Federation University has retained the naming rights to the WestVic Academy of Sport, Western Victoria’s premier pathway for talented athletes.

Federation University, which has housed the WestVic office at its Mt. Helen campus since inception in 2003, has signed a new three-year deal with WestVic to continue sponsoring the Academy, until 2021.

Fed Uni WestVic Academy of Sport has appointed Dr. Scott Talpey as Coordinator – Strength & Conditioning for 2019.

With more than 15 years’ strength and conditioning coaching experience at both the High School and Collegiate level in the United States, and with the Ballarat Miners and Rush Basketball programs in Ballarat, Talpey’s experience will assist coaches and athletes in the areas of Strength and Conditioning and Physical Preparation.

Talpey is currently a Senior Lecturer in Strength and Conditioning within the Exercise and Sport Science Department at Federation University, Mt. Helen campus.

Talpey is a Level 2 Coach with the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association and is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association in the United States.

Bacchus Marsh Grammar student and FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete Graeme Frislie reigned supreme at the 2019 Oceania Track Championships at the Adelaide Super-Drome which concluded last Sunday.

Frislie, 17, a track cycling star of the future and current Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) Scholarship holder, headlined the event with outstanding performances culminating in him winning two gold medals and two silver medals.

Frislie dominated his respective events, winning the Male Under 19 Madison and Under 19 Team race.

Alanna Peart is the latest FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete to claim an individual national title, with success at the 2018 Australian Winter Walking Championships on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, yesterday.

Peart, 15, and the reigning WestVic Academy Female ‘Athlete of the Year’, won the Gold medal after finishing first in the Under 16 Girls 5000 Meter Race Walk. Peart, coached by her father Wayne and who currently attends Ballarat High School, completed an Australian Road Walking double having claimed an Under 16 Girls 5000 Meter Race Walk title earlier in the year.

FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete and Bacchus Marsh Grammar student, Ben De Bortoli, has claimed two Gold medals at the 2018 Australian Karate Federation Championships.

The National Championships, held in Caloundra, Queensland, last weekend, saw De Bortoli secure the Gold medal in the Kumite Individual Male Under 21 -75kg event.

Sam Rizzo and Alanna Peart have been named FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport Male and Female ‘Athletes of the Year’ for 2017/2018 at the Ballarat Sportsmen’s Club monthly presentation dinner.

The pair claimed back-to-back titles, capping off a highly successful year with strong performances on the international and national stage throughout the past 12 months.

FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete and Bacchus Marsh Grammar student, Ronan Keleher, has won a Gold medal at the 2018 Oceania Taekwondo Championships Team Selection Tournament.

Team selection for the 2018 Oceania Taekwondo Championships were held in Canberra, ACT, last week and Keleher secured the Gold medal in the Male Kyorugi Black Male 15-17 48/55 classification.

FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport tennis athletes, James O’Sullivan and Ruby Rothman, were acknowledged at a gala awards ceremony at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club’s 2018 Champions’ Dinner in Melbourne last Friday evening.

O’Sullivan, 14, a Ballarat Grammar student, defeated Qwyn Quittner in the final in straight sets winning, 7-6, 6-1 to be crowned Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club’s 2018 Under 16 Boys’ Singles champion.

FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete and Bacchus Marsh Grammar student, Ben De Bortoli, has won a Gold medal at the Oceania Karate Championships.

The 19th Oceania Karate Championships were held in Auckland, New Zealand, last weekend and De Bortoli secured the gold medal in the Male Under 21 -75kg event.

De Bortoli, 18, and studying Year 12 at Bacchus Marsh Grammar, defeated opponents from New Zealand, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Fiji and Nauru on his way to claiming the Gold medal.

FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete and Damscus College student, Sam Rizzo, has been selected to represent Australia in next month’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Rizzo, 17, from Buninyong, has been selected to compete in the T54 1500m track event.