A host of Moama bowlers experienced successful tournaments at the Bowls Victoria state championships held in Bendigo.

Cassandra Millerick was a huge success story for Moama across the week, first winning the women’s singles event by defeating Deer Park’s Gayle Edwards 25-17 in the final.

“I was overwhelmed, to be honest,” Millerick said.

“Last year when I played the state singles, I lost on the last bowl to Kelly McKerihen and, winning it this year, I was just happy, really happy.”

Millerick’s run to the title was not without its challenges, most notably in a tight semi-final against Sophie Kurzman from Sunbury.

The Moama bowler came back from a 21-14 deficit to win 25-21, scoring 11 shots without reply across six ends to progress to the decider, going on to greatly exceed her expectations for the event.

“I was hoping I would just make the first round or the second round, I honestly didn't think I would win it only losing to the last bowl last year,” Millerick said.

“I thought, ‘Okay if I can try even make semi-finals that'll be great,’ but making the finals, I kind of blew myself away.”

Millerick backed up the singles victory by joining fellow Moama bowlers Mackenzie Parsons and Emma Simmonds in taking out the women’s triples two days later, the trio winning the final 17-10 against Glynis Bugeja, Rhonda Sadovsky, and Joanne Martin from Gippsland.

That run also included a thrilling win that came at the quarter-final stage, the Moama side surviving elimination by scoring two shots on the final end to win 14-13.

Millerick still had one more event at the championships after securing two titles, also featuring in the women’s champion of champions singles, which she qualified for by winning the Moama club championship and then beating out the other club champions across the Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields bowls region.

She would make the semi-finals in that event, intriguingly having another close game against Sunbury’s Kurzman in the round of 16 along the way, the outcome for Millerick still impressive considering the winner of the champion of champions goes on to represent Victoria.

After the state championships, Millerick played her part as a skip in the country team that won the Bowls Victoria City vs Country Series last weekend.

She will now have a small break before ramping up again in June, first with the Matador Fours at Broadbeach Bowls Club, which will act as a lead up event into the Australian Open.

While Millerick, Parsons and Simmonds tasted success in the women’s events at the state championships, Moama also had a major triumph on the men’s side.

The quartet of Travis Kelly, Kevin Anderson, Cameron Keenan and Paul Girdler took out the men’s fours, winning the final 24-3 against Darryl Argall, Don Connors, Peter O’Laughlin and Daniel Danisch of the Wimmera Bowls region.

The road to victory was incredibly dominant, the foursome winning its four matches by a combined score of 71-26 and, more importantly, broke a 51-year drought for Moama, which last saw a men’s title in 1975 when George Lynch won the men’s champion of champions singles.

Anderson also featured in that event this year, matching Millerick’s feat on the women’s side by also reaching the semi-finals.

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Thursday, 23rd November 2028

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