JANUARY
BMX: Multiple Australian BMX champion Luke Madill gave the thumbs up to the new Bathurst track, which was completed ahead of the national titles in February.
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“At this stage I’d call it Olympic standard,” he said of the $1.5 million BMX track.
PACING: Miracle Mile winning Bathurst reinsman Mat Rue achieved a career milestone at Parkes when he drove his 500th winner. It came aboard the Nathan Hurst, Eglinton trained, Tulhurst Ace.
FEBRUARY
AUSTRALIAN RULES: The Bathurst Giants were accepted into the Central West AFL fold in a senior capacity. Former Bathurst Bushrangers coach Mark Kennedy was named as mentor of the first grade side.
MOTOR SPORT: It was a scintillating finish to the Bathurst 12 Hour from Shane van Gisbergen in the Tekno Autosports McLaren 650s as he held off defending champion Katsumasa Chiyo to win.
CRICKET: St Pat’s Old Boys Blue President’s Cup player Ben Mitchell hit a pair of double centuries in the space of a week. He clobbered 221 against St Pat’s Old Boys Gold then backed it up by smacking 204 against Bathurst City.
Meanwhile, the Bathurst District opens side won the Western Zone Premier League final by eight wickets over Dubbo.
MARCH
CRICKET: Bathurst City claimed its third Bathurst District Cricket Association first grade title in four seasons with a 16-run victory against City Colts.
PACING: The Luke McCarthy driven and Belinda McCarthy trained Astride won the 2016 Bathurst Gold Crown Final. The $2.90 favourite won by 2½m on the back of a red hot 27.2 seconds final sectional.
MOTOR SPORT: Being relegated from pole position to 11th on the grid was not enough to stop Chaz Mostert from taking out the inaugural Bathurst 6 Hour.
APRIL
CYCLING: Dylan Sunderland outsprinted Ben Dyball to the line to be crowned the 2016 Blayney to Bathurst winner. The victory came in his third appearance in the 110 kilometre event.
RACING: The 2016 edition of the Bathurst Soldier’s Saddle was taken out by Showmaster ($8) for Hawkesbury trainer Garry Frazer. He won by a neck ahead of Bathurst trainer Peter Stanley’s City Boots ($11).
GOLF: Chelsea Litchfield enhanced her standing as the most dominant force in women’s golf in Bathurst when claiming the Bathurst Lady Golfers Club Championship by a massive 31 shots.
RUGBY LEAGUE: A Peter Wallace field goal inside the final two minutes saw the Penrith Panthers beat the Canberra Raiders 19-18 in Bathurst’s NRL match.
MAY
GOLF: Reece Hodson claimed his fourth Bathurst Golf Club men’s A grade Club Championship with an 11-stroke win over Paul Bright.
HOCKEY: Bathurst proved themselves to be a powerhouse when it comes to masters hockey when taking out divisions one and two at the Men’s State Championships.
JUNE
HOCKEY: In men’s Premier League Hockey, Souths beat local rivals Bathurst City 22-0 at Bob Roach Field. Former Spanish under 21s representative Edu Garriga Viudes showed exactly why he had worn his country’s colours as he scored five goals on debut.
ACADEMY SPORT: Western Region Academy of Sport executive officer Nancy Haslop called time on her career in the position after 16 years. She was previously involved with the body as a basketball coach and board member.
JULY
RUGBY LEAGUE: Former Australian and New South Wales representative Mark O’Meley joins the ranks of St Pat’s for a one off appearance in their Group 10 premier league game against the Blayney Bears. The Saints won the match 30-14.
CYCLING: Bathurst professional cyclist Mark Renshaw played a crucial role in helping team mate Mark Cavendish to three Tour de France stage victories but unfortunately was forced to withdraw due to illness during stage nine.
AUGUST
RUGBY UNION: Bathurst Bulldogs pulled off a comeback that will go down in the history books. Trailing 27-0 at half-time against Orange City in the Blowes Clothing Cup, Bulldogs fought back to level the scores at 34-all to take the game into extra time. Bulldogs winger Adam Plummer scored to knock City out of the finals race in sensational fashion.
BASKETBALL: They had beaten Wagga Blaze earlier in the Women’s State League Basketball division one season but sadly for the Bathurst Goldminers they couldn’t repeat that result in the grand final, losing 74-66.
HOCKEY: Kelly Baker and her NSW team went through the Australian Country Championships in Darwin undefeated. The Bathurst player also scored in the 2-1 grand final win over Queensland.
SEPTEMBER
RUGBY LEAGUE: Bathurst Panthers’ Group 10 premier league hopes were dashed with back-to-back 22-20 defeats, coming against Orange CYMS in the major semi-final and eventual champions Mudgee Dragons in the preliminary final. There was still some joy for the club thanks to a first division title.
Meanwhile, Villages United claimed their maiden New Era Midwest Cup thanks to a 12-8 win in the decider against Blackheath.
HOCKEY: Lithgow Panthers denied two Bathurst teams glory in Premier League Hockey. Souths went down 5-3 in the men’s decider while Bathurst City lost 4-2 in the women’s game.
EDGELL JOG: Kevin O’Brien took out a rainy edition of the Bathurst Edgell Jog in a time of 25 minutes and 37 seconds, finishing 20 seconds clear of local hope Brandon Martin.
AUSTRALIAN RULES: Bathurst Bushrangers Outlaws went down to the Cowra Blues 10-11-71 to 7-12-54 in the Central West AFL senior grand final. Bushrangers claimed the top prize in the women’s competition while Bathurst Giants took out the under 18s.
PARALYMPICS: Carcoar native Kurt Fearnley was unable to end his Paralympic career with gold. Only one second separated Fearnley from Swiss Ace Marcel Hug in the T54 marathon final.
OCTOBER
BATHURST 1000: Will Davison claimed his second Bathurst 1000 crown alongside co-driver Jonathon Webb.
RUGBY LEAGUE: Western Rams suffered a 34-18 loss against a classy Federation of Italia Rugby League Australia outfit at Carrington Park.
TRIATHLON: In his first attempt at the World Ironman Championship in Kona Bathurst’s Luke Gillmer managed to clock a time of nine hours, 51 minutes and 18 seconds.
GOLF: Reece Hodson broke a two decade winless run for Bathurst golfers in the Bathurst Open thanks to his three stroke victory.
NOVEMBER
MOTOR SPORT: Queenslander Jarred Brook once again claimed a clean sweep of the Pro 250, 450 and Open finals of the Australian Long Track Masters, held at the Bathurst Showground.
CRICKET: Josh Toole hits 179 for Centennials Bulls in their Bathurst District Cricket Association first grade match against St Pat’s Old Boys, the biggest individual score by any player from the past four seasons.
Meanwhile, Toole plus Matt Stephen and Ryan Peacock were part of the NSW Country Championship-winning Western Zone outfit.
DECEMBER
HOCKEY: Bathurst’s Tamsin Bunt broke through for a long awaited Hockeyroos debut at the International Festival of Hockey in Melbourne.
CRICKET: A NSW Country Cup crown eluded Bathurst after they went down to Tweed by five wickets in the semi-final.