Sports Darling Downs to crown best athlete of 2023
One of the biggest nights in the Darling Downs sporting calendar is upon us with the 2023 Sports Darling Downs presentation dinner taking place this Saturday. Check out the 24 athletes who are vying for two of the biggest sporting prizes in the region.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The annual Sports Darlings Downs dinner is once again upon us, with the efforts of the region’s best athletes being celebrated this Saturday night at Rumours International.
While there are several awards on offer on the night, the two main awards on offer are the Junior Sports Star of 2023 and Senior Sports Star of 2023 awards.
There are 12 athletes in contention for each award, with sporting stars nominated for each month of the year.
Check out the nominees for the Junior and Senior Sports Star awards below:
Sports Darling Downs 2023 Junior nominees
January – Thisaja Samarawickrama – Cricket
Samarawickrama was a member of the Queensland under-17 Men’s team which took out the under-17 National Championships last January.
He put in a superb performance during the tournament as he was the second leading wicket-taker and leading fast bowling with 12 scalps.
His efforts earned him a place in the Australian under-17s Men’s merit team and was the only Queensland representative in the side.
February – Lachlan Parker – Swimming
Parker took home the silver medal in the boys’ 5km swim in the Australian Open Water Swimming Championships held in Western Australia.
He also won the bronze medal in the 13-years 50m backstroke at the Queensland Sprint Championships.
Parker was also in fine form in the Queensland State Schools Swimming Championships, earning a silver medal in the 50m backstroke and bronze in the 200m backstroke.
March – Tiffany Ham – Volleyball
Ham was selected as a member of the Australian under-19 Development Volleyball team which travelled to Bangkok for the Thailand Junior Volleyball Championships.
She was a member of the Queensland under-17 team which competed in the Australian Championships in Bendigo and also captained her school to second place in the Division 1 Australian Volleyball Schools Cup.
April – Porter White – Track Cycling
White was a part of history as he was a member of the under-17s pursuit team which won the gold medal, setting a new state and all comers record at the Australian Junior Track Cycling Championships.
He took home the gold medal in the under-17s Maddison Race at the Queensland Junior Championships and came fourth in the same event at the Australian Championships.
White was selected to participate in a new talent support program at the Queensland Academy of Sport.
May – Zara Kruger – Football
Kruger was a member of the under-20 Young Matildas squad which travelled to Kyrgyzstan in March and Vietnam in June for the 2024 Under-20 World Cup qualifiers.
She was a member of the Brisbane Roar side last season before making the switch to Sydney FC this year where she has gone from strength to strength.
June – Taylah Chapman – Para Athletics
It was a year to remember for Chapman as she took home a swag of medals in the 2023 Australian Junior Athletics Championships.
She claimed gold in the under-15 para discus and under-17 javelin events, silver in the under-17 shot put and bronze in the under-15 100m.
In the 2023 Queensland Representative School Sports Track and Field Championships, Chapman claimed gold in the 14-years para 200m, discuss, javelin and shot put.
She also took home silver in the 100m event and a bronze medal in the 4 x 100m relay team.
Chapman now holds an amazing nine Queensland Para Athletics records and one Australian record.
July – Geordie Cowdroy – Athletics
Cowdroy was in fine form in the Little Athletics State Championships as he won the gold medal in the Boys’ under-17 high jump and heptathlon and took home a bronze medal in the shot put.
He also won the gold medal in the under-17 Boys’ high jump event in the Queensland Athletics Championships and followed this up with a silver in the Australian Championships with a stunning jump of 2.04m.
Unfortunately he was just four centimetres off for the Youth Commonwealth Games qualifier but he also picked up a bronze medal in the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships in the high jump again.
August – Bailey Harm – Swimming
Competing as a member of the Queensland team at the School Sport Australia National
Championships, Harm won six Australian Championship medals.
He won the gold medal in the Boys’ 15 years 50m freestyle, 15/16 years Medley Relay and 4 x 50m freestyle relay.
He also won the silver medal in the Boys’ 15 years 50m breaststroke and mixed freestyle relay as well as a bronze medal in the 13-19 years 100m freestyle relay.
At the Australian Age Swimming Championships he won the gold medal as a member of the Queensland 4 x 50m freestyle relay team, breaking the Queensland and Queensland All Comers 16 and under records.
September – Mackenzie Grimes – Swimming
At the Age National Swimming Championships at the Gold Coast Grimes won the gold
medal in the Girls’ 15 years 200m backstroke, the silver medal in the 50m backstroke and the gold in the mixed relay.
She also won gold medals in the 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke and 4 x 50m medal relay in the Australian Schools Swimming Championships.
Grimes has also been awarded a Hancock Prospecting Olympic Pathway Scholarship.
October – Bianca Markham – Softball
Markham captained the Queensland under-18s Women’s softball team fourth place at the
National Under 18 Softball Championships.
From her performance at these championships, she was selected in the Australian Softball Talent Development Squad and travelled to the AIS in Canberra for a training camp.
Following this training camp, she was then called up to the Australian under-19s softball team.
November – Matt Hawthorne – Hockey
Hawthorne was a member of the Queensland under-18s hockey team which won the silver medal at the Australian Under-18 Championships.
His efforts then earned him a spot in the Australian Under-18 Futures squad.
Hawthorne also played a key role for Toowoomba’s under-18s team as they claimed the gold medal at the state championships.
December – Taj Gordon – Athletics
At the Australian Athletics Championships, Gordon won the silver medal in the Men’s under-18 110m hurdles and a bronze in the 4 x 100m relay.
He competed at the Queensland All Schools Athletics Championships where he won the gold medal in the 110m hurdles, 100m sprint and the 200m as well.
Gordon also competed at the 13-19 years Queensland Athletics Chmpionships where he won gold in the 17 years 110m hurdles and 4 x 100m relay.
Sports Darling Downs 2023 Senior nominees
January – Steven Spark – Boxing
It was another strong year from Spark as he travelled the world and took on the biggest fight of his career in 2023 when he travelled to Mexico to take on Gabriel Gollaz as a part of a Canelo Alvarez boxing card.
Unfortunately he suffered a highly controversial split decision defeat in what turned out to be his final fight of his career.
In January of 2024, ‘The Viking’ called time on his boxing career as he now turns his focus to his family.
February – Ella White – Indoor Hockey
White was selected in the Australian under-21 Women’s Indoor Hockey team which toured the
USA playing in two tournaments.
This team was extremely successful as they won nearly all of their matches.
She was also selected in the Australian Open Women’s Indoor Hockey team which claimed third place while competing in Malaysia.
March – Sienna Deurloo – Swimming
Deurloo won the gold medal in the under-18 Girls’ 10km and 5km events the Australian Open Water Swimming Championships.
Her efforts in these championships earned her a call up to the Australian Open Water Swimming squad.
At the Australian Age Swimming Championships, Deurloo qualified in 10 individual events and at the Australian Open Swimming Championships, qualified in four events.
She also qualified for the 2023 World Swimming Championship trials in the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle.
April – Jai Gordon – Athletics
Gordon competed at the Australian Athletics Championships where he finished seventh in the Open Men’s 100m final.
At the UniSport National Championships, he broke the National 100m record twice which had stood for 57 years, with a time of 10.37 seconds in the semi final and 10.26 seconds in the final.
Gordon was selected in the Australian team to compete at the Oceania Cup in Saipan and was named in the Australian Athletics Long List Squad for the 2024 Olympic Games.
May – Holly Gilbar – Hockey
Gilbar was selected in the inaugural Australian Women’s Hockey 5s team to compete at the
World Cup Oceania qualifiers.
After a strong performance at the Queensland Hockey Championships, Gilbar was selected in the Queensland Country Hockey team where she captained the team to a gold medal and awarded Player of the Tournament.
She was then named in the Australian Country Hockey team.
June – Matthew Moore – Touch Football
Moore was named in the Australian under-18 touch team after an impressive display in the 16-18 years Queensland School Sport Touch Football Championships.
He was also selected in the South West Queensland Open Men’s team which competes in the National Touch Football League.
July – Brielle Erbacher – Athletics
Erbacher finished 32nd in the 3000m steeplechase as the World Athletics Championships while competing for the Australian Athletics team.
She also competed in the 5km Noosa Bolt where she came fifth and the Zatopek 3000m race in Melbourne where she crossed the line in seventh.
August – Tom Campbell – Hockey
Campbell had an unforgettable 2023 as he went from strength to strength, staring off with a gold medal and Player of the Tournament performance at the Queensland Under 18 Hockey Championships.
He followed this up with a silver medal in the Queensland Under 18 Men’s team and
bronze in the Queensland Under 21 team at the Australian Championships.
These performances earned him selection in the Brisbane Blaze Squad and the Hockey Australia Futures Squad.
September – Brandon Spain – Muay Thai
In the sport of Muay Thai, Spain is now ranked 18 in the World Boxing Council ratings
after winning a first-round knockout fight against Thai boxer Daporasuk.
This fight took place at the prestigious Nai Khanom Tom Challenge on the Gold Coast.
Only a handful of Australians have ever placed in the world rankings for Muay Thai and Spain will now have a chance at fighting for a World Title in the future.
October – Elle de Nooyer – Mountain Biking
De Nooyer overcame a horrific injury to return to elite mountain bike racing in 2023, competing and racing at a national level.
In late 2022, she came off her mountain bike and broke her back, ribs, collarbone and ruptured her ACL but she trained incredibly hard and returned to National level racing 12 months after her injury.
In April de Nooyer placed fourth in the Elite Women’s Oceania Down Hill Mountain Bike Race and in October, finished third at the National Under 21 Enduro Championships.
November – Michael Bray – Ultra Marathon
Bray finished ninth in the prestigious Cape Wrath eight-day 400km ultra marathon held in the
Scottish Highlands.
He then backed it up in the world famous Ultra Monte Blanc, which is a 171km marathon through the Swiss Alps, which is the pinnacle of ultra marathons and is invitation only.
December – Tatum Stewart – Hockey
Stewart was selected in the Hockeyroos Squad and made her debut for Australia against China in 2023.
She later scored her first two international goals in a Test match against India where she was named Player of the Match.
She played with the Hockeyroos in the Oceania Cup against New Zealand in August, where Australia won the series to book its ticket to the 2024 Olympic Games.
Stewart also played in the FIH Under 21 Junior World Cup where she was vice-captain of the Australian team and highest goal scorer for the team.
Named: The Origin stars who will play in Toowoomba NRL trial
The Broncos and Titans have named star-studded teams for their Toowoomba pre-season showdown this Sunday. Find out who will line-up at Toowoomba Sports Ground here.
League star in induced coma after rural Queensland car crash
A 20-year-old Queensland rugby league star is fighting for life after a car crash left him with severe head and chest injuries. Here’s how you can support him and his family.
NAMED: The players who hold the key in race for Toowoomba cricket finals
As we enter the business end of the Toowoomba cricket competition, we shine a light on the players from each club who could shape the premiership race.
Sport shorts: The Darling Downs and South West stories you need to see
Check out our latest instalment of sports shorts where we shine a light on the region’s sporting stories.
TRL TRACKER: Former NRL playmaker signed in shock move
TRL TRACKER: A TRL club has made one of the biggest moves this off-season with the acquisition of an elite playmaker. Details here.
Titans win stampede to sign boom Coast twins
The Gold Coast Titans have won a stampede to sign boom Year 9 twins from King’s Christian College, but a Logan City young gun from Cameron Smith’s old school remains hot property.