in 2019.
He was award Melbourne’s rookie of the year in 2020 and Gold Coast’s player of the year in 2021.
The now 22-year-old has played 79* first grade matches and represented Queensland on nine occasions.
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