IT was yet another massive year for sporting stars in the Wimmera in 2016.

The Wimmera Mail-Times has been there to witness it all.

The Mail-Times reviews the top moments and successes of our sporting heroes, who battled and trained their hearts out, to beat the best-of-the-best in their chosen sports. 

IT was the underdog story of the year as the Wimmera watched Nhill rower Lucy Stephan prevail against the odds in a chance of a lifetime at the Rio Olympics in August. 

Stephan originally failed to qualify for the Olympics with the Austrlian women’s eight team after competing in Switzerland in May. 

After the Russian team was disqualified due to Anastasia Karabelshchikova’s doping history, Stephan received a last-minute call up, with just two weeks to prepare for one of the biggest moments of her life. 

Her Olympic dreams came to an end after missing out on a place in the finals. 

Stephan’s team finished in fifth place in the repechage race, with a time of 6.40.45, after finishing fourth in the initial heat. 

Stephan started rowing when she was a boarder at Ballarat Grammar. 

HORSHAM product Jannik Blair is no stranger to success. 

He completed yet another career high when he qualified for the 2016 Paralympics in July. 

It was the second time Blair had qualified, after winning a silver medal with the Rollers in London in 2012. 

In 2014 he was also part of the Australian team that won gold at the World Wheelchair Basketball Championships.

It was a difficult journey for the Rollers at this year’s Paralympics. The team struggled to find form against strong competition.

The Rollers were dumped out in the quarter finals of the Paralympic competition. 

The team finished third in the group stages but lost 74-51 in the quarter-final knockout match against Great Britain.

It was a disappointing result for Blair, since it was the first time since the 2000 games in Sydney that the Rollers team had missed out on a Paralympics medal. 

Despite the setback, Blair has not lost sight of his dreams. 

“I suppose the Paralympics were my goal as soon as I was fortunate enough to be exposed to it after my accident,” he said. 

“Every time is very exciting. The experience never gets old.” 

Former Warracknabeal woman Tanya Huebner also headed to Rio to compete as a swimmer. 

It was Heubner’s second Paralympic games after competing in five events at London.

Her Paralympic success is made all the more impressive since she only started swimming in 2010.

It was a week of mixed success for Heubner, who finished in fifth position in the women’s 100-metre breaststroke event. 

She placed third in the qualifying heat in just over one minute and 42 seconds before going on to beat her time in the final. 

She finished in ninth position in the women’s 50-metre butterfly event, with a heat time of 42.80, narrowly missing out on finals. 

HORSHAM footballer Jarrod Berry’s dreams came true when he was selected at pick 17 in the AFL draft in November. 

It was an impressive year for Berry, who was was tipped as a first round draft pick after two impressive standout seasons with the North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup. 

He ensured his selection after impressing at the NAB AFL draft combine. 

Berry was also a story of resilience this year, battling through injury setbacks to gain his selection. 

Ararat’s Tom Williamson was taken by Carlton at pick 61. The former Rats junior and North Ballarat Rebels under-18 TAC Cup player had a long wait but was eventually claimed by the Blues in the fourth round.

HORSHAM product Hudson Irwin went from strength to strength in the gymnastics world in 2016. 

He won his second consecutive national championship in May. 

Irwin won a gold medal in the level nine under-17 all-round men’s artistic category at the 2016 Australian Gymnastic Championships. 

In addition to the individual all-round gold, Irwin was just as successful with his Victorian team, winning the national championship. 

In June, Irwin became a back-to-back state and national title winner.

He was crowned the level nine under-17 all-round state champion at the 2016 Victorian Gymnastics Championships. 

Irwin is sure to be a force to be reckoned with and has high hopes of representing at an international level. 

“It wasn’t until my first national championship in 2012 when I got to see a wider spectrum of the sport,” Irwin said. 

“That is when I really started to think about the possibilities of the future.”

MURTOA’S Cleo Baker and Laelah Robertson returned from the Australian Junior Volleyball Championships in Coomera with a silver medal. 

The under-15 girls team suffered a blow against Queensland White after winning its way to the gold medal match in October. 

The two were named as joint nominees in the Wimmera Regional Sports Assembly’s Sports Star of the Year Awards. 

The girls have each been playing volleyball for just two years after getting started in the Murtoa College volleyball program.