The NSW Open Championships were held on the weekend. The championships attracted NSW’s finest and competition was fierce. Four of Nowra Athletics Club athletes competed in the Championships mixing it with the best!
On Friday night, after an extended hiatus from the competition arena, Samantha Peace, stepped back into the discus circle. Sam has been rebuilding her strength and technique over the last few months. In her first throw of the night Sam recorded 43.64m then increased this to 44.42m after two fouls. In her final throw she threw 44.76m for 6th place.
Lachlan Kaszonyi competed in the 100m and clocked 11.23; which was just 0.1 off his PB for 5th place in his heat. On Sunday Lachy returned to the track and ran a massive PB of 22.34 in the 200m heat, qualifying for the B final. Backing up just a few hours later, Lachy finished 6th in the State Final in 22.55.
Cam Musgrove contested the 800m on Friday night finishing 2nd in his heat to automatically qualify for the Final. Cam ran a tactically perfect race, according to coach Mel Mustapic, and his time of 1.53.19 was his 2nd fastest ever. On Sunday he competed in the State Final. It was another tough race with the best middle distance runners in NSW lining up and pushing all the way. The podium was taken out by Ben Quinn (University of NSW) in 1.49.83, followed closely by Mason Cohen (UTS North) in 1.49.89 then Lachlan Raper (Sydney University) in 1.50.03. Cam ran a PB of 1.52.53 for 8th place.
Masters athlete Erin Smart put herself amongst the action in the Open 400m. Erin ran well for 7th place in 58.96, topping off a fantastic season. Erin then competed as a member of the W30 4×800 Relay Team on Saturday. Together with Alice Clayton, Kathryn Herbert and Samantha Flinn they achieved a new masters record of 10:52.69.
Congratulations to our amazing Opens athletes! Now we look forward to seeing our juniors compete next weekend in NSW Junior Athletics Championships.