What a blockbuster weekend for our U20 and Open athletes! With 35 Open and 14 U20 athletes in action, it was fantastic representation from our senior athletes across all events. Well done to all our athletes on their fantastic results and a big congratulations to our Open Team on winning the H. H. Hunter Shield for the 20th time.
Congratulations to the following athletes on being part of the Championship winning Open Team: Nina Lawson, Ilana Grandine, Mikeala Selaidinakos, Matisse Lazzari, Joanna Margiolis, Montana Djatschenko, Tierra Exum, Natalie Williams, Zara Keca, Sukhnoor Rangi, Khushnoor Rangi, Catherine Mendes, Arben Dani, Ryan Tarrant, Brian Mayengo, Daniel Rischitelli, Michael Chau, Mark Harper, Jude Cam, Brodie Hicks, Vishnu Satish, Christian Reinhardt, Matt Dinan, Cameron Searle, Charles Barrett, Matthew Sostaric, Emeric Amice, Kevin Healy, Harrison Williams, Tristan Scheirs, Benan Oztorun, Liam Glew, Matthew Hosie, Max Mishchenko and Jade Guglielmino.
Amazing work also from all our U20 athletes: Amanda Wrout, Sophia Gregorevic, Ruby Ellis, Lily-Bella Hilli, Mackenzie Wood, Zoe Edwards, Kaylee Mangion, Michael Dinan, Sky Robertson, Jannik Ernst, Riley Walsh, Andreas Weickhardt, Kevin Healy and Jack Walsh.
A big congratulations and thank you to all our amazing coaches who have supported the athletes throughout the entire season.
With 48 athletes in action across the three days there was plenty to cheer for. Big congratulations to Emeric Amice, who has only been in Australia for a few months, but decided to enter the discus, 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles. Having just moved up into Open it was great to see Emeric take on the challenge of new weights and hurdle heights at a Championship. Having already placed 5th in the 110m hurdles on Sunday, Emeric produced a fantastic 400m hurdle result an hour later and claimed a bronze medal with a time of 58.77.
Kevin Healy, made the most of his Sunday competing in both the U20 and Open men’s hammer throw. Kevin put on a dominant performance with all six throws well over the half way mark. Having thrown a massive 59.88m on his second throw, Kevin took his third throw and drove it exactly an extra two metres to claim gold with a 61.88m throw. Coming back in the afternoon, Kevin took on the challenge of throwing with a 7.26kg hammer for the first time. Whilst it is only 1.26kg heavier than what he threw earlier in the day, it’s enough of a difference that it makes life difficult. Kevin staying calm and collected, managed to get four of his six throws over the 50m mark and took home bronze with a 53.68m throw.
Mikeala Selaidinakos put on a show in the 400m final and got the red & black supporters jumping in the stands as she came from the back of the pack, to claw her way into silver spot in the 400m. Ryan Tarrant left us concerned as he pulled up in the 100m (due to block issues). Showing great maturity, he brushed off the equipment issues like a pro, and came back a day later to dominate the 200m. Having already run both the 200m preliminaries and semi-finals earlier in the day, he flew through the final, picking up gold in 21.26.
Zoe Edwards made the most of her weekend picking up some shiny new accessories after taking home gold in the U20 triple jump with a mammoth jump of 12.40m. She then backed it up a day later with a 5.37m long jump to secure bronze.
Congratulations to Arben Dani who not only made his debut for the club at the Championships but also came home with a silver medal in the Open 100m with a time of 10.45.
Great work by the following athletes who have managed to overcome injuries and setbacks this year and managed to put on some fantastic performances: Sky Robertson (400m), Mikeala Selaidinakos (400m) Andreas Weickhardt (110m hurdles), Natalie Williams (long jump) and Joanna Margiolis (javelin).
Congratulations to the following athletes on recording SB or PB: 400m: Sky Robertson (U20) 51.86; Sophia Gregorevic 54.63 PB; Mikeala Selaidinakos 55.09 SB; 100m: Brian Mayengo (Open) 10.90 PB) hammer throw: Kevin Healy (Open) 53.68m PB; Javelin: Joanna Margiolis (Open) 30.94m PB.
Of course, our competition can’t go ahead without our wonderful officials and club helpers. Thanks to officials Neil Lawson, Doreen Giannini, Maz Strong and the following club helpers: Andrew Boudrie, Emily, Luke Robertson, Manpreet Rangi, Frances Batchelor, Maggie Armstrong, Sam Healy, Anne-Marie O’Driscoll, Dom Condello, Matt Millington and Joanna Margiolis. Thanks also to Matt Millington for his videography and Joanna Margiolis for her photos.
