Two Mackay hockey players will be coming home from Birmingham with medals after both the men’s and women’s teams made the gold medal matches in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Claire Colwill played in the Hockeyroos team that finished with silver while Jacob Anderson and the Kookaburras won gold after thumping India in the final.
18-year-old Claire debuted for the Hockeyroos in May this year in New Zealand and has become a vital part of the team.
She already has a strong hockey CV to her name, having represented and won tournaments with Mackay, Queensland and Australian representative teams.
Claire was part of the first Mackay team to win the Queensland U18 Championships Division 1 title in over 25 years.
The Kookaburras finished the group stage of the Commonwealth Games undefeated and without a goal scored against them.
They defeated India in a penalty shootout in the semi-final to make it to the gold medal match where they went down to the hosts England 1-2 to claim silver.
Claire finished the tournament with one goal scored against Kenya in the group stage.
25-year-old Jacob Anderson also made his Commonwealth Games debut representing the Kookaburras.
Jacob debuted for the Kookaburras in 2018 and has over 25 caps representing his country.
The Kookaburras also enjoyed an undefeated run through the group stage, finishing on top of their pool.
The Australians defeated England 3-2 in the semi-final before convincingly beating India 7-0, claiming gold and their seventh consecutive Commonwealth Games title.
Jacob scored five goals throughout the Games including two in the gold medal match.
As the Commonwealth Games wrapped up earlier this week, Australia finished atop the medal tally with a total of 67 gold medals, 57 silver and 54 bronze.
