The first Wimmera Sports Stars of the Year nominee is young Horsham triathlete Ella Walsgott.
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Ella won her nomination after being selected in the School Sport Victoria’s 2017 State Triathlon Team.
Ella and her mother Katie were returning home from training with the team at Ocean Grove when Katie said she was very proud of her daughter.
“She’s been training triathlons for a little over a year now and she’s now getting some new opportunities as well,” she said.
“She had always been a strong swimmer and runner, so the only thing she needed to pick up was the cycling.
“We looked to find her a coach and she worked really hard to improve.”
Out of 32 selected in the state team all but four of them are from the Melbourne metropolitan area.
There is a huge amount of travel necessary to compete at this level.
It takes a lot of self discipline from Ella to train hard because she does not have a local junior squad to train with.
The 13-year-old Horsham College student said she trains every day and her best moment in triathlons came three weeks ago when she was the fastest female in the short course at the Horsham Triathlon.
“I would like to be able to go to the Olympics one day,” Ella said.
Ella is the first nominee for the annual awards.
The 2016 Sports Star of the Year Award was handed out earlier in February to Edenhope athlete Jess Iese for his continued success in shot put and discus.