Day 2 saw the sprint program unveiled and Nowra had 3 junior athletes qualify for the highly competitive 100m finals and two masters athletes win medals in this distance.
Flynn Kelly ran the under 14 100m heat in 13.91, putting him through to the final. In a tough headwind, Flynn then ran 13.01 for 4th place in the final. In the same event Orlando Bailie finished 12th in 16.29 and Wyatt Binney finished 16th in 17.88.
Isla Bailie ran 14.42 in her under 14 heat and then went on to clock a quicker 13.72 for 4th place in a very close final. Charli Keogh also contested the under 14 event and was 20th in 16.76.
Jonah Watson ran 12.16 in the under 20 heat and then improved on this in the final with 11.69 for 4th place, just edged out of the medals by Maitland athlete Will Soden who crossed in 11.67.
In the masters 100m sprints, Sam Keogh took silver in the 40-49 years race clocking 13.85 whilst Steve Schott had a great run, clocking 12.59 to take the bronze medal in the 40-49 years race. Mark O’Leary was 11th in 16.92 in the 50-59 years race followed by Matt Watson in 12th place in 18.86.
Kadance Naylor was 13th in 15.88 in the under 17 race and Charli Binney was 15th in 16.56. Liam O’Leary was 10th in the under 15 event with a time of 15.58 and Braxton Naylor was 13th in the 10’s race in 17.00. Elizabeth Davis clocked 15.97 for 11th place in the under 16 race and Mila Bozikov ran well for 9th place, especially considering she has just returned from injury, clocking 16.70 in the 10’s race.
Over 400m, Flynn Kelly was impressive, finishing 3rd in 1.00.36 in the under 14 event whilst Macca Davis was 6th in 1.10.44 and Orlando Bailie was 7th in 1.11.07. Mila Bozikov was 7th in the 10’s 400m in 1.23.56.
Jonah Watson had a good run for 7th place in the under 20 race in 54.98 followed closely by Toby Dyball in 8th place in 55.45. In the female event Alisha Mustapic was 5th in 1.03.74.
Sam Keogh took another silver medal for her 400m run of 1.06.54 and Loretta Norris took bronze in the 30-39 years event in 1.09.16. Steve Schott was 4th in the 40-49 years group clocking 58.95 and Matt Watson was 7th in his race in 1.28.75.
In the discus circle, Wyatt Binney was 12th in under 14’s with a throw of 13.51m. Darcy Binney was 13th in the 11’s with 16.84 and Charli Binney was 8th in the under 17 group with 16.30m. Liam O’Leary was 5th in the under 15 group with 20.58m and Charli Keogh was 17th in the under 14 event with 14.14m.
Kadance Naylor won bronze in the under 17 discus with a throw of 23.40m and in the 10’s event, brother Braxton Naylor also won bronze with 22.07m.
Competing for Shoalhaven Little Athletics Centre, although also members of Nowra Athletics Club, Mason Beck was 8th in the 10’s discus with 16.40m, Abby Beck was 6th in the 12’s group with 18.93m and Layla Beck was 6th with 27.21m in the under 15 group.
Geoff Crook won bronze in the 60-69 years discus with a throw of 23.94m and Steve Schott took silver in the 40-49 years event with 27.27m. Mark O’Leary threw 21.82m for 10th place in the 50-59 years group whilst Scott McLaren threw 20.32m for 12th place. Lauren Naylor was 6th in the women’s 40-49 years event with 20.28m and Sam Keogh was 8th with 19.55m. In the 30-39 years event, Loretta Norris was 6th with 14.37m.
In the 10’s long jump Mila Bozikov was 8th with 3.03m. In the boys 11’s long jump Darcy Binney was 8th with a jump of 3.50m and in the 10’s, Atlas Bailie was 4th with 3.54m. Meanwhile in triple jump Sam Keogh was 2nd with a leap of 8.78m.
Evie Binney took gold in the under 16 2000m steeplechase in an 11 second PB of 7.35.27 and Hamish McLaren took silver in the under 20 3000m race finishing in 11.03.60. Emily McLaren, competing for Shoalhaven Little Athletics, won the under 18 2000m steeplechase in 7.49.58.
Hugh Thirwall claimed gold in the under 15 1500m race with 4.32.84 and Lily Sproule also took gold in the under 17 race with 5.00.64. In the under 14 1500m, Macca Davis was 6th in 4.57.76 and in the 12’s race, Kai Thirwall was 5th in 5.15.68. Emerson Boatswain, competing for Shoalhaven Little Athletics at this competition, was 7th in the under 14 race with 5.49.01.
Master’s king Gavin Dyball took gold in the 50-59 years 1500m in 5.28.12 and Peter Dooley took gold in the 60-69 years race in 5.44.30, continuing his exceptional running success at Country Champs. In the Open event, Daniel Wood ran a solid race for 5th place, finishing in 4.31.73.
The relays were a much smaller affair this year for Nowra. The Club fielded 2 boys 13-15’s teams. Team A of Orlando Bailie, Hugh Thirwall, Kai Thirwall and Liam O’Leary finished 6th in 57.99 whilst Team B with Macca Davis, Wyatt Binney, Braxton Naylor and Darcy Binney were 7th in 1.06.27. The girls team in this age group consisted of Isla Bailie, Evie Binney, Charli Keogh and Elizabeth Davis. The team ran through in 58.47 for the bronze medal.
This year Team A with Steve Schott, Gavin Dyball, Sam Keogh and Loretta Norris took the gold medal in 57.10. Team B with Matt Watson, Mark O’Leary, Glen Mustapic and Scott McLaren were 4th in 1.07.58. The winning margin was 10.48 seconds so true to the history of the challenge, Team A should have won the challenge, however it appears the rules may have been flaunted and stretched to a 15 second challenge by the competitors in Team B. With the original members MIA, clearly there was no one to keep them in line LOL Regardless, both teams put in a great effort on the track and enjoyed the team comradery.
