Redcliffe’s best school sport stars of 2020
The best Redcliffe school sporting stars have been revealed. We have highlighted more than 30 of the top aspiring athletes in 2020. See who made the list.
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From trampolinists, swimmers, softballers, basketballers, kite surfers, squash and hockey players – there are plenty of talented athletes at Redcliffe schools.
The Herald asked every high school to share its up and coming athletes with us.
Here are the top athletes from Redcliffe State High School, Grace Lutheran College and Southern Cross Catholic College.
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Redcliffe State High School
TALLULAH CIVONICEVA
Tallulah Civoniceva has tried her hand at several sports growing up but recently found a love for softball.
The Year 11 student this year qualified to represent Australia in the under-16 softball teams and Queensland in the under-16 and under-18 squads.
In 2019 she was selected in the under-17 Australian representative side and the state under-17 and under-19 teams.
ARIEL AND MADISON LYON
This duo are members of the Trans Tasman Australian Squash team that took on New Zealand.
They have also been selected in Queensland sides in 2018 and 2019.
LEO AND ALEX VERECCHIO
Brothers Leo, Year 12, and Alex, Year 8, are both kite surfers.
Leo recently finished first in the under-18s category at nationals and Alex finished third in the same event.
Leo also competed in the men’s event finishing second.
MEREKI WARRADOO
Selected in the Queensland under-12 rugby league team. He plays for the Moreton Bay Raiders Rugby League club and took up the sport when he was in under-9s.
JACK MCCALL
Year 9 student Jack McCall is a bit of a daredevil. He finished first in the Queensland Junior Division scooter competition and fourth at nationals.
He recently competed at the World Roller Games in Barcelona where he finished 12th in the junior division.
KAIESHA AFOA
Kaieisha Afoa is in Year 11 and has represented Queensland and the Sunshine Coast Region in several sports. She has been selected in the Sunshine Coast Rugby League representative team from 2017-2020. She made the Queensland Oztag All Stars team in 2017 and 18 and the under-18 Queensland Rugby Union team.
Her team won the under-16 Hong Kong All Girls International Rugby Union 7s tournament as well.
CAROLINE WILLIAMS
Caroline Williams is loves being on the track. She has represented Queensland at track and field events for both school and little athletics teams. Her highest achievement is placing second in the 400m at the Queensland titles and earning selection to compete at nationals.
KIANNA MACLEAN
This Year 9 student has represented Queensland at both school and little athletics track and field competitions. She placed second in the 800m a the Queensland titles and 7th in Nationals.
JASMINE MCROBERTS
Jasmine McRoberts, of Redcliffe Little Athletics, is the Queensland 5000m race walking champion. She placed sixth at nationals.
NICOLAS PRINKEY
Last year Nicolas Prinkey, a Year 9 student, was selected in the Sunshine Coast Region and Queensland representative basketball teams.
TAHLIA HARLE
Tahlia Harle, Year 10, represented Queensland at the Australian Dragon Boat Championships where she achieved two silver medals and two third places. She then went on to represent Australia at the World Dragonboat championships in Thailand.
MIA GREEN
A talented footballer, Mia Green, who is in Year 8, is a member of the Queensland Academy of Sport. She was also selected in the Queensland under-15 girls side.
JINIAH FAUMUI
Jiniah Faumui has excelled in both netball and rugby union.
She was named in the Queensland Heat under-16 mixed indoor netball team and the under-16 ladies indoor netball team. She also competed in the Hong Kong All Girls International Rugby Union 7s tournament and won.
JACK LEWIS
An up and coming skateboarder, Jack Lewis has been ranked first or second in Australia in the 12 and under category for the past two years.
Grace Lutheran College
BRONTE MISSO
Despite being just 12-years-old there are few sports Bronte Misso has not tried. The Grace Lutheran College student has competed in golf, tennis, football, touch football, rugby, gymnastics, swimming, hockey, lifesaving, athletics, triathlon and mountain biking. She has competed at district, regional and state level in cross country and middle distance athletics events.
At the moment Bronte is focused on Surf Lifesaving, through Maroochydore Surf Club, hockey and athletics.
Bronte is in the under-13s girls side at Redcliffe Leagues Club Hockey Club – which made the semi finals last year.
BRONTE ROBERTSON
Bronte Robertson is a Level 5 competitive gymnast. The 12-year-old, who attends Grace Lutheran College, took up the sport when she was 9-years-old.
She trains at the Lawnton Artistic Gymnastics Academy and has qualified for states at ever Level 5 competition she has competed in.
“My goal in the next five years is to be the best gymnast I can possibly be and hopefully get to Level 8 or above gymnast,” Bronte said.
“I love Gymnastics because it is a sport where you can either be a team competitor or an individual competitor. I also love it because it improves mental and physical health.”
DYLAN GRAHAM
Aspiring swimmer Dylan Graham is well on his way to representing the state and nation in the pool. The 14-year-old Grace Lutheran College student is in the silver squad at Grace Swimming Club.
Dylan has recently given up playing Aussie rules to focus on his swimming.
He has won age champion at school swimming competitions, represented the school at district meets and competed at regionals.
Dylan said he recently competed at the Brisbane Senior Metropolitan Championships where he placed in the top 10 for 400m freestyle and top 20 for the 200m freestyle.
“Recently I broke the 30 second mark in my 50m freestyle getting down to a 28.77s time,” Dylan said.
HARRISON GRILLS
Harrison Grills has set his goals high – aiming to be a professional AFL player.
The Grace Lutheran College student took to the sport in 2014 as a seven-year-old.
Last year he was named captained the under-12 Queensland side which plated in Perth.
Harrison plays at the Aspley Hornets, winning the club’s best and fairest award as a 10-year-old in an under-12s team.
His side has won the grand final three years in a row.
If COVID-19 had not hit Harrison would have competed as a member of the Sunshine Coast’s under-14s team, despite only being 13, in Mackay.
“I plan to make the Professional AFL, and if I can get even further, gain one of the major awards such as club Best and Fairest or even the Brownlow Medal,” Harrison said.
JASMINE WHALE
This up and coming netballer took up the sport last year. Jasmine Whale, who is just 13-years-old, made the switch after years of competitive artistic roller skating. Jasmine was selected in the Grace Lutheran Collage netball excellence program last year.
Her team finished second in the Grand Final and Jasmine was named Best and Fairest.
Jasmine said she has signed up to play netball again this year and has also joined a team at the Caboolture Indoor Netball Association. Her goal is to represent Queensland.
MAYA HERNIK
Maya Hernik has played competitive netball since she was 7-years-old.
She competed at the Queensland Cup inter-school carnival as part of Southern Cross Catholic College’s team when she was 10 years old.
Maya has played for the Redcliffe district team in 2018, 2019 and again this year.
This year is the first time Maya has been hold enough to trial for the representative team.
“There was training sessions and then they picked out a squad and divided it into two teams. I
made it in to the first team,” she said.
“I also made it in to districts this year, and I play for school. I have training almost everyday and have a game on Saturday.”
OREN ROBSON
Grace Lutheran College student Oren Robson hopes to follow in the path of college alumni Izaack Powell and play for the Brisbane Roar in the A-League.
Oren has been playing football since he was five years old.
When he turned 10 he trialled for the Peninsula Power Division 1 team and was selected.
Oren said he has learned to do lots of tricks, including Around the World.
The next year he was selected to play in the club’s Brisbane Youth Premier League Team.
Oren is now part of the college’s GOALS program and hopes to next year be selected in the NPL side.
“They are improving me and pushing my body to its limit. My goal is to make NPL next year and to represent my school at the highest level,” Oren said.
RUBY MISSO
Ruby Misso has competed in may sports at district, regional and state level.
At the moment her main focuses are tennis, surf lifesaving and middle distance running.
“I have my Surf Rescue Certificate, patrol the beaches of Maroochydore, and compete in first aid competitions and surf lifesaving carnivals frequently. In surf lifesaving I compete in ocean swims, beach sprints, board, beach flags and middle distance running on sand and first aid,” Ruby said.
“I train hard every day except Saturday, my rest day and give all of my competitions my best shot.”
The 13-yaer-old Grace Lutheran College student has competed at five districts cross country carnivals and four district athletics carnivals.
She won the school triathlon for her age category in 2019, has finished second in school cross country carnivals every year for the past six years including, won gold and bronze team medals at districts.
Ruby finished first in my club carnival for lifesaving 1km beach run, and 4th in Branch (regionals) Titles, 2km run for lifesaving, and third in the Camron Relay team at regionals.
“I play fixtures at my local tennis centre (Redcliffe Tennis Centre), am in the Grace Lutheran College Tennis Excellence Program, and was selected to represent the club in the 2020 Australia Open Tour squad earlier this year in Melbourne,” she said.
SAMUEL HOSKING
This determined 14-year-old hopes to represent Australia at the 2024 Olympics.
Samuel is a competitive trampolinist.
He took up the sport when he was 9-years-old.
“When I was around 8 or 9, I had a friend who could do a backflip on the ground, and I really liked it and I wanted to be able to do it,” Samuel said.
“So when I went home I told my mum about it and she said she could book me into trampoline lessons to see how I like it, the moment I started to learn new thing, I loved it because it was so fun.”
Samuel has continued to progress and is currently ranked third in Queensland and 14th in Australia.
He was meant to compete in the national age championships in Perth later this year but the competition is on hold due to COVID-19.
“Next year I want to try to qualify for world championships, and in 2024 I want to compete in the Olympics,” Samuel said.
SOPHIA MATTHEWS
Sophia Mathews has chosen to focus on softball this year after successful stints in competitive running and athletics.
The 13-year-old from Grace Lutheran College has won countless titles and events for various athletics competitions.
“If I had to pick my best year of sporting it would have to be 2017 when I was in grade 4,” Sophia said.
“I had won my school and districts cross country and came 32 out of 100 in my first regionals race.
“Then for track and field I had won age champion at both school and districts for my age group, but I also won overall girls champion and the girls tetra event.”
Sophia is now working on improving her softball skills, a sport she started playing six years ago.
She has been selected to play on school and club representatives teams, often playing for two age groups at the same time.
Sophia said her goal was to play softball for Australia.
TELEAH HENNAH
Teleah Hennah has set her sights on playing in the AFLW competition.
The aspiring Aussie rules player took up the sport after her Year 6 teacher spotted her kicking a ball on the oval.
She was selected in the Moreton Bay under-14 team which competed at the State Talent Carnival last year.
Teleah also took up Oztag this year and competed in the Queensland State Cup – where her under-14s teams finished overall winners.
She hopes to one day get the chance to play for the Brisbane Lions.
SOUTHERN CROSS CATHOLIC COLLEGE
JADE STARR
Swimming sensation Jade Starr has had great success over the past 12 months.
She won bronze in the 800m freestyle event at the Age Nationals and was selected in the Queensland team that competed at the State Teams Championship in Canberra – where she won the 200m and 400m freestyle events.
Jade finished fourth in the 200m freestyle event at the Australian Open Short Course Championships in Melbourne.
The 17-year-old, who trains under David Proud at Nudgee College Swimming Club, was hoping to be selected in the Australian Team to compete at the Junior Pan Pacific Games in Hawaii.
But the selection and the Olympic trials, she also qualified for, have been cancelled due to COVID-19.
During isolation Jade has continued to exercise, to ensure she is ready when training recommences.
JORDAN MCGRATH
Jordan McGrath has been involved with the Maroochydore Surf Lifesaving Club for almost 10 years.
The 16-year-old has competed at local, state and national championships in both Surf and Pool rescue competitions.
While she enjoys competing in the surf during the summer season and patrolling the beach in the red and yellow uniform, Jordan has found the Pool Rescue aspect during the winter period to be her passion.
After travelling to Adelaide with the Maroochydore team to compete at Australian Pool Rescue Championships in 2017 Jordan decided to pursue Pool Rescue even further and began competing in both Surf Life Saving and Royal Life saving State and National Championships.
In 2018 Jordan competed at the Aust. Pool Lifesaving Championships (APLSC) in Adelaide as part of the QLD Development Team and was named U14 Australian Age Champion.
In 2020 Jordan travelled to Perth to compete at the APLSC and finished third in the U16 Overall Point Score and was named in the Australian Pool Lifesaving Team – The Barracudas.
Jordan was hoping to be selected in the Maroochydore Youth Team heading to Italy later this year to compete at the Lifesaving World Championships however this event has now been postponed until 2022 due to COVID-19.
HARRISON LEE
Harrison Lee trains six days a week in order to achieve his goal of representing Australia in trampolining.
Harrison started trampolining in 2014 aged 9.
In 2019 Harrison stepped up to compete in the International stream making him eligible for the Australian Junior team.
He finished first in Tramp and second in Double Mini.
At the World Age Championships Japan he finished 17th out of 42 athletes.
2020 has seen the competitions cancelled in Australia.
Harrison is a possibility to represent Australia again in Canada at the Indo Pacific games later in the year as the event is yet to be cancelled.
His goal is to continue representing Australia at the highest level and one day compete at the Olympics.
JED ROWLANDS
Jed Rowlands was diagnosed with ASD when he was three-years-old and has only recently discovered his athletic ability.
His dad Matt Rowlands said Jed fixated on many things and had an excellent memory. He began to copy TV shows.
“He was put into acting classes and ended up working with the cast and crew of Wolf Creek and won a small acting role in the television miniseries at six-years of age,” Mr Rowlands said.
Jed’s passion and natural swimming ability was discovered during a family holiday in Bali – where he swam past children much older than him in a race at the resort.
He took to swimming and has since gone on to compete in surf lifesaving, cross country and triathlons.
Jed’s goal is to represent Australia as an athlete.
His most recent achievements:
2020 – 12 years old
8 Gold Medals – Sunshine Coast Branch Surf Lifesaving Championships and State
Endurance Championships (Maroochydore SLSC)
Queensland State Champion – Aquathlon (Hervey Bay)
School Age Swim Champion (SCCC)
District Age Champion (Redcliffe)
2019 – 11 years old
1 Gold, 1 Silver (6 Finals) Australian School Championships – Swimming (Melbourne)
6 Silver, 5 Bronze Queensland School Sport & Queensland State Championships –
Swimming
3 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze McDonald’s Gold Coast Championships – Swimming
5 Gold Queensland State Pool Rescue Championships (SLSQ)
Silver Medal – Coolangatta Gold Youth Event (SLSQ)
Gold Medal – Coogen Classic Iron-Man Event (SLSQ)
5 Gold, 1 Bronze – Gold Coast City Titles (SLSQ)
Bronze medal in Queensland State Champs – Cross Country
National Selection (Australia School Championships NSW) – Cross Country
Silver medals – 800m / 1500m Queensland State Champs – (Athletics)
CALEB PFINGST
Caleb Pfingst was one of the youngest members in the Redcliffe Dolphins Mal Meninga side.
The competition was cut short due to COVID-19 but Caleb worked hard to prove himself as a competitive member of the team.
Caleb, 17, has been apart of the Redcliffe Dolphins Development program since he was 12 and also participated in the Brisbane Broncos Elite Pathways Development Program.
He has represented North Coast School Sport at State Championships. He has also played representative rugby league on numerous occasions for his club at the South East Queensland competition.
Caleb is due to graduate Year 12 this year and while he would love to make a career out of rugby league he is exploring his options at university and trade career pathways.
CLAUDIA COLBERT
Claudia Colbert first started playing basketball when she was 8-years-old and is currently a member of the Northside Wizards Basketball association.
During that time she has had many highlights which include playing for the Sunshine Coast School Representative Squad.
Her greatest achievement to date is her selection in the Basketball Queensland Future Development Squad that travelled to the USA for a series of games against impending U.S. female teams.
TAYLAH KOUVARAS
Year 9 student Taylah Kouvaras competed in a number of sports including swimming, surf lifesaving, cross country and netball.
From a very young age she has trained as part of the Southern Cross Swimming Club and has represented both the Southern Cross Catholic College school and swimming club at a number of state level competitions in her pet stroke, breaststroke.
Over the last couple of years, Taylah has extended her love of swimming to a beach format and joined the Maroochydore Lifesaving Club as a junior nipper and more recently a nipper mentor. She has represented the Lifesaving club in various state and national level competitions and has recently been awarded a National Medal in Surf Lifesaving for a lifesaving surf rescue.
In among the training hours in the pool or at the beach, Taylah also competes in the Redcliffe Netball League representative and school netball programs, specifically as a key defensive player.
She has participated in both the school and representative league for the last couple of years and is currently competing in her last year as a representative player before eyeing off the QPL netball program.
She was recognised for her netball achievements by being named in the BOSNL All-Star team in her junior high school year.
Taylah also enjoys participating in various Athletic representative events including cross country, discus, shot put and javelin. Taylah’s sporting achievements have been recognised by her school as the recipient of the SCCC Sporting Excellence Award and the prestigious Rotary All-Rounder Award.
MADDY KOUVARAS
Maddy Kouvaras is a young athlete who participates in a range of sports at varying levels of competition.
She trains as part of the Southern Cross Swimming Club and has represented both the Southern Cross Catholic College school and swimming club at a number of state level competitions in both freestyle and breaststroke.
She has extended her love of swimming to a beach format and joined the Maroochydore Lifesaving Club as a junior nipper.
Maddy has represented the Lifesaving club in various state competitions and has been awarded a number of club achievements including Most Determined Nipper.
She also participating in the Redcliffe Netball League representative and school netball programs, predominantly as a mid-court player.
She has participated in both the school and representative league for the last couple of years and has been awarded MVP and been honoured with captain responsibilities for a number of her teams.
Maddy played three years of AFL with the Redcliffe Tigers AFL Club as a junior and was the only girl in her team. Maddy has since been privileged enough to represent the Redcliffe District in a number of ball sports including AFL and Touch. Maddy also enjoys participating in various Athletic representative events including cross country running, various short-distance events, discus and shot put. Maddy’s sporting endeavours have been recognised by her school as the recipient of the SCCC Sporting Excellence Award and more recently the Middle Years Sportswoman of the Year award.
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