The ACPE NSW All Schools Championships were held over 4 days from December 3rd to 6th at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre. The Championships were conducted 10 weeks later than usual this year due to the turmoil of COVID-19 and athletes were excited to finally be back racing in a full program of events.
Nowra Athletics Cub was represented by 23 athletes with excellent results, many achieving Personal Bests.
Reilly Caswell was a standout, stamping himself as an athlete with a big future. He started his program running up in the 14 years 200m hurdles with a 2nd place in a quick time of 29.21 earning himself a national qualifier. He then ran 8th in the final in 29.40. Day 2 Reilly contested the 13 years 200m where 47 athletes competed for 9 spots in the final. Reilly finished 3rd in his heat in 24.72 scraping through to the final where he placed 8th. In the 13 years 400m Reilly ran strongly to take 1st place in his heat gaining another national qualifier in 54.97. Then in the final Reilly ran an awesome race, claiming a state gold medal in another PB of 54.14; a fantastic achievement! Not finished there, Reilly also competed in the 100m running in 3rd in his heat in 12.47. Congratulations Reilly on a very successful program.
Kynan Miller competed in the Para 12-15 years discus, earning himself a bronze medal for his throw of 16.70 metres. Kynan also competed in the shot put, placing 4th and the 100m placing 6th.
Sister Akala Miller competed in the Para 12-15 years long jump, finishing 7th with a jump of 3.09m. Akala also placed 5th in the 100m and 6th in 200m. Meanwhile Talea Miller competed in three throwing events, placing 5th in 14 years discus with a throw of 31.48m, 7th in hammer and 13th in shot put.
Many of the Nowra athletes ran Personal Best times on the track and qualified for the finals; not an easy feat in a State field. Tom Duncan was one of these athletes, finishing 3rd in his 800m heat with a 2 second PB with 2.14.21. Tom went on to finish 9th in the 13 years 800m final. Tom also finished 5th in his 400m heat in 58.83.
Will Dyball ran well earning himself a place in two State finals. Will made a bold move and led from the start in the 15 years 800m, holding on to take the win in 2.00.77 and at the same time achieving a National qualifier. In the final Will finished 4th in 2.00.73, just marginally quicker than his heat time. In the 1500m Will finished 2nd in his heat in 4.18.67 than bettered this with a 4.11.89 for a PB and 4th place in the final.
Tsar Mandavy also qualified for a state final, contesting the 15 years 200m hurdles. Tsar finished 4th in his heat in 29.34 and despite clipping a hurdle still earnt himself a place in the final, however unfortunately he wasn’t able to run it. Tsar also speared 8th place in javelin and leapt to 8th place in high jump clearing 1.70m and 10th place in triple jump with a jump of 11.49m.
Meanwhile Brooklyn Mandavy competed in the 14 years 200m hurdles and finished 7th in his heat with 33.14 and jumped to 12th place in triple jump with a jump of 9.73m.
Recent recipient of the Harry Scouller Award, Ruby Marshall contested the 14 years 400m and clocked 68.65 for 8th place in heat 3. Ethan Havadjia also challenged the 400m distance and ran well for 4th place in the 19 years event in a time of 51.57.
In the distance events the Nowra athletes pushed hard. Harrison Baxter finished 3rd in the 14 years 3000m section 1, placing 20th overall with a time of 10.22.62. In the 1500m Harrison broke the 5-minute barrier which he has been aiming for throughout the season, for a PB of 4.52.94 finishing 10th in heat 1. Younger brother Oliver Baxter ran well in his first All Schools meet for 13th place in heat 1 of the 13 years 1500m in a PB of 5.08.96. Nash Hay also came away with PB’s after he competed in the 16 years 800m and finished in 10th place in heat 2 in 2.08.97 and contested the 1500m and placed 11th in heat 2 clocking 4.28.54. Ella Dyball also contested both the 800m and 1500m placing 7th in her 800m heat and 15th in the 1500m. Dakota Farn earnt herself a PB in the 14 years 800m with 2.41.21 for 8th place in heat 2 whilst Cooper Barrett stretched himself over three middle distance events. Cooper ran a PB in the 14 years 2000m steeple event for 5th place in 7.24.42 and finished 8th in his heat of the 1500m and 6th in his 800m heat. Jake Pepper tested his abilities in the 16 years steeplechase and was 6th and in the 3000m, amongst a large field he finished 23rd.
Hamish McLaren demonstrated his versatility competing in a range of events. Hamish clocked 65.81 for 7th place in heat 1 of the 13 years 400m, and 30.22 in the 200m for 6th in heat 5. In the 800m Hamish placed 10th in heat 2 and then in discus Hamish threw 25.42 metres for 21st position.
Sprinter Riley Power ran strongly for 6th place in his heat of the 13 years 200m with a time of 25.27 and 8th place in the 100m heat in 12.43. Mia Stevens sprinted her way to 5th place in both her heats of the 13 years 100m and 200m and in triple jump she leapt 8.99m for 26th place. Jonah Watson also competed in both sprint events, finishing 9th in the 13 years 100m and 4th in his 13 years 200m heat. In addition, Jonah jumped 4.29m for 20th place in long jump.
More sprinting prowess came from Charlie Heidke who contested the 14 years 100m and finished 6th in his heat in 12.40. Charlie also competed in the 200m, clocking 25.21 for 5th place in heat 1 and then Charlie cleared the high jump bar at 1.60m for 15th place. Ronan Sanders also sprinted well in the 14 years events. Ronan finished 9th in heat 6 of the 100m in 12.81 and 7th in heat 3 of the 200m in 26.29. Ronan also jumped to 14th place in high jump, clearing 1.60m, just beating training partner Charlie on a countback. In the long jump pit Ronan leapt 5.02m for 17th place.
Congratulations to all our Nowra athletes who competed at this years All School Championships.