There were some spectacular sporting feats in the Upper Yarra in 2023.
Let’s look back on how our keen sportspeople reached the pinnacle of their sports this year.
Tip to Toe triumph
The year began with the immense endurance of Erchana Murray-Bartlett and her Tip to Toe campaign.
Ms Murray-Bartlett passed through the Yarra Ranges, returning to the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail she knows so well having grown up in Seville, in her journey from Cape York to Port Melbourne.
Ms Murray-Bartlett ran a marathon every day for 155 days, a total of over 6200 kilometres, to raise funds for the Wilderness Society.
Speaking to the Star Mail in the days before the Yarra Valley leg of her journey, Ms Murray-Bartlett said the whole experience was life-changing.
“I’ve had such an incredible time. it definitely hasn’t been without its lows, when you’re running a marathon every single day there’s a component of it that hurts a lot but it’s funny that my body has adapted at a distance but I think I’m running on fumes now,” she said.
“But I can see the finish line now, and I’m feeling very happy being only six marathons away now.”
Focused on helping save the over 500 endangered Australian animals, the initial fundraising goal of $10 for every kilometre ran was smashed out of the park with a final total of $133,180.
Rally raid win for Daniel Sanders
Three Bridges rally rider Daniel Sanders picked up his first win in the FIM World Rally-Raid Championships, claiming victory in the Sonora Rally in Mexico in April.
The race was the third round of the championships and a strong way to bounce back for Sanders, who had an interrupted Dakar Rally and opted out of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
Sanders said he got back into his groove and rhythm by training back home in Three Bridges.
“I flew out two weeks ago and to America for a week testing just before the race in Mexico, it was a five-day rally covering about 2500km starting in Hermosillo and finishing in San Luis [Río Colorado] near the border,” he said.
“It was pretty hot and hot and dusty, about 37 degrees the first couple of days and got up to 41 on the last day up near Arizona.”
Despite not competing in the fourth and fifth races in Argentina and Morocco, Sanders finished eighth in the overall rankings and is sure to be keen to race again in 2024.
Ben De Pedro comes home with gold
Young Warburton shooter Benjamin De Pedro jetted off with his family to Spain to represent Australia in the Universal Trench World Championships in August.
17-year-old Ben was part of the three-man Junior team which won Gold in the team rankings while he also finished a spectacular seventh overall in the individual rankings.
Ben first got into the sport of shooting by joining the clay shooting club offered at Lilydale High School.
Ben said on the first day he was very nervous.
“I performed quite well after that so I felt good, definitely felt a bit more relaxed after that first day,” he said.
“I’d love to keep going overseas to shoot more, I want to keep competing to be the best I can.”
Ben’s first experience with shooting was by getting involved in the clay shooting club offered at Lilydale High School, going on to join, train and compete at the Melbourne Gun Club in Yering before his international ventures.
Ben said the sport is all about consistency.
“During the comp in Italy prior there were a few days where I struggled with the first target of the round and the Australian shotgun coach said that I should try visualising the targets before I shoot, so imagining myself shooting them and that helped a lot,” he said.
“If one thing’s different, that’s what could cost you the target.”
Wandin and Warby win flags
It was a prosperous year for premierships in the Upper Yarra with both Wandin and Warburton-Millgrove taking home flags from season 2023.
Wandin’s Senior Men’s footballers scaled the dizzying heights of Outer East’s Premier Division to be crowned premiers following a comfortable win over Narre Warren while Warburton-Millgrove claimed six flags from six Grand Final appearances across football and netball.
As Wandin coach Nick Adam said on the premiership dais when he thanked the Wandin army, the club comes from a small town but is part of a huge community.
“We have 16 one-point players and we’ve recruited over the last two years, but every player that’s come to the football club has come because of a connection to the playing group,” he said.
“We put them in situations where we want to cultivate that sense of community and togetherness, and in moments like this, it makes it all special.”
Warburton Millgrove B-Grade netballer Alex Woods sends the club report into the Star Mail each week and said coming into the morning there was a lot of nerves but also a lot of excitement buzzing around.
“It’s a first in Warburton-Millgrove history to have had eight teams in finals,” she said.
“Six made it all the way, six brought it home.”
Seville Pony Club rider stands out
Rising star of the Seville Pony Club Emily Hudak has shone in and out of the saddle in 2023, culminating in her being awarded the ‘Best Achievement by a Junior Rider (13-17 years)’ at the 2023 Pony Club Australia Annual Awards in November.
Emily organised fundraisers for her own Seville Pony Club and for the Macclesfield Pony Club in support of them after their clubhouse was destroyed by a fire in June, organising a Freshman’s Showjumping Day to support them.
Emily said she was just happy to be helping another club out.
“I felt bad for the club that they lost their club rooms and I was just happy that I could put some money towards them helping fix it,” she said.
She was also selected to represent Team Victoria in the 2023 Pony Club Australia National Championships in October, having already competed in the virtual 2021 event, with Victoria placing second in this year’s event held in Perth.
Launching Place’s great goaltender breaking down barriers in the women’s game
Launching Place’s Makayla Peers is the current holder of the Best Goaltender award in the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League heading into this season, aged only 19.
Balancing her university studies and two part-time jobs is all part of the parcel for Peers, with ice hockey a pay-to-play sport, even at the state level, for women.
Peers said reducing the cost barrier for aspiring young players over time is really important.
“Passion is something you can’t buy, but it’s the money factor that does deter people and I think in order to continue growing the sport, with ice hockey being a niche sport in this country, it’s really important to help reduce the gap between the men and the women playing the sport,” she said.
Peers was shutting out the opposition last summer, averaging a miserly 1.56 goals against per game while maintaining a 93.6 per cent save percentage, both the best figures league-wide.
But it all came at a cost of $3500 to compete, which doesn’t even cover the cost of travelling to train or purchase new gear, with Peers having had to spend $1500 on two custom gloves to fit her hands, $900 at the start of the year on two hockey sticks and a further $450 on some new middle-quality skates.
