Moama breakout star Olivia Cartwright has returned a winner, part of a wildly successful Australian Performance Pathways side which took on the Pacific’s best in last week’s Oceania Challenge.
It was a four-day spectacle which had Cartwright cross paths with another well-known face in Shepparton Park’s Mia Nowosad, herself completing a long-awaited mission to represent her native Tonga.
The two good friends actually crossed paths in a watershed moment for the region, facing off on opposite sides of a semi-final in the women’s fours event.
While the Australian development contingent proved too strong for Nowosad’s charges on the day, Cartwright’s quartet was ultimately undone in the decider by Aotearoa Māori.
There was better news for the green and gold contingent in the women’s triples though, where Cartwright’s trio powered through the competition in group and knockout play unblemished to claim gold as the Pacific region’s best.
A tight-fisted final against Samoa proved enough for gold in addition to silver in the fours for Cartwright, who helped propel Australia’s side to a competition-best haul of four golds and a silver.
It was an enriching experience, and one she’ll never forget.
“It was very successful, thankfully,” Cartwright said.
“It was pretty surreal, being my first time to wear the green and gold, and to walk away with the medals and the overall championship title was amazing.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet; I might be a bit jet-lagged, but you sort of just run on adrenaline.
“I would definitely say it was the best experience of my life.”
In an international setting, it’s natural that you won’t always walk into these team events with the greatest chemistry off the bat when selectors cast their nets nationwide.
For Cartwright, the results were hard-earned amongst faces old and new.
“I’d never played with that combination in the triples before, so that was new,” Cartwright said.
“I trusted the coaches and we each managed to do our bit. We went through undefeated, which was great, but we did have tough competition with a couple of tiebreakers.
“I hadn’t seen Mia in quite a little while since moving out of the GV; it was good catching up with her and seeing how ecstatic she was to represent Tonga.
“It was also good to have a bit of a battle and banter with her in the fours and see her thriving.”
After reaching this stage though, one obviously starts to wonder what else could be around the corner.
“I think this has opened a whole heap of doors,” Cartwright said.
“It was an honour just to put on the green and gold, and the end goal was just to take it all in.
“I proved to myself that I can do anything I put my mind to, so my life is probably going to get busier now.
“I’m looking forward to what comes next.”
