CIARA Eveleigh, Laura Whan and Jessica Aldridge received three of the major awards at yesterday’s North West Schools Sports Association 43rd annual presentation at West Diggers in Tamworth.
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Oxley High’s Aldridge was name Most Outstanding Secondary Athlete, Glen Innes High’s Whan won the Service Award and Gunnedah High School’s Eveleigh received the Kris Stewart Memorial Trophy.
Eveleigh received the Memorial Award in honour of the late Kris Stewart who passed away while warming up for a State CHS Water Polo Knockout semi-final in November, 1995.
As a tribute to him, his family presents the Memorial Trophy every year to the person with the most outstanding performance at a NSW CHS Swimming Championship.
In April, Eveleigh won silver in the 12-15 multi disability 100m backstroke.
She also finished fourth in the 50m backstroke and breaststroke and fifth in the 100m butterfly.
“I like butterfly the best,” the Gunnedah teenager said yesterday.
“I’m pretty good at backstroke and breaststroke too.”
She’s been swimming six years while Whan, a talented tennis player from Glen Innes, has been representing North West for at least six years in various sports.
She first represented North West as a Year 6 student in basketball, cross country and touch.
At Glen Innes High, she has represented North West in athletics, swimming, tennis, touch, and volleyball.
This year the 17-year-old was named NW players’ player at the CHS Tennis Championship and also received an award from the NSW CHS for her impressive representation.
She loves sport, especially tennis, and has now finished her HSC.
“I’m having a gap year,” Whan said yesterday.
Aldridge was named Most Outstanding Secondary Athlete after a brilliant athletics season where she won gold medals in javelin (37.42m) and shot put (13.72m) at the State CHS Athletics Championships as well as silver in the discus (33.3m).
At the NSW All School Athletics Championships, battling driving rain, she won gold in javelin (35.1m) and shot put (12.32m) and was fourth in discus.
She then went to Hobart and won silver in the Under 14 shot put (13.09m) and bronze in the javelin (36.35m).
Her father refused to let her talk to The Leader yesterday for this story or pose for a photograph with the other two major female winners.
