Sports wrap: see what your elite-athlete peers have achieved so far in 2023
Are you an elite athlete studying at Deakin?
Whether you’re an emerging professional athlete or already playing at an elite level, we encourage you to check out our Elite Athlete Program to see if we can help you. Elite athletes can face many demands in finding a balance between their studies and sporting commitments, and we understand the need to support student athletes to enable them to succeed in both areas.
So what have your elite-athlete peers been up to over the first quarter of 2023? See the recent sporting achievements of our current students and alum!
Basketball
Marena Whittle won the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023 earlier this month as part of the Australian women’s team 21–11 against New Zealand, and was also named MVP having scored an impressive 43 points in five games.
The past year has been a big one for Marena, in which she took out bronze in the Women’s 3×3 Basketball finals at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and received a Full Blue Award at the 2022 Deakin Sport Awards.
Cricket
In the cricketing world, Ellyse Perry and the Australian team had a 19-run win over South Africa, claiming the Women’s T20 World Cup late last month in Cape Town.
The title marked the sixth time the Australian women’s team have been crowned T20 World Cup champions – a momentous win and testament to the team’s ability to keep their collective cool, especially in the face of heightened emotions and blaring opposition from the stands at Newlands Cricket Ground.
Spin bowler Todd Murphy also achieved the impressive feat of taking five wickets in his debut Test as part of the Australian team’s tour of India in February.
Currently studying for a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science/Bachelor of Business (Sport Management) at Deakin, Murphy also joined fellow Deakin student Sam Harper in competing with the Victorian team in the Sheffield Shield final against Western Australia in March.
Formula 3 racing
Current student Tommy Smith raced in Formula 3 at Albert Park over the Grand Prix weekend back in March. Melburnian Tommy was also signed to the Dutch team, Van Amersfoort Racing, late last year after proving his mettle across a range of international championships since 2017.
Field Hockey
Congratulations to Deakin alum Maddison Brooks, who was selected as part of an extended Hockeyroos squad for the FIH Pro League matches in Hobart across February and March. A Bachelor of Psychological Science graduate, Maddison’s ascension to the national set-up follows her impressive performances at Hockey One and Aus U21s levels last year, as well as an outstanding junior national championships career which included four Player of the Tournament medals.
Current student Craig Marais – after an impressive 2022 in which he represented Australia in the Kookaburra’s Under 21 team and reached the final in the Sultan of Johor Cup – played in the men’s FIH Pro League match in Hobart back in March. Despite Spain’s 4–2 defeat of the Burras, the team fought valiantly and Marais, early in the third quarter, scored his first international goal in just his seventh appearance.
Learn more about the Elite Athlete Program
If you’ve got any questions about how the Elite Athlete Program (EAP) could help you, please visit the EAP website or contact the Elite Sports Coordinator, Jack Duke, at [email protected].