One of Australia’s most iconic sporting series is back, the Ashes, and you can join Star FM’s Scott van der Linden alongside four of Queensland’s greatest ever cricketers for the big day at Harrup Park in June.

Ian Healy, Michael Kasprowicz, Andy Bichel, and Wade Seccombe will spend the evening celebrating the history of the Ashes, sharing their thoughts on this year’s series on the eve of the first test match.

At 6.00pm, aired live from the Lancaster Rooms, guests will receive a two-course dinner, beer, wine, and soft drink while enjoying the company of these cricketers on Friday, June 16.

The panel includes cricket icon Ian Healy, who played 119 test’s and 168 One Day Internationals for Australia and is now beloved commentator for many years and he current sits on the Board of QLD cricket.  

He’s joined by Michael Kasprowicz – still the leading wicket taker ever to play for QLD.

Backing up Michael is Andy Bichel, one of the state’s greatest ever fast bowlers with 19 tests and 67 one day internationals to his name. He is currently the assistant coach of the QLD Bulls and Brisbane Heat.

And the final member, Wade Seccombe is one of Queensland’s best wicketkeepers and batsmen. He is currently the Coach of the QLD Bulls and Brisbane Heat.

Limited tickets (which include a two-course dinner, beer, wine, and soft drink) are available now - you won't want to miss it! Book today at http://bit.ly/3ZsMdUt

What: It’s The Ashes with Heals, Kaspa, Andy, & Wade

When: Friday, June 16, from 6.00pm to 10.00pm

Where: Harrup Park - Lancaster Rooms

Tickets: $170 per ticket or $1600 for a table of 10

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Three local athletes from NQ Altitude Pole Vaulters Squad qualified for Australian Athletics Nationals recently held in Brisbane.

Kasey McMahon, Senior Cairns athlete currently attending CQU Mackay and current member of Mackay Athletics Club, qualified for Open Nationals from her winning performance at ANQ Championships in Townsville.

Junior Athletes Kayce Hoani-Vincent (Mackay Athletics) and Liana Harrington (North Mackay Athletics) both qualified from winning Queensland Athletics State Championships in March which saw both girls take home gold becoming Queensland State Champions 2023, Kayce for U17s Girls and Liana U14s Girls.

Kayce, aged 16 years, continued competition with a season and personal best height 2.80m to secure 3rd place podium finish for U17s Girls.

Liana, aged 12 years performed just below her season and personal best of 2.10m to place equal 3rd, podium finish U14s Girls.

As the south season ends the north Queensland season begins, with all three athletes now focusing on training for upcoming competition in Townsville the Festival of Athletics in June and NQ Championships which will be hosted in Mackay in September.

NQ Altitude Pole Vaulters Squad trains at the Mackay ARC on Wednesday afternoons from 4pm to 5.30pm.

Any interested athletes are welcome to come to the track and check us out.

Contributed by Kirsti Hoani

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Kayce Hoani-Vincent, Kasey McMahon, Liana Harrington with Pole Vault Coach Paul Hallett

Kayce Hoani-Vincent

Liana Harrington. Photos supplied

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Whilst the majority of runners participating in the annual and very popular Hamilton Island Hilly Half Marathon, perfect running conditions greeted the local social Mackay event, although, it didn’t take runners long to raise a sweat, despite the cooler temperatures.  

The Mackay Road Runners held a very social 5km, 10km Bluewater Quay event where the course took runners out towards the Mackay Harbour for the 10km and 5km runners turning around at the BP Moss Marine Service Station.  

Excellent efforts came from Grant Holmstrom, Rod Elworthy, John Couldrey, Andrew Short, Simon Henderson, Ollie Gorrion, Shane Barben, Craig Andrews, Robinson Stinson, Stuart Sprott, Jan Smith, Toni Enright, Bernadine McKinnon, Andrew Wallace, Lauren Connor, Tia Gorrie, Leanne Connor, Kim Saron, Tahnie Malagueno, Carolyn Mapes and Stacey Robertson.  

Sensational running in the 10km by Abigail Sweeney who backed up well after taking gold in the 4km at the Mackay Athletics Carnival on Friday.  

Mackay Road Runners junior club member, Lily Leven was 2nd overall in the 4km but first in her age.

Excellent efforts also from Toby Rule who scored first in the 6km ahead of Luke Leven 3rd and Jared Mackie 4th.  

This Sunday’s 5th annual Shawn Claydon Memorial 10km Shield incorporates the long standing Mackay Road Runners Forsyths Accounting Services 10km Club Championship to be held at 7am sharp from the Queen’s park carpark entrance, Shakespeare Street.

There is a 5km distance available and non members are most welcome to attend, however, only club members are eligible for the 10km Shield in honour of former champion club member, club treasurer and life member, Shawn Claydon who pass away five years ago on 30th August from Pancreatic Cancer.  

Entry fee will be $10 for the 5km and 10km with all proceeds donated by Mackay Road Runners to Pancare to assist in research and assistance for sufferers and their families.  

Contributed by Janelle Tilse

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Approximately forty runners enjoyed a very social 5k and 10km run from the Bluewater Quay precincts

L-R Carolyn Mapes, Tahnie Malagueno and Andrew Short tackle the 10km course from the Bluewater Quay

Carmel Mahon and Andrew Wallace set a great pace in the 10km event. Photo credit: Janelle Tilse

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Last Saturday, we welcomed 32 teams of lady bowlers from all over our district and beyond as far as Ayre and Bowen. Ladies President Lidia McCarthy welcomed everyone to the club for this inaugural event. After a very scrumptious morning tea, the ladies hit the rinks for the first of 3 X 16 end games. Lunch was a gastronomic event thanks to the Goosies Sport and Recreation Club, manager Ian Morris and his wonderful staff, returning to the rinks for the next two games and finishing around 4.30.

After all the results were calculated, the very excited winners were: Lorna Bowers and Lois Deguara from North Mackay club and Joyce Bloomfield from St Helen’s club. A very close second went to Fay Duncan’s team from Wangaratta club. 3rd place went to Doris Monroe’s team from Wests club. 4th place was a draw between Kathy Mathew’s and Betty Nicole’s teams.

Congratulation to all our winners and of course all the players. Many thanks to our sponsors for this event Minestaff, Gardian and Phillips Mortgage Choice Mackay. Hopefully this will be an annual event for our club. Many thanks to each and every one who helped to make this event the success that it was. Thanks to event sponsors Clint Zahmel and Ben Phillips for attending today and experiencing the talent we have in our district.

Contributed by Sue Hazledine

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North Mackay won the inaugural ladies event

Wangaratta placed second

Wests finished in third. Photos supplied: Sue Hazledine

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Last weekend saw the running of Prestige Fours at Mackay Bowling Club played over two days of the Long Weekend. All teams played on Saturday with the four top teams playing off on Sunday to see who will be in final. All other teams were divided into Divisions 2 and 3.

The final saw Bruce Bridges team of Doug Wotton, Grant Edmonds, Les Rodgers take on Wayne Hanley team of Cooper Whitestyles, Clint Vassie, Jason McMillan with Wayne Hanley team coming out winners for the carnival.

Division 2 Winners: Ash Warland team of Harry Quade, Shane Spann, Gavin Miline.

Division 3 Winners: Col Crocker team of Mick Coll, Ben Crocker, Joe Crucker.

A great weekend of Bowls was witnessed, and many friends made.

Anzac weekend Day Bowls was started with Brian Cuttriss saying the ode and a minute silence. A full green with thirty-Six players competing.

Winners of Winners: Arthur Naylor, Fuddy, Kees Struik.

Winners of Losers: Denise Mezzen, Peter Taaffe.

Scrounger on Thursday: Carol Savage def Gary Vogler.

This weekend, club competition returns before Pennant resume on May 13.

Ladies 2 Bowl Triples Carnival Monday May 8.

Contributed by Mike Irving

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Cooper Whitestyles , Clint Vassie, Wayne Hanley and Jason McMillan. Photo credit: Mike Irving

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Sunday afternoon the Ladies A Grade Final was played between two of the best bowlers in the district. The lead fluctuated many times between Ladda Purdie and Betty Nicole.

With the end nearing and Ladda holding a 23 to 17 lead, Betty Nicole refused to give in and miraculously won 25-23 in a dramatic last end brilliant display.

A huge crowd was on hand and bowls was the winner of the day.

Saturday morning Scroungers resumed with a huge gathering ably organised by John Askew. It saw first round winners Betty Whitehorn, Tony Kelly, Mark Mawson, Neil Moore and John Matterson play.

Once again a high standard of bowls was on display and the final was played between Tony Kelly and John Matterson with Tony Kelly continuing his brilliant form and winning the prizes and accolades.

The Grand Final is to be played next Saturday morning with brilliant skills for all to see and all are welcome to view this exciting sporting game of skill.

Sunday afternoon social bowls was also an evenly matched contest with Neil Moore with Dawn Dowell at lead and in form Tony Kelly at second easily winning the prize money and the very popular John Brown winning the prestigious Health Hub award.

Luke Kinnear’s raffle is almost ready for ticket sales and the school’s competition is also nearly finalised and will begin soon.

Contributed with thanks to Mark Mawson.

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Betty Nicole and Ladda Purdie after the final of the Ladies A Grade singles. Photo supplied

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Wednesday Social: Jan Randall, Robyn Stitt and Steve Roome defeated Eddy Neylon, Gavin Charles and Jeff Tierney.

Lorraine McCarthur, G Barber and Allen Williams defeated MaryEllen Pratten, Jane Gilbert and Peter Bruce.

Jill Brabon and Ian Best defeated L. Barber and Ron Gould.

Sunday Social: Peter Thomson, Gavin Charles and Lloyd White defeated Joan Edwards, Joseph and Jeff Tierney.

Lee Welsted, Colin Stereos, Jane Gilbert and Jason Wright defeated Wayne  Crowhurst, Eddy Neylon, Peter Bruce and Ron Gould.
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Winning Team: Jan Randall, Tracey Roach/ Tiarna Rogers and Steve Roome defeated Andy Peebles, Jill Brabon and Brett Lampard.

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No bowls were played on Wednesday to allow time for some maintenance works on the greens to be most effective. Thank you to those who gave up their time to assist with this work on the Tuesday, it seems to have already been taking effect on that problem weed.

On Sunday, thirteen players enjoyed an afternoon of Social bowls. We welcomed John and Margy Burnett who are taking up the sport socially, Lee King who came to test out the sport, Nathan Lee who will be returning to the sport after a break and all of our regular bowlers.

John Burnett, John Anderson and Heather Brown had a close battle with Alen Sanderson, Bruce Uhe and Nathan Lee with Heather's team winning this contest 22 - 17.  

On the other rink Barry Zillmann accepted the challenge of playing second for both teams. Margy Burnett, Barry Zillmann, Philip Brown and Sandy Daffara drew 18 all with Lee King, Barry Zillmann, Jim Quod and Mike Harrison.

Over this long weekend, some of our members played in events at clubs within our District. Wayne Handley in a team with Cooper Whitestyle, Jason McMullen and Clinton Vassie were the winners of the Mackay Prestige 4s.

We are all very proud of our members Grahame Kinnear, Wayne Handley and Martin Corr who will all be involved with District Sides this week in their player and team manager roles.  

We wish you all the best of luck, good bowls and a wonderful experience.  We are all looking forward to cheering along and experiencing this event along with you all.

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Winners of Mackay Prestige 4s Jason McMullen, Clinton Vassie, Wayne Handley and Cooper Whitestyles. Photo supplied

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Tuesday’s results: Winners for the afternoon: Gwenda Lydom, Sue Shearing, Mark Drummond defeated Stumpy Adams, Roger Mundy, Lyn Danvers. Robyn Stitt, Isobel Wheeler, Laurie Land defeated Nadine Merle, Elphinstone, Greg Colquhoun. Deb Retchless and Geoff Danvers defeated Irene Laird and Pat Tracey. The jackpot didn’t go off.

Sunday’s results: Winners for the afternoon in a very close game were Bill Myers, Laurie Land and Allan Rolfe who defeated Terry Blair, Denise Wallace and Pat Tracey.  Others were Gwenda Lydom, Isobel Wheeler and Kevin Jewell who defeated Deb Retchless, Merle Elphinstone and Greg Colquhoun. Bron Tolcher, Sue Shearing and Geoff Danvers defeated Jocelyn Defranciscis, Irene Laird and Kent Moriarty. Robyn Stitt and Penny Warren defeated Linda Scells and Lyn Danvers. The jackpot did not go off.

Congratulations to Denise Wallace Penny Warren and Fely Duncan who gained second place out of 32 teams in the North Mackay Gooseponds Ladies Triples sponsored by Gardian Group and Minestaff last week.

Good luck and good bowling to our Men who are playing in the Burdekin Pennant this weekend.                                                                                                                        

Contributed with thanks to Penny Warren.

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Sunday Winners: Bill Myers, Allan Rolfe and Laurie Land. Photo supplied

2nd Place Goosepond's Ladies Triples Mackay. L to R - Denise Wallace, Penny Warren and Fely Duncan. Photo supplied

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A relatively quiet round of darts this weekend with only four matches on the cards. We begin with a bit of a surprising result, but an impressive one nonetheless, between Kameron Reason and Joe Wilson.

With Joe 2nd from top and Kam 3rd from bottom, you would be forgiven for thinking that this was a forgone conclusion, but Kameron had other ideas.

Going out to an early 4/1 lead, Kameron was playing very well, scoring and checking out consistently. After a small technical issue and a little delay, Joe came out firing, winning 3 legs on the trot, levelling the match at 4 all.

However, Kameron was not to be denied on the day, claiming only his 2nd win of the season, winning the match 7/4, propelling him up the ladder into 7th place.

With little or no time to enjoy the victory, Kameron was straight back into the thick of it, this time he had the daunting task of taking on league leader Jamie Woods.

Kam’s confidence was high, and rightly so, however in truth, Jamie as he so often does, made light work of it, bringing Kameron straight back down to earth with a 7/1 victory.

Woodsy followed that up with an equally impressive display against Seumas Rose, defeating Seumas without dropping a single leg, 7/0.

That compounded a bad day at the office for Seumas, who suffered another heavy loss in his second game of the day, this time at the hands of Arthur McMinn, by 7 legs to 1.

Seumas clearly struggling for wins this season with only 1 so far to his name, which is well below his par, and he’ll be desperate to start putting that right sooner rather than later.

That win for Arthur puts him in a great spot on the league ladder, now sitting in 3rd thanks to that win, currently 2 points above Dom Friend, but with Dom having 3 matches in hand over Art.

Congrats to Joe Wilson on winning the $260 members draw.

Thanks to our Premier League sponsors, Mika Airlie, Whitsunday Tattooing Airlie Beach and Master Butchers Whitsundays.

Contributed with thanks to Jamie Maher.

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Wednesday’s competition was a single stableford event sponsored by Bowen Golf Club. Ladies’ winner was Margaret Tilbrook 39 points, runner up on a countback Elona Lynch 36 points. Men's winner Kaleb Brunker 43 points, runner up Toss Eisemann 38 points.

On Friday, we hosted 82 ladies at the Ladies Bowen open. Congratulations to our own Claire Garrod who had a gross score of 75 to be our 2023 Open champion, 2 shots clear of runner up Sheree Hasson of Nudgee Golf club.  

Other winners included Lynelle Riley A grade Nett winner, Julie Laslett A grade Nett runner up, Meg Garrod - B Grade gross winner, Toni Clauss B Grade gross runner up. Bev Lowcock B grade Nett winner, Janice Bates B grade Nett runner up, Donna Reid C Grade stableford winner 36 points, runner up on a countback Pamela Malone 34 points, Rhonda Martin 3rd with 34 points, Judi Morris 4th with 33 points. Pin shots to Joy Hose, Ann Gardel, Vicky Heath. Accuracy drives to Rhiannon Nott, Lee Rawlinson, Cheryl White.

Saturday’s competition was a 4BBB Aggregate Medley stableford event sponsored by Jeff Day Plumbing. Thank you for your continued support of the Bowen Golf club. Winners were Kaleb Bruner and Hayden Menzies 73, runners up Gary Marks and Andrew Glossop 72.

This weekend's competition is a split round for the May Monthly Medals, sponsored by Bowen Meat Supply and Bowen Golf Club. Men play on Saturday and ladies on Sunday.  

Don't forget to check the club's Facebook page for this week’s dinner specials. Takeaways still available. Please call the club if you wish to book a table or place a takeaway order.

Joker is worth $2700. Good luck to all our members playing in the Homehill opens on the weekend.

Contributed with thanks to Grace Nott.

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Ladies open Gross winners

Ladies open Nett winners

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A total of 68 players teed up for the Annual Anzac Day Stableford, Jim Cochrane and Jon Miller teamed up to be winners on the day. Matt Camm and Patrick Camm claimed 2nd place.

John Grosskreutz and Allen Roberts teamed up on Thursday to win the 4BBB Stableford with 42 points, followed by Brent Daniels and Jesse Street on 40 points, Gary Scotford and Steve Mitchell were in 3rd place with 39 points.

NTP winners: Adam Maggs, Fraser Simpson, Michael Cragg x 2.

Pauline Redpath took home the MBW voucher on Saturday, with 34 points, followed by Tiina Randmae and Heather Luvis on 30 points. Tiina and Di Chard were the NTP winners.

Kelvin Stephens won the Men’s MBW Division 1 Stableford on 39 points, followed by John Clark on 38 points, Patrick Conen took out 1st place in Division 2 with 38 points followed by Ray Johannesen on 36 points. Mata Brown was in 3rd place overall with 34 points.

NTP winners: Yoko Fitton, Larry Muller, Darren Draper, Matthew Faust.

The Sunday Ladies Competition was won by the ever consistent Tiina Randmae on 36 points, followed by Elise Hodgson on 32 and Penny Wardroper on 28 points. Jason Bourke was just ahead of Scott Vlismas on 39 and 36 respectively, and Mark McDougal was in 3rd position with 33 points.

NTP winners: Don Cameron and Pauline Redpath.

84 players were out and about on the course for the May Day 2 Ball Ambrose, the mixed division was won by Trish McNeill and Noelene Spurway on 63.75nett, followed by Renae Maxwell and Jason Bourke on 65.75.

Ryan Wilkes and Jon Miller were too good for the men’s field, coming in with 63 nett. They were closely followed by Larry Muller and Jackson Gray on 63.25 nett.

NTP winners: Trish McNeill, Jordie de Marmiel, John Bissell, Nick Shepherd, Brett Bauer

Contributed with thanks to the Pro Shop Team.

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Even with several players still away, Whitsunday Golf Club fielded 20 players on Sunday for a single Stableford competition.

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Ladies’ A Grade

Winner: Tiina Randmae with 36 points

Runner-up: Penny Wardroper with 28 points

Ladies’ B Grade

Winner: Elise Hodgson with 32 points

Runner-up: Karen Rix with 26 points

Men’s A Grade:

Winner: Jason Bourke with 39 points

Runner-up: Clay Coles with 32 points

Men’s B Grade:  

Winner: Scott Vlismas with 36 points

Runner-up: Mark McDougal with 33 points

NTPs:  

Ladies: Pauline Redpath on the 2nd (all in), Penny Wardroper on the 9th and Elise Hodgson on the 16th.

Men: Ritchie Atkins on the 9th, Jason Bourke on the 13th (all in) and Leigh Jones on the 16th.

Longest Drives: Pauline Redpath and Karen Rix, Chris Bartlett and Mark McDougal.

NAGAs: Pam Casey and Wilf Herweg, sponsored by Aaron and Tracy Watts.

The next competition will be the May Monthly Medal, very kindly sponsored by Airlie Panel & Paint and Master Butchers Whitsunday.

Contributed with thanks to Tiina Randmae.

L to R: Tiina Randmae (Winner Ladies A), Mark McDougall (r/up Men’s B), Karen Rix (r/up Ladies B), Elise Hodgson (Winner Ladies B). Absent : Jason Bourke, Clay Coles, Scott Vlismas. Photo supplied

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Our weekly Friday stableford 9-hole comp was won by Jay Angel with 21 points, second place on 19 points was Andrew Gomez and third place went to Kendal Nash on 18 c/b. Great effort by all.

Sunday was our Monthly Medal for April. Taking the win was Billy O’Connor with an amazing 50 net, second place went to Marc Belke on 46 net and third on 52 net c/b was Glenn Rees.

Nearest the pin was Tyson Flavel and Dean Barnard. A great end to the month for all.

This Sunday, May 7 will be our 18 holes alternate shot foursome tee off at 10.00am.

Contributed with thanks to Whitsunday Green Club.

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A very happy monthly medal winner Billy O’Connor. Photo supplied

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With six matches played at Whitsunday Sports Park there was plenty of Action.

The divisional Men travelled to Mackay on Friday night to play Lions U17 Squad and Sarina. Although a close tussle, the younger legs of the Mackay Squad proved telling with the end result 4-1 to Lions. In the Div1 game, the Whitsunday boys made Sarina work all the way to the end, losing 2-1 but with many players on their second game, it may have been a different outcome with some fresh legs on the bench.

Saturday at the Sportspark started with a great performance by the U13 Div1 team at their first home game. In hot conditions, their strong defence shut down many attacks from the Country United side earning a hard-won draw 0-0. This was a huge improvement from last round with goal keeper Jai outstanding in goals and Roy Milliken giving 100 per cent as always.

It was a different story for the U15 Premier squad against a rampant City Brothers side. Although holding them to a tight result last week, the Whitsunday side never hit their stride conceding 6 goals to 1 in a game that they will be disappointed in.

The Women continued their winning form in front of a big crowd. Unfortunately, Sarina travelled up to play with only 14 players between two squads. In a competitive Reserves game, Whitsunday proved too strong across the park, scoring a 5-0 win based on solid defence. The Sarina ladies ran out of legs and with all of them playing a second game, were no match for the Whitsunday Premier Women who ran away with the game. A brave effort by the visitors just to face the onslaught.

Our Premier Men’s Squads also returned to form, winning both games against the visiting Rangers Squads. Whitsunday Reserves started their game dominating the ball and looking to play from out the back. Whitsundays made the breakthrough with a fantastic long-range goal by Luke Swift. Rangers equalised minutes later. The second half was a similar story with Whitsundays having the majority of the ball scoring twice midway through the second half to come away with a 3-1 victory. Special mention to Jarrod Clarke whose energy and determination when coming on contributed massively to the team’s performance

The Premier Men got a very important win against Mackay Rangers to jump into the top 4 for the first time this season. It proved to be a topsy turvy game with both teams having positive spells in the game. Sam Reynolds made his first appearance for the season at centre back and put in a man of the match performance, which greatly helped the team going forward and defensively. Goals came from Tommy Torzsok, Harry Hodgen, Sam Blake and Axel Da Silva in a 4-3 win.

Another massive home round next week. Can’t wait!

Contributed with thanks to Allan Milostic.

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U13 Div1 - great effort at their first home game. Photo supplied

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