Dubbo is well known for the Western Plains Zoo and Old Dubbo Gaol. Now Dubbo is also known for its great Athletic Track and great Country hospitality after hosting the 72nd edition of the NSW Country Championships. This was the first time in history the Championships were held in Dubbo and it was just the third occasion in 71 years that they have been held outside of Sydney Metro, Central Coast, Newcastle or Wollongong. Competitors ranged from the professionals such as current national 400m hurdles champion Leigh Bennett, to Country Championship social competitors; there simply for the fun of athletics and the athletic camaraderie.
Nowra initially had 35 athletes register for the competition but some various hiccups along the way, including injuries meant that only 28 athletes ended up competing.
Whilst it was a decidedly smaller Nowra team than previous years the usual support and encouragement for fellow team members remained strong and loud. There is nothing quite the same as running a race hearing your Nowra team mates yelling from the sidelines, cheering you on to the finish line!
For a small team Nowra certainly did themselves proud in the medal tally. The haul included 17 Gold, 23 Silver and 15 Bronze medals.
It was a particularly successful meet for young Jai Holland who 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. What an awesome effort Jai!
Sister Baylee competed well too in her first year in the Nowra colours. Baylee placed 4th in the U15 400m and 800m and 5th in her 200m heat. Baylee also placed 5th in triple jump and 8th in the 100m final.
Sarah deVries is a regular competitor on a Wednesday night for Track & Field and always makes the annual trek to Country Championships. This year her dedication and commitment paid off with wins in both the Opens 100m hurdles and triple jump. Sarah also placed second in long jump and third in the 400m. Sarah ran strongly in the 100m and 200m, making the finals in both events from a very strong field of women. Congratulations Sarah on a great Championships!
Lachlan Smith speared himself a gold medal in the U15 javelin with a throw of 33.00 metres. Lachlan also won a silver medal in the 200m hurdles and another in long jump. Younger brother Ryan secured himself two silvers; finishing second in the U13 1500m and javelin as well as taking Bronze in the shot put and finishing 4th in discus.
Distance runner Jesse Buckham claimed two gold’s with wins in the U17 800m and 1500m in addition to two silvers for the steeplechase and 3000m. Jesse fared much better than poor Max Buckham who suffered burns to the soles of his feet before the Championships started, leaving him resting in a wheelchair rather than competing. We wish Max a speedy recovery.
Another distance runner, Victoria Kennedy won two silvers for her second placing in the 1500m and 3000m whilst Alex O’Brien secured silver in the U14 1500m and 800m and a bronze in the steeplechase.
Veteran competitor Paul Musgrove jumped his way into silver medal place in both the long jump and high jump for the 40-49 years as well as finishing 4th in both the 100m and 200m.
Darlene Musgrove ran the 100m coming back after a series of injuries and placed 6th whilst Cam competed in the U20 400m, managing 4th after a big absence from competitive running.
Geoff Crook made his annual pilgrimage to Country Champs and took home two bronze medals for his efforts; finishing third in the 50-59 years javelin and 1500m.
Corey McConville continued with his typical big program at Country Championships and was rewarded with three Silver medals for the 100m hurdles, 200m hurdles and 1500m walk. Corey also took Bronze in the triple jump and finished 5th in javelin, and 6th in long jump, high jump and steeplechase.
Cooper Thomson had a busy program too competing in 9 individual events. Cooper won Gold in the U17 pole vault and 110m hurdles as well as silver in high jump and 400m; and bronze in 100m and javelin. Cooper also placed 4th in shot and 200m and 5th in discus.
Jenna Bentley won the U17 400m hurdles and placed 4th in the 400m sprint. She also made the finals in both the 100m and 200m, placing 7th in each event amongst a very competitive field.
Lachlan Kaszonyi took silver in the U17 long jump leaping 5.40m into the sand. Lachlan also sprinted into 4th place in the 100m and 5th in the 200m.
The Johnson family maintained their throwing prowess with a tidy haul of medals amongst them. Chris Johnson took Bronze in the hammer throw with a distance of 21.73m. Despite the medal it still wasn’t far enough to win ‘the family bet’ with Callum who threw 21.89m in the U16 group; also taking Bronze. Chris will have to sharpen his throwing skills next year in order to beat Callum!
Callum also competed in the javelin, placing 4th and finished 6th in shot and discus. Ben Johnson threw the discus 22.68m for a silver medal in the U14’s as well as placing 4th in the shot and javelin and 5th in the hammer. Meanwhile Ebony Johnson added two bronze medals to the family collection with third in the U18 javelin and discus in addition to a 4th in shot. Well done Johnson family!
Another athletic family getting involved in the Country competition was the Mustapic family. Glen commenced the Mustapic program with silver in the 40-49 years steeplechase. Tara Mustapic then won bronze in the U16 3000m and Alisha Mustapic, who was Nowra’s youngest competitor at Dubbo and who competed with great enthusiasm, finished 7th in the U12 discus and 800m and 9th in the 1500m. Coach Mel Mustapic, usually content on the sidelines, joined in the fun this year, competing in the discus and javelin. Mel came away with a bronze medal in javelin and finished 4th in the 40-49 years discus. We hope to see Mel competing more often now!
Country Championships wouldn’t be the same without the Havadjia family and this year they demonstrated their trademark humour both on and off the competition arena. Alison tackled the steeplechase and after a couple of trial and error laps worked out a technique for getting over the steeple jumps. Despite submerging herself up to her neck once in the water jump (to the great amusement of husband Andrew), Alison won the event and took home a gold medal. Later, in the 1500m Alison pulled up with a sore leg and unfortunately couldn’t finish, but she still had that gold medal! Zac took gold in the U20 800m and silver in the 400m as well as making the finals in both the 100m and 200m. Ethan extended himself this year with a demanding track program. He won silver in the U16 1500m, bronze in the 800m and placed 4th in steeplechase. Ethan also made the finals in both the 100m and 200m, which is a splendid effort and just reward for the marked improvement he has shown in sprinting over the last 12 months.
Andrew Havadjia sustained his friendly rivalry with team mate Chris Johnson in the throws this year. Andrew finished 7th in the 40-49 years javelin, one spot ahead of Chris. However Chris managed to throw further in the shot put where Andrew placed 8th and Chris was 4th. The discus was the third and last shared throwing event and was the ‘decider’ event for the friendly teammate competition. Andrew threw 18.59m to place 8th and Chris went on to throw 23.25m, placing 6th. 2017 throws goes to Chris! Andrew ‘twinkle toes’ also competed in the 100m, 200m and 800m.
Nowra Athletics Club would like to say congratulations to all the competing athletes and would like to say thank you for making the effort to travel to Dubbo for the event and for wearing the Nowra colours with pride!