Saturday night was the Annual General Meeting of Nowra Athletics Club, and more importantly it was the Club’s Presentation Evening for all trophy winners from the 2013/2014 Season.
It was great to see so many athletes and families braving the cold to come out and celebrate the achievements of athletes throughout the previous season.
The Club said “congratulations” to all competitors who participated during Cross Country in Winter 2013, Track and Field during Summer 2013/2014 and Summer Road Runs and presented trophies to the first 3 placegetters in each section and division.
It is obvious that Nowra Athletics Club has a wealth of talent in their midst, and much of this talent seems to run in the family. The Babian family took home a boot load of trophies for the mantelpiece with each family member receiving at least one trophy. Young Jake won the cross country 2km division 1, while dad Leith won the long course division 1 and mum Laura came 3rd in the 3km division 2. On the track, Jake took home another trophy for 1st place in D grade track, while brother James won E grade track and field. Not to be out done, mum Laura came 2nd in Vets Grade in the field events and dad, Leith received his second trophy for the night with 1st place in the men’s vets grade for top track points. This year was Leith’s first year competing at a competition level on the track when he participated at NSW Country Championships in Wollongong in January. Leith put in a gutsy performance that showed he has the heart of a horse like Phar Lap when he had a crowd stopping photo finish run in the 800m, getting pipped at the post by a nose, and taking silver. For this outstanding performance Leith was awarded the very prestigious Frank McCaffrey Award. The McCaffrey shield is probably a little too big for the mantelpiece but we’re sure Leith will find a place for it at home to honour it.
The Seccombe family also took home a collection of trophies. Indie Seccombe took 2nd place in the cross country 2km division 1 as well as 2nd place in C Grade division 1 track. Sister Annie took 1st in E grade track while dad Scott also took home a trophy for 2nd place in the long course division 1. Another successful family was the Norwoods with Keeghan, Stirling and Eilish all taking home track and field trophies. Keeghan was also honoured with the John Morris Encouragement Award for his consistent effort and dedication throughout the cross country season.
Other families to be awarded with multiple trophies included the Rodda family, the Dobson family, the Davidson family, the Urquhart family and the Musson family to name just a few. No wonder Nowra Athletics is known as the family club!
The Nowra Toyota Encouragement Award went to Michael Duncan and the Handicappers Award for consistent improvement and 100% effort in cross country events and competition was awarded to a very worthy Harry McGill. The Valuable Volunteer Award went to Peter Condon. A club like Nowra Athletics cannot succeed without the tremendous support of volunteers and Peter was recognised for his valuable and reliable assistance throughout the season.
The Neville Markham Distance Runner of the Year Award went to Damian Smith who continually proves himself to be an outstanding and devoted distance runner competing in numerous distance events both locally and further afield. Some may say he’s obsessed with running, but I have it on good authority that obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated!
The final presentations of the night were the High Achievement Awards, awarded to athletes for their high performance over the last 12 months. The Junior recipient was Samantha Peace. Samantha’s Gold Medal discus throw at the Australian Junior Championships was also a Personal Best by a massive 3 metres. Samantha is a very committed young athlete consistently achieving great results at local, State and National level and was a well deserved winner of this special award. The Senior High Achievement Award went to veteran athlete Cristine Suffolk. Crissy is another dedicated distance runner who can often be seen training around the hills of Willandra and the local area. Crissy was the 8km XC Bronze Medalist from the 2013 World Masters Athletics Championships held recently in Brazil. This is an outstanding achievement indeed to be up there on the World Masters Podium – certainly a very well earned result for a committed athlete.
Congratulations to everyone who participated at Nowra Athletics and the committee looks forward to another successful year.