58 athletes competed at 2023 NSW Country Championships and an amazing number of 53 athletes competed in the very popular Championships relays. 52 athletes made up 13 Nowra relay teams and 1 athlete, Mali Mustapic competed as part of a South Coast relay.
Nowra dominated the relay timeslot and drew the attention of officials, other Club athletes and spectators.
In the Women’s 4x100m under 16 relay, Nowra had 3 teams. Team A of Isla Bailie, Rose Atkins, Evie Binney and Anna Duncan took the bronze medal in 58.73. Team B consisted of Charli Binney, Airlie Stevens, Madeline Oke and Lana Crawford and they clocked a combined time of 1.01.05, crossing in 5th place. Team C was made up of Elizabeth Davis, Elsie Proctor, Olivia Oke and Evie Smart and together they ran 1.04.86 for 6th place.
Next up was the Men’s 4x100m under 16 relay. The A team of Archie Higgins, Asher Chapman, Nic McGill and Max Marshall ran a strong race to take the gold medal in 51.17. The B team was a young team made up of Noah Dyball, aged 12, Macca Davis, aged 10, Kai Thirwall, aged 9 and Hugh Thirwall, aged 11. They completed the race in 1.05.77 and finished 5th. Meanwhile team C comprised of 10 year old Tom Smart, 11 year old Liam O’Leary, 10 year old Wyatt Binney, and 8 year old Darcy Binney. This very young team ran 1.11.01 to finish 6th place and crossed the line to resounding applause.
The Women’s 4x100m open’s relay team of Akala Miller, Alisha Mustapic, Jade Mustapic and Ruby Marshall finished a creditable 4th amongst a strong field, clocking 54.94. In the Men’s open’s event, the team of Toby Dyball, Will Dyball, Cooper Barrett and Jonah Watson earned a bronze medal in a time of 47.13 whilst the B team of Hamish McLaren, Darcy Davis, Ella Dyball, and Tom Duncan finished 6th in 54.32.
For the first time in Nowra’s Country Championships relay history (or at least as long as I can recall), Nowra fielded 2 women’s teams in the masters relays (even if some arms had to be twisted to make up the teams). To mark this occasion, it was decided to make the relay competition between Team A and Team B a 30 second challenge with champagne as the prize. It was proposed that Team A of Jo Higgins, Loretta Norris, Katrina Ward and Erin Smart had to beat Team B of non-sprinters Leanne O’Leary, Emma Stevens, Mel Mustapic and Darlene Musgrove by a margin of 30 seconds or more to win the challenge. Despite some interesting baton-holding technique from Loretta, Team A crossed 2nd, behind the combined efforts of the South Coast team, in a time of 57.05, to take the silver medal. Meanwhile, amongst much laughter (and grimacing), Team B took the bronze medal in 79.92. The difference was just 22.87 seconds, meaning Team B won the inaugural masters women’s relay challenge.
As has become a much-loved tradition, the masters men’s 10 second relay challenge continued this year, albeit with a few new faces. The A team comprised of Mark Thirwall, Mark O’Leary, Dennis Smart and Matt Reid. They earned the silver medal in a time of 53.14. Meanwhile the B team of Harry Davis, Geoff Crook, Gavin Dyball and Matt Watson finished 4th in 64.12. The winning margin was 10.98 so for the 2nd year in a row, the A team won the 10 second challenge.
It was another fabulous fun edition of Country relays with plenty of enthusiasm and outstanding sportsmanship from all of our relay members.