PIGEON star Stephanie Tyrell has become the youngest winner of the Ovens and Murray Netball Association A grade best and fairest.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Tyrell, 15, polled 23 votes to also become the inaugural winner of the Toni Wilson medal.
Wilson was one of the founding members of the O and M Netball Association in 1993 and served 11 years as president.
Tyrell won by three votes from Lavington’s Dominique Ferguson with North Albury’s Breda O’Kane third.
“I can’t believe I have won this actually,” Tyrell said.
“At the start of the year I played really well, but towards the end it wasn’t so good.”
“My heart was beating so fast because I knew we didn’t do that well at the end of the year.
“I’d really like to win an A grade grand final one day.”
Wilson described Tyrell, who played in a losing preliminary final on Sunday, as one of the brightest talents to emerge in the 13-year history of the fledgling competition.
“She has got huge potential,” Wilson said.
“Hopefully she stays around and continues to play Ovens and Murray.
“She is a magnificent player, a marvellous shooter and has all the things you need to be a good reliable player.
“She has the things like strength, concentration and physical ability.
“It is a bit unspoken to have a girl of that age win an award in such a high standard competition.”
Tyrell also took out the Bakers Delight A grade award.
The youngster was also a member of the Ovens and Murray under 17 representative team which took out the state championship during the year.
Other Pigeon players to win the A grade best and fairest have been Tracy Gillies (1997 and 2000), Renee Donovan (1998), Briana Cossar (2003) and Rachel Wild (2004).
Winning the B grade award was Wangaratta Rover Amanda Coote on 24 votes, beating home Myrtleford’s Bridget Flint on 17 and Lavington’s Sheree Nixon on 19.
Lisa Davey of Lavington took out the C grade best and fairest with 25 votes, from Ricki-Lee Goode on 23 and Abby Flower on 21.
The Bakers Delight B and C grade awards went to Sheree Nixon and Albury’s Claire Miller respectively.
