JAKIYA Whitfield was named the Young Sportsperson of the Year at Oberon's Australia Day celebrations on Sunday.
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Whitfield, who is known for her speed in the world of rugby, started her rugby career at Bathurst Bulldogs before making the move to Sydney to play with the Sydney Uni 7s team.
She has been given the nickname "Winx" by her team-mates because she is known for her speedy runaway tries.
In 2019, she represented Australia in the Pacific Games, where the Aussies took home a silver medal.
She also had a standout performance at the Aon Sevens tournament playing for Sydney Uni, winning the grand final.
During 2019, she was named player of the tournament at the World Schools 7s tournament. She played in Fiji as part of the Central West team in the NSW Country Rugby League Championship.
Whitfield juggled studying for her HSC as well as keeping up with her various rugby commitments.
Other nominees for Young Sportsperson of the Year were Cody Francis, Taniesha Rusten and Maddison Rusten.
This year, Geoff Lawson and Blake Fitzpatrick were joint winners of Sportsperson of the Year.
Lawson, a local harness racing trainer/driver, has been involved in the harness racing industry since the early 1960s as a trainer and driver and has had many successes over the years.
He is currently experiencing his most successful season for around 10 years, having multiple winners with locally owned and bred horses.
While Lawson does not have the high profile of the Turnbulls and Hewitts, he is achieving great results with a small number of horses in training. He is a hobby trainer competing successfully against professionals and a long-time participant of the sport in Oberon.
Lawson has played a huge part in the growth of harness racing in Oberon and is always willing to help others and pass on his knowledge of the harness racing industry to others.
Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, is a passionate Oberon Tiger who has played all his junior and senior football with the local club. He has shown great loyalty to the local team and, over the years, turned down a number of opportunities to receive greater payments playing for other teams.
Fitzpatrick plays tough and well above his weight. He loves mixing it with the big guys and was a standout player in the 2017 Group 10 grand final when Oberon was narrowly defeated by Orange CYMS.
Although Fitzpatrick is a passionate Oberon Tiger, he will be lost to another team this year as Oberon has left the Group 10 competition.
