THE Merbein and District Community Bank 97.9 Triple M Northern Mallee Sports Star of the Year awards were held on Friday night at Mildura Club DaVinci.
Yelta clay target shooter Luke Argiro collected his second Peter Manolas Trophy when he was named the 2019 Northern Mallee Sports Star of the Year, backing up his 2017 win.
Shortly after he was nominated in April by the Mildura Clay Target Club, Argiro travelled to the United Arab Emirates to compete in his first world cup event in the International Shooting Sports Federation World Cup shotgun discipline.
He qualified for the skeet men's division by shooting a perfect score of 125/125 targets.
In the final he went on to win a bronze medal behind competitors from Kuwait and Denmark.
This year Argiro has been battling it out with some of the country's top shooters for a place at the Olympics.
After two of the four qualifying events, Queenslander Paul Adams has amassed 246 points to hold a healthy eight-point lead over New South Wales' Josh Bell (238 points), with Argiro (237) and NSW's Frank Morris (237) equal third as they chase spots on the Olympic team.
Award Winners
Northern Mallee Hall of Fame inductees:
Deserie Baynes (nee Wakefield) – clay target shooting
Greg Rhodes – golf, volleyball, lifesaving, football, football umpiring
Alison Styles (nee Diggle) – volleyball
Telstra Store Mildura Master Athlete of the Year:
Kamahl Lord – BMX Racing
AV Trophies Junior Encouragement Award:
Willem Allen (swimming)
Viatek Senior Team of the Year:
Full Noize Racing Team – sidecar speedway
WIN TV Junior Team of the Year:
Red Cliffs 15 and under division 2 netball
Autosynergy Club of the Year:
Ataru International Taekwondo
Mildura Waves Coach of the Year:
Josh Barila (swimming)
Sunraysia Daily Sports Administrator of the Year:
Toney Hurley (football and netball)
Rural Access Athlete With a Disability:
Cosimo Cirillo (soccer)
Mallee District Aboriginal Services Aboriginal Sportsperson of the Year:
Jemmika Douglas (football)
Mildura Rural City Council Volunteer of the Year:
Marion Leslie (football and netball)
