Sports reports: Murray Bridge rowers make waves at nationals

This story includes contributions from Nicole Hoare, Murray Bridge Speedway and Daniel Irvine.

Murray Bridge Rowing Club members have spent a successful week competing at the Australian championships in Tasmania.

The club was represented by its under-17 athletes, who competed in several group and solo events; and Victoria Seidel, who participated in the open women’s category.

Seidel received a prestigious position to row in the South Australian Queen's Cup crew and placed fourth in the interstate women's eight final.

She also placed sixth in the open women’s double scull, and fifth in the final for the coxless women’s four.

Ms Seidel said the highlight of the experience was coming home with a bronze medal in the open women’s quadruple scull sprint, and that it was an honour to represent South Australia.

Teammate Archer Buick achieved numerous successes over the week, including the schoolboy’s single scull event, where he made his way into the B finals. 

Buick participated in the under 17 men’s single scull, where he placed fourth in the heat and fifth in the repechage. 

He had further success in the under 17 men’s double race, where he placed fifth in the heat and fourth in the repechage. 

Buick said he was ready for next year’s competition and was looking forward to representing the club again at his level.

Murray Bridge athletes also participated in the under 17 quads and doubles events. 

Lillian Hoare, Mackenzie Milne, Cianna Watkins, Ella Davy and coxswain Ethan Hoare competed in the quads and placed eighth in their heat and sixth in their repechage. 

Watkins and Lillian Hoare placed sixth in their double heat and fifth in their repechage, while Davy and Milne finished with the same results in their double event. 

To switch things up, the girls mixed pairings and went head-to-head in the schoolgirl double event. 

Hoare and Davy, representing Murray Bridge High School, finished sixth in both their heat and repechage; while Watkins and Milne, representing Unity College in the same event, finished seventh in both their heat and repechage.

Watkins said rowing at nationals was her biggest achievement yet and was exceptionally proud of what she and her squad had accomplished.

She, along with her teammates, had been training eight times a week in preparation for the competition, all while balancing school and work commitments. 

Milne said she was proud of the achievements the team had made during the championship, particularly for beating personal bests.

“It was a massive learning curve, and we now know the training that’s ahead of us if we want to win at nationals’ level,” she said. 

The Murray Bridge athletes said their dedication and hard work certainly paid off. 

The club thanked Peter Newell and Ben Porte for coaching the national squad. 

The club also thanked the generosity of its sponsors.

Kaleb Currie wins speedcar championship

Kaleb Currie has raced to a stunning victory in the 50-lap feature of the Australasian Speedcar Championship in Murray Bridge on Easter Sunday.

After placing third in the preliminary race, Currie made a strong finish in the final race and claimed the $20,000 winner’s cheque.

Currie fought for the lead alongside Nick Parker and Kaidon Brown, all trading places throughout the race while encountering instances of lapped traffic.  

Brown and Currie swapped places several times throughout the race before Currie took the lead, followed shortly by Parker who made his final push to pass Brown into second place, with six laps to go. 

Currie took the lead by the second to last lap and was the first to cross the green and white chequered finish line. 

Brown and Parker raced after him to the finish line, with Parker just managing to hold Brown off to claim the second title, followed by Jack McCarthy who stormed from tenth up into fourth.

The race had a few stops, after Keenan Fleming and Mitch Saunders collided and sent Fleming’s vehicle spinning into a fence, and when Beau Doyle brought the field to a halt after bouncing and rolling in the first turn. 

Rifle club holds annual whiskey shoot

Eleven hopefuls turned out at the Deed Range at Monarto on Saturday of the Easter weekend to compete in the Murray Bridge Rifle Club’s second annual Whiskey Shoot.

The shoot took place at a range of 800 metres and the strong winds made for very challenging conditions.

Top in F-class on the day were John Cranwell (FO) with 111.05, Adrian Conlon (FO) with 110.03, and Gordon Harrison (FS) 108.03.

The prize bottle, however, was decided on handicap, where John Cranwell emerged victorious by the barest of margins ahead of Harro, 117.4 to 117.2.

In TR, Robert Paech and Greg Traeger were hard to separate off-rifle, with Paech scoring 94.05 and Traeger 93.07.

The handicap, on the other hand, was much clearer, with Traeger finishing six points clear on 107.4 to claim the prize.

There were more than a few “birds” shot given the conditions, but emerging with the magpie awards this week were Andrew Heard in TR and Peter Casley in F-class, both with two.

Competition continues next week from 1000 yards.

Shooters will be hoping for better conditions from the longest range.

Send your sports reports to liana@murraybridge.news.