Check out the contenders for Sports Darling Downs junior and senior sport stars of the year on pages 60 and 61.

Rising prodigies feature in top field for illustrious junior accolade

JANUARY

Sophie Thornton Volleyball

Sophie was a member of the Queensland under-17 women’s volleyball team which won the Australian Junior Volleyball Championships. She was selected in the Australian Junior Women’s Development Program and travelled to Thailand to compete at the Thailand Under-20 Junior Volleyball Championships.

APRIL

Mia Stower Netball

From her performance as a member of the Queensland Under 17 Netball Team at the Australian Netball Championships, Mia was selected in the Australian Under 17 Netball squad where she travelled to Canberra to attend the AIS Netball School of Excellence.

AUGUST

Cameron Shields Motorsport

In the National Formula Ford Championship Cameron finished the season second on the leaderboard, ending the year with eight wins. In the Formula 4 Championship he finished third. He was the first CAMS “Rising Star” ever to win a race or win a round in the Formula 4 Championship.

FEBRUARY

Monique Smith Softball

Monique captained the Queensland Under 17 Women’s Softball team at the Australian Softball Championships. She was named the Most Valuable Player at the championships and was selected in the All-Tournament Team. She has also been named in the Australian Under 17 Softball and Australian Under 17 Schoolgirls Softball teams.

MAY

Lucy Leadbetter Volleyball

Lucy was a member of the Queensland Under 17 Volleyball team which won the tournament at the Australian Junior Volleyball Championships. She was selected in the Australian Junior Women’s Development Program where she travelled to Thailand to compete at the Thailand Under 20 Junior Volleyball Championships.

SEPTEMBER

Amber Reinbott Archery

Amber is the current World International Field Archery Association Under 13 Girls Champion. She holds 10 national records, two Pan Pacific records, one world record and broke the Australian Under 13 field record by 12 points.

MARCH

Mason Hughes Athletics

Mason won the gold medal in the Under 16 Shotput and Discus at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships as well as the gold medal in the Under 16 Shotput and Discus at the Australian Athletics Championships. At the Downunder Championships he won gold in the Under 16 Shotput, Javelin and Discus.

JUNE

Corey Anderson Para Athletics

At the Australian Athletics Championships Corey won gold in the Under 20 para javelin, silver in discus, bronze in the shotput and bronze in the open men’s para javelin. He was part of the Australian Open Men’s Para Athletics team where he won silver in Javelin at the INAS World Athletics Championships.

OCTOBER

Courtney Martinelli Target Shooting

Courtney is ranked fifth in Australia for Women’s 3P and ninth for Women’s 10m Air Rifle. At the Oceania International Target Shooting Competition, she won bronze in the Team B 3 P discipline and at the Youth National Championships she won silver in the 12-20 years age group.

JULY

Ellie Bowyer - Athletics

Ellie won the silver medal in the Women’s Javelin as a member of the Australian Commonwealth Youth Games Team where she competed at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas. At the Downunder Championships held at the Gold Coast Ellie won the gold medal in the Under 18 Women’s Javelin and at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships she won the gold medal in the Under 20 Women’s Javelin.

NOVEMBER

Tatum Stewart Hockey

Tatum was a member of the Queensland Schoolgirls Under 16 Hockey team which went on to beat NSW in the final and winning the National Title. From her performance at these championships she was selected in the Under 16 Girls All Australian Hockey Team for School Sport.

DECEMBER

Emily Ward Touch

Emily captained the Queensland Under 15 Schoolgirls Touch Team to beat NSW in the final and winning the National Title. From her performance at these championships she was named Player of the Carnival and also named in the Australian Merit Team.