NSW Country Championships were held at Glendale over 3 days from 23rd to 25th January. Nowra Athletics had 61 Competitors and their families, plus 6 Officials & a volunteer who all made the trek to the Newcastle area to participate in the Championships over a vast selection of both track and field events.
There were 41 junior athletes from 10 years to 18/19 years, 2 Open category athletes and 18 athletes representing the Senior age groups from 30-39 years to our most senior athletes in the 60-69 age group.
From the juniors to seniors all Nowra athletes competed with commitment, pride and enthusiasm! A swag of medals were won – Nowra came away with 33 gold medals, 43 silver and 38 bronze medals.
These medals were well deserved by all and helped Nowra to finish second overall in The Hooper Cup which is awarded to the top performing club at the NSW Country Championships.
Representing our youngest athletes, Hannah Brian competed in three events in the 10 years category and won silver in each event! Jackson Musson, also 10 years threw the discus into silver place in his first Country Championships and Zac Maher earned himself a bronze in the 10 years high jump.
At the opposite end of the age scale, veteran runner Kevyn Davis ran a gold winning bare-foot run in the 60-69 years 3000m event. The heat of the track surely must have urged him on! Also competing in the 60-69 group was Doug McNally who won gold in the javelin and bronze in the shot and triple jump.
Samantha Peace continues to excel in the field, performing a record breaking throw in the 17 years discus for 1st place. Samantha also won the open discus event and was second in the 17 years shot. Sister Annette also threw herself onto the podium with a gold winning performance in both the 15 years hammer and 14 years discus.
Nowra Athletics has a reputation of being a family friendly club and the family involvement was certainly on show at the Country Championships. The Johnson family collected a booty of medals, with Chris Johnson winning 2 silver and 2 bronze, Ebony Johnson won a silver and bronze, Ben collected 2 silver and 2 bronze and youngest family member Callum won 2 bronze.
The Dobson family were also impressive over the distance events. Kim Dobson took out the 40-49 2000m steeple chase in a record time of 9.16.31, while Clare Dobson won bronze in the 18/19 steeple and Hugh won silver in the 15 years steeple. Alec Dobson added to the family medal tally with a silver in the 11 years 1500m.
The Maher family performed well with Scott Maher taking 3rd in the 40-49 years 1500m, and Sam Maher finishing 3rd in the 11 years 1500m. Meanwhile brothers Zac and Will favoured running the 100m sprints over the long distance events.
At least one member of the Clark family celebrated their medal winning performance with style – Deb Clark won silver in the 50-59 years javelin and at the same time won a challenge to pop the cork on a long awaited bottle of champagne! Alistair Clark won a silver in the 14 years 200m hurdles and big brother Angus, competing for the first time in several months, won 2 bronze medals in the 18/19 years shot and discus.
Zac Havadjia was outstanding in the 17 years sprints, winning a trifecta of gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 400m. Andrew, Alison and Ethan Havadjia also competed strongly in a variety of events across the track and field.
Cristine Suffolk added another 2 golds to her immense medal collection with a win in the women’s opens 5000m and 40-49 years 3000m. Also winning double gold was Brock Nichols for 1st in the 17 years high jump and javelin. In addition Tim Musson and Jade Mustapic collected dual golds in their events.
Young Corey McConville competed in a massive 9 individual events and came away with 5 bronze medals. Sprinters Jess O’Donnell and Zoe Chater had some friendly rivalry on the track with Jess taking gold in the 13 years 100m and Zoe taking the silver. Jess also won the 13 years 200m whilst Zoe took two more silvers in the 200m hurdles and long jump.
Nowra had a number of sprinters hurtling down the track impressing spectators from the newcomer Alex O’Brien, to teenager Jenna Bentley, to the experienced Lynda Douglass and Andrew Rodda. Also putting on a good show in the 40-49 200m sprint was Andrew Havadjia who limped his way from the bend to the finish line, after pulling a calf muscle but was determined to finish! A courageous performance!
This year saw a large number of Nowra competitors in the gruelling steeple chase event. Testing their endurance and water skills for the first time at Country were Ethan Havadjia, Jesse Buckham and Victoria Kennedy whilst long-legged Liam Dooley returned to the event after last year and won gold in the 17 years.
Jumping was the order of the day for Paul Musgrove who leapt his way to gold in the 40-49 years high jump and to bronze in the long jump. Jordan deVries also showed prowess in the jumps, leaping to gold in the 18/19 years long jump, silver in the high jump and bronze in the triple.
Jake Myors medalled in all three of his chosen distance events as did Harry McGill. Shenay Edwards covered the 200m, 400m and 800m events with two bronzes and a silver, whilst older brother Jye won the 17 years 1500m and dad Derek showed good return form in the 50-59 years events.
Geoff Crook speared second in the 50-59 years javelin and Club President Peter Dooley took gold in the 50-59 years 1500m and then backed up with a bronze in the 800m.
Sarah deVries competed, as always, with heart and a big smile in a selection of opens events and won a well-deserved gold medal in the 100m hurdles.
Other medal winners over the weekend included Hannah Stone, Max Buckham, Tara Mustapic, Josh Byron, Nicholas Wooley and Cameron Musgrove. Breeana O’Donnell, Kristin Kalemusic and Emerson Brian all put in gutsy performances in their individual events too.
Of course it is impossible to mention everyone’s separate performances here, however everyone certainly deserves congratulations for their dedication, sportsmanship and effort – medals or not, all athletes tried their best and personal achievements and satisfaction often out-weigh the podium finishes.
Most importantly the athletes wearing the gold and black colours of Nowra Athletics club had fun and supported their team mates; cheering them on to the end.