It was fine weather, although still a little chilly for athletics last Wednesday. There were some fine performances once again by Nowra Athletes! Despite the chill, two hot record performances were recorded. Samantha Peace added six metres to her 16/17yrs Discus record raising it from 38 metres to 44.46. Samantha, the current Australian Champion has started the summer season in great form.
Those who remained at the track for the last event, the 5000 metres, were treated to a fine example of quality distance running. The short story is that Troy Whittington broke a twenty years old record for the 14/15yrs age group. The race however was a classic. Leith Babian, Brad Sawyers and Troy led the field from the start and it was clear the pace was on. The trio eased away from the field in a close pack as the twelve and a half laps were ticked off. Troy went to the lead just before the bell lap and moved away from Leith and Brad who immediately fought back to figure in a stirring finish. It was Troy- Leith -Brad at the finish with only 4 seconds between them. Troy’s winning time of 18 minutes 2 seconds took 9 seconds off Billy Broughton’s 1994 record. The young ones certainly had fun practising their athletic skills. Callula Norwood ran well and even remembered to stay in her lane as she rounded the bend in her 150metres. Lexie Burinaga and Aimee Coulson-Knight also performed well in their sprint races. James Babian was back on track and won his 50metre sprint, with a big smile of course! Little Cody Chater showed his determination and persistence as he ran his little legs through the sprint races, showing size or age is no barrier to running.
In the C and D grades Eva Lilly showed good form in the sprints, as did Emily Burinaga, Eilish Norwood and Zoe Musson. In the boys divisions, young sprinter Matthew Higham is in great form for the upcoming primary school state carnival, winning both D Grade sprints. Stirling Norwood was a clear winner in C Grade. Sarah deVries, Zoe Chater and Lynda Douglass wrapped up the first three places in the women’s senior 50 and 150 metres. In the 1km event Leith Babian led the way for most of the race, only to be taken by Cameron Musgrove in the last 200metres. Brad Sawyer then ran in for third. In the very difficult 400metre event Zac Havadjia showed his strength and speed, sprinting past the finish post in first place. He was followed by Cameron Musgrove and Leith Babian.
In the field some of the talented jumpers were put through their paces by Felix Bachmann from Vincentia High School; this time they benefitted from some tips in triple jump. The Club appreciates the time Felix has given to the athletes to improve their jumping skills. Deb Clark proved her throwing skills are only improving each season. In the previous round Deb threw the discus to a new record for the 50-59 years women with a distance of 20.93 metres. This week she was back on the field throwing the javelin. Emily Warden was back after some absence from Nowra Athletics and threw the javelin with well developed proficiency despite her time off; secret training perhaps? This week’s events will be 60m, 100m, 600m and 1500m with a variety of field events. Nowra Athletics meet each Wednesday evening at Ron Brown Sporting Oval. The Club is very family friendly and encourages all interested people to come along on Wednesday to see what it is all about. Events start at 6pm sharp, with Administration from 5.30pm.