The 57th Annual General Meeting of Nowra Athletics Club was held on Saturday 6th May at Illaroo Road Public School. Nominations for positions on the committee were accepted and the new committee was welcomed in with Scott Johnson remaining as President, Alison Havadjia Treasurer once again and Lisa Carroll accepting the position of Secretary. General committee members were also sworn in.
Trophies were awarded for first three placings in the previous Cross Country and Track and Field Season with a number of special awards also awarded.
This year’s High Achievement Award went to Jaylah Hancock-Cameron. At the 2017 NSW Junior & Youth Championships in February talented middle distance runner Jaylah earned herself two State gold medals. She came away with first place in the Women’s U16 800 Metre with a time of 2:12.91 then the following day lined up for the Women’s 1500 Metre and blitzed the field for a second time recording a win in the time of 4:44.25 minutes.
At the 2017 National Championships Jaylah scored herself two silver medals. Jaylah won her heat of the Under 16 800m, progressing to the final where she clocked 2.13.49 minutes for silver. In the 1500m Jaylah ran a PB of 4.31.97 minutes for her second silver medal. Then at the 2017 NSW Open Championships in late February Jaylah ran sixth in 2:10.01 in the women’s 800m running against such talent as Rio Olympian, Anneliese Rubie.
Jaylah consistently performs well in both track and cross-country events and is certainly proving to be a name to keep an eye on. Well done Jaylah on this well-deserved award.
Winning the Harry Scouller Junior Encouragement Award was young Jai Holland. Jai had a particularly successful meet at the 2017 NSW Country Championships in Dubbo in January. Jai scooped seven Gold medals from eight events! Jai won the Under 14 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m on the track as well as taking out the long jump and triple jump. Jai also placed 7th in discus. Jai then competed at the 2017 NSW Junior & Youth Championships and added another medal to his collection with a State silver in the U14 long jump. Jai also competed in the 400m finishing 7th and placed 5th in the triple jump.
Jai is another well deserving recipient of this junior encouragement award.
Taking out the Frank McCaffrey Top Performance Award was Jye Edwards. Jye continues to excel in both track and cross country running. In the Sydney Invitational on Saturday 4th February Jye competed in the men’s 1500m event. In this race records were smashed, personal bests were shattered and all-time lists were re-written. Jordan Gusman stormed home winning the race but in second was Jye in a stunning 3:41.69 – the seventh fastest in Australian history. In one week, Jye took six seconds from his PB taking his place in history along with Ryan Gregson on the Australian U20 1500m All Time list.
In the 2017 National Championships in March once again Jye proved his outstanding talent by taking out the Under 20 1500m in a blistering time of 3.50.02 minutes. Despite a strong field Jye was able to hold on to take out the win in his first track national title, and one very well deserved after consistently performing across the season.
Other special award winners included:
John Morris Junior Encouragement Award for cross country running – Ella Dyball
Ian Henry Nowra Toyota Senior Award for cross country running – Angela Bond
Valuable Volunteer – Alex Arnold
Neville Markham Distance Award – Perry Strand.
Congratulations to all these athletes who continue to perform well and represent the Club with pride.
The committee would like to congratulate everyone for their pesonal achievements and successes over the last year and thank all who continue to participate with Nowra Athletics Club as a member, a parent, and/or a volunteer.