1974
Fourteen-year-old Gavin Napier was fresh from two outstanding cricket carnivals when he featured on the back page of Kyabram Free Press’ January 20 edition.
He had just scored the most runs for the Goulburn Valley Schoolboys cricket team at the state carnival and repeated that effort for the Kyabram association at the junior country week carnival.
A year earlier the Lancaster sportstar had won the Manton Medal for the best player in the Kyabram Junior Football Association’s Under-13 competition.
— Vin Sleeth struck 90 for Lancaster to head the run scorers from the opening round of cricket after the Christmas break in the 1979-80 season.
Batting at number five, Sleeth scored almost half his team’s 183 run total against Stanhope, in spite of Mick Wilson’s figures of 6-31.
1989
Stephen Atkins won the Commonwealth Double Rise Championships with 46 out of 50 and will travel to New Zealand to compete in their national titles before contesting the Australian championships at Echuca in April.
— Kyabam won its first Goulburn Murray Junior Country Week title in a decade when Tatura’s Ray Doolan scored 63, supported by Kyabram’s David Lucas (37) and Stanhope’s Matt Evans chipped in with 35.
— A 22-year-old Mark Schumann arrived for work at Morrison and Sawers in Kyabram and soon after was stripping for his first training run with Kyabram Football Club.
Schumann had already notched 100 games with Jeparit in the Wimmera league, where he was also a member of the representative team.
The 1989 Bombers were due to be coached by football legend Lawrie Casey, with other recruits including former Bombers under age players Peter McCormick and John Hone.
Also returning to Kyabram was ex-star and former Echuca coach Jeff Berry.
— Kyabram tennis star Dean Fanning won the under-18 title at the Goulburn Valley Junior Championships and followed that up by teaming with Yvonne Maxwell in the mixed doubles for a second title.
— At the halfway mark of the 1989-90 Kyabram District Cricket Association season it was Lancaster-Wyuna’s Gavin Napier who sat on top of the Cricketer of the Year standings.
In fact, he and brother Russell, were the top two players in the competition ahead of Tatura’s Rod Kilmartin and Fire Brigade’s Jon Varcoe.
1993
A 19-year-old Damien Morvell was crowned Victorian tennis inter-regional men’s singles champion — just two years after he collected the junior title at the tournament.
Morvell and Paul Macknamara also made the semi-finals of the open doubles.
— Matt McMaster Smith scored his eighth KDCA century when he guided Girgarre to victory against Rushworth.
He was forced to retire ill after four hours at the crease.
In A-reserve cricket Koyuga’s Tom Souter scored 107 not out for his team against Lancaster Wyuna.
— Kyabram brothers Grant and Kane Sing dominated the Boxing Day event at Echuca Gun Club.
2006
Greg Caldwell trained four-year-old Honeymoon is Over won the Cobram Pacing Cup at odds of $21.
The horse was bred by Campaspe Shire Mayor John Elborough and the horse was having her 18th race start.
Another cup returning to Kyabram was the Bendigo Trotting Cup, which was won by Kyabram owned Split Image.
The horse also won the Kilmore Trotter’s Cup in a career featuring 18 wins and prizemoney of $161,000.
Only a couple of weeks after the Cobram Cup win, Kyabram owners Jeff Hall, his son Peter and John Roberts were part of the ownership with Group 3 winning SA Trotters Cup winner Maybe Hall.
— Paul Newman had an almost unasailable lead in the Kyabram Club Cricketer of the Year award, more than 200 points in front of Cooma’s Paul Ranson.
To the halfway stage of the season Newman had scored 484 runs for Fire Brigade.
— Lynette Steers claimed a pair of state titles at the Victorian Quarter Horse Championships when her stable star Dads Rosie Lou won dual two-year-old awards.