Mildura Weekly – 23/03/12 67www.thelocalphonebook.com.au

DIVING Sunraysia members have recently completed a highly suc-cessful fortnight of competition in Melbourne and Adelaide, compet-ing at both the Victorian and South Australian State Age Titles.

Amongst the large group of lo-cals to compete were Philippa Pat-terson and Peta Musgrove – with the Victorian State Age Titles a first for both divers.

They were joined by Allegra Bottrell-Thorburn, who was com-peting at her second State Titles, and Erica Musgrove, who rep-resented Diving Sunraysia at the event despite a recent move to Ad-elaide to continue her schooling.

Philippa – who recently quali-fied for the upcoming 2012 Austra-lian Titles at the Sunraysia Ripntear diving event held in January – orig-inally entered the competition to

gain valuable experience ahead of the National Championships.

The gamble ended up netting the youngster gold in the girls 12/13 years one metre event – an achievement made even more im-pressive considering Philippa was battling an inner ear infection.

Diving Sunraysia head coach, Leanne Morgan, said she was ex-tremely proud to see Philippa over-come illness to win gold.

“I couldn’t be happier for her,” she said. “She is such a hard work-er, and it was great to see that hard work pay off.

“Philippa’s first year of serious competition has seen her become both the Victorian Country and State Champion – which is an in-credible achievement.”

Allegra Bottrell-Thorburn and Peta Musgrove both competed in

the girls 14/15 years one metre event, with Allegra – while diving consistently – just missing out on a National Title spot by 12 points.

Peta finished the event in 11th place, with the Titles providing the young diver with valuable experi-ence at her first major event.

Erica – who is Peta’s older sis-ter – while struggling at the event due to lack of training and the transition to her new school, still showed her quality, producing some strong dives.

A long way from her best, she still surpassed the National Quali-fying Standard.

Immediately following the Vic-torian State Age Titles came the South Australian Championships, with Allegra, Peta and Erica joined by fellow Sunraysia diver Khan Dove for the event.

As a group the youngsters man-aged to squeeze in two training sessions before the 1500 kilometre trip, with Peta in particular pulling out all the stops.

In a huge turn around from the previous week, Peta won her one metre age group event – breaking the SA State record in the process.

Needing 20 points from her last dive to achieve her goal of a na-tional qualifying score, Peta pulled out a stunning inward one-and-a-half somersault, scoring seven and eight’s from the judges.

Allegra finished in third place at the SA Titles, once again finish-ing just shy of a qualifying score, while Khan Dove – competing at his first State event – dived sound-ly, pipping his only opponent in the event in a tight tussle by two points.

A little off-colour thanks to a head cold, Khan can now concen-trate on tweaking his list before his first National Championship ap-pearance.

Erica got back on track after a disappointing Melbourne effort, winning the girls 16/18 years one metre event, and setting a new SA State record.

Diving Sunraysia coaches Le-anne Morgan and Stubbs Rae will now shift their focus to the Nation-al Age Championships, which will be held in Adelaide over Easter.

“All four of our athletes who have qualified have had wins over metro divers in the last fortnight, which is a terrific result,” Leanne said. “With confidence up, and solid results behind them, some top 10 finishes are certainly achiev-able.”

By VINNIE RODI

IT all comes down to this.For Sunraysia cricketers,

this weekend will mark the grand finale of the 2011/12 Sunraysia Cricket Associa-tion season, with the top two sides in the Division One competition – Merbein South and Workers Gol Gol – to battle it out for premier-ship honours.

Both clubs have enjoyed solid seasons to date, with players on both fronts fit, fir-ing, and ready to perform.

For the boys from Mer-bein, this weekend’s Grand Final will mark the fourth consecutive time they have contested a SCA First Divi-sion Grand Final, with the club winning two flags in that time.

Six of the team’s regular 11 players have appeared in all of those Grand Finals, giving the team incredible experience in crunch games.

Add the fact that Mer-bein are looking to avenge last season’s Grand Final loss to Mildura Settlers, and club captain, Adam Thomson, be-lieves his side is in a prime position to win three flags from four attempts.

“I certainly believe our experience is our greatest strength,” he said. “We have six guys who will play in their fourth straight Grand Final this weekend – which is valuable in any side.

“We’re pretty confident we have a team that can handle the pressure of a Grand Final, while many of the Workers team will field a side with little finals experi-ence.

“Taking nothing away from Workers – who I be-lieve have been the most consistent team in the com-petition – but I think our previous finals experience will go a long way in helping us make it three flags in four years.”

Thomson said the side – many of whom made up last year’s losing Grand Final team – were still hurting.

“To finish on top of the ladder last season, and then lose the flag after what we all thought was one of best

seasons was very disappoint-ing,” he said.

“It’s something that has stuck with the team, and probably given us an extra lift this season.”

Thomson said it had been extremely impressed with the form of his team, including his own form, and that of younger brother, Mark.

“Mark has been batting really well at the top of the order for us, and with more than 200 runs next to his name has been really im-pressive in his first season

of First Division cricket,” he said.

“Our bowling has also been a strength, with Matt Walder and Shane Trinick both on fire.

“I’ve also been really happy with my own form, I’ve probably had my best year and it certainly helps as a captain to be going so well.”

The other team set to contest the Grand Final, Workers Gol Gol, has also been a standout this season.

Fielding the most consis-tent side in the competition, captain Andrew Petrie said the club was determined to win its first Division One flag since the 2005/06 season.

“All four of our senior division teams are playing in their respective Grand Finals this weekend, so it’s certainly

a great time for the club,” he said.

“I think one of our strengths this year has been our depth, we’ve been in a position where if players are missing we have had others who could come in and play a role.

“While it’s true we lack finals experience, we have plenty of guys like Brett Cummings and David Hog-arth who have been around a long time, and know what it takes to win the big games.”

It’s that same depth that will certainly pose a dilem-

ma for the Workers captain, who will be forced to make one change to the team that beat Mildura Settlers in last week’s semi-final.

“I actually missed last week’s game due to person-al reasons, so the general make-up of the side is going to change, and it’s certainly going to be a tough decision as to who misses out,” Petrie said.

“On the other hand it’s also a great position to be in, with all four of our division teams playing Grand Finals this week, myself coming back into the side means an experienced player can drop back to the Second Division, etc.

“Form-wise our club couldn’t be going better, we have a really good blend of youth and experience, with

our batting and fielding in particular a strength this sea-son.”

Like his Merbein coun-terpart, Petrie has also pro-duced a top-class season, amassing more than 400 runs at the top of the order.

“I made the decision to open the batting just after Christmas, and it’s been a great move for myself per-sonally and for the team,” he said.

“I’ve been extremely hap-py with the team this season, and now it’s just a matter of capping off the year with the ultimate prize.”

The SCA First Division Grand Final will be played at Aero 2 (Mildura West’s home ground), with the pitch and ground in top condition fol-lowing last week’s rain.

Both captains said they

were expecting a batsmen’s paradise, with posting a big score first up the key.

“I had a look the other night and the pitch looks fantastic,” Thomson said. “I certainly expect this fame to

be a high-scoring one, with scoreboard pressure the key.”

Petrie echoed Thomson’s thoughts, saying that with both sides having a maxi-mum of 90 overs to utilise, a big run chase could certainly be on the cards for the side batting second.

“The plan is definitely to win the toss and have a bat,” he said.

Other SCA Grand Finals will see Workers Gol Gol take on Mildura West in the seconds, Coomealla Went-worth take on Workers Gol Gol in the thirds, and Work-ers versus Mildura Settlers in the fourths.

In other cricket news, Mildura East stalwart Tom Vadjla has made history this week, claiming his sixth Innes Medal at Wednesday’s count.

Workers, Merbein in SCA Grand Finale

•  GRAND FINAL FEVER: Two men who will play important roles in tomorrow’s Sunraysia Cricket Association First Division Grand Final are Merbein South’s Matt Walder, ABOVE LEFT, and Workers Gol Gol batsman David Hogarth, LEFT. Newly-crowned Innes Medalist Tom 

Vadjla in action, BELOW.

Divers enjoy success at the top level