Ballarat athletes have once again been rewarded at the annual Ballarat Sportsmen’s Club awards night with a district athletics dominance among the awards. The event, which celebrates the success of athletes from the 2022 calendar year saw athletes from several sports together in one room.
The night started with an incredible 3 athletics nominations for the Wunhym Trophy (Young Sportsperson of the year) including Daisy Sudholz (Eureka Athletics), Fraser Saunder (Ballarat YCW) and Lachlan O’Keefe (Wendouree Athletics).
High Jumper Lachlan O’Keefe was awarded the trophy after a terrific season that saw him finish 8th at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Columbia and add an Australian Gold Medal in the U18 category. O’Keefe has continued to grow in 2022 which a career best 2.15 metre jump at nationals in April.
Next was Ballarat YCW Race-walker Alana Peart who was awarded the Hollioake medal for her excellence as part of the Australian Race-Walking team. Peart was a member of the Australian team that won silver at the World Athletics Race-Walking Championships in Oman. 2022 was a special year for Peart who also represented Australia at the World U20 Championships in Columbia, finishing 7th.
Ballarat coach Lindsay Burgoyne was awarded the Widmer trophy given to a coach in the region who excelled in the development of athletes. A long standing athletics coach, Burgoyne has coaches local athletes such as Kathryn Mitchell along with being the head of Athletics at Ballarat High School for 19 years.
Other athletes nominated for the Sportsperson of the year award included Alana Peart, Cooper Sherman, Kelly Ruddick and Yual Reath.
Congratulation to all nominations and winners of awards and thank you to the Ballarat Sportsmen’s’ Club for the event.
