It was tremendous to see the involvement of Nowra athletes in the NSW Relay Championships this year. We were excited to field 13 Nowra teams and another 11 teams where we combined with Illawarra Blue Stars for South Coast teams.
The NSW Relay Championships are the largest and most successful relay event in Australia with teams from all over NSW, so for a small country Club like ours to field this many teams was a testament to the passion and commitment of our Club members to the great sport of athletics.
The relays were hotly contested featuring a large line-up of international representatives, such as Commonwealth Games representatives Alex Hulley, Nick Hough and Michelle Jenneke. Our Nowra athletes did themselves proud with some personal best times, lots of laughter and team spirit and even a couple of medals.
Both athletes and spectators enjoyed the team competition and comradery that Nowra is famous for. Our athletes also embraced the opportunity to make new friendships with our fellow competitors at Illawarra Blue Stars (IBS) and here our combined efforts resulted in several medals.
Erin Smart was our very own star when she joined Illawarra athletes in three events. Erin stepped up to run in the men’s 200+ 4x400m relay and ran a super-fast 400 to assist the boys to a silver medal. In the 4x200m 160+ relay Erin and the Illawarra girls won a bronze medal. Erin also ran in the 4x100m event. It was great to see athletes from the two Clubs welcoming and supporting each other.
Emerson Brian and Lachlan Kaszonyi also teamed up with Illawarra Blue Stars in the 4x200m and won silver. The boys were deservedly elated!
Our Nowra ‘old boys’ speared a silver medal in the 160+ javelin event. Steve Thomson, Mark O’Leary, Kane Barrett and Geoff Crook combined to throw a total of 112.46m to take second place. What a fantastic achievement! This came off the back of the shot-put relay the previous day where the boys Steve Thomson, Kane Barrett, Carl Heidke and Scott Johnson were unlucky to miss out on a medal when one of Kane’s huge throws was given a ‘foul’ call. These teams certainly demonstrated what it takes to be ‘a good sport’ and have fun with the competition with Mark volunteering himself for the javelin team after a scratching earlier in the week; and Club President Scott Johnson being told by the relay organisers the night before (aka Darlene & Mel) that he’d been entered in the shot team to fill a vacated space, and as President he had no choice but to answer the call of duty! His response was “I throw like a distance runner” to which Steve replied “that’s ok I throw like a 47-year-old accountant”. The boys ended up missing out on a medal by just 15mm.
The master’s men had some more fun on the track with Perry Strand, Pete Berry, and Marcus Baxter joining Scott Johnson in the 4x1500m. Marcus led the runners for the first couple of laps, setting the early pace. He passed the baton to Perry who ran as fast as he could in order to ‘get beer and ice-cream at the end’ (sadly he was disappointed not to get any). Pete Berry took the third leg with a calm confidence and Scott brought the relay home, getting passed in the closing strides on the home straight by a young faced runner who did not look like he belonged in the 160+ race. The excited banter after the race clearly demonstrated their enthusiasm for the competition.
Our junior teams really stepped up to the mark and demonstrated what it is all about – ‘having a go’. They competed in the U14 age category, against much older and bigger components but they did so with enthusiasm. The U14 girls of Talea Miller, Akala Miller and Alisha Mustapic combined with Illawarra Blue Stars Charlotte Smith to compete in discus, placing 5th and shot, placing 6th.
In the U14 boy’s discus event Talea Miller backed up to support the boys of Taj Barrett, Cooper Barrett and Macklin Berry. They finished 6th. Considering some of these U14 athletes have never thrown a 1kg discus or 3kg shot put before they did extremely well.
We also had a number of U14 all boys’ teams entered across the program. Charlie Heidke, Macklin Berry, Cooper Barrett and Toby Dyball ran in 8th in the 4x100m and then Charlie, Macklin and Toby with Reilly Caswell jumped their way to 5th place in long jump with a combined distance of 16.00m.
The combination of Charlie Heidke, Macklin Berry, Cooper Barrett and Reilly Caswell in the 4x200m finished 8th and in the 4x800m Will Dyball, Toby Dyball, Cooper Barrett and Harrison Baxter ran strongly, just coming up short of a medal, finishing 4th by 2 seconds.
Hannah Brian teamed up with Illawarra Blue stars in the U16 4x200m to run well for 3rd in their heat and 5th overall. Hannah also ran in the 4x100m with IBS where the team ran in 5th in their heat.
The U18 boys’ squad were busy with a number of events on the schedule. Cooper Thomson, Blake Hartnett joined Illawarra Blue Stars in the discus and shot, finishing 4th in both events. Whilst Cooper and Blake joined Nowra athletes Ethan Havadjia and Lachlan Kaszonyi in the 4x100m to place 13th overall and in the 4x200m where they finished 5th. The Nowra boys also speared 4th in the javelin.
A highlight for this writer was the boys 4x400m where Cooper, Lachlan and Blake joined Jonty Faulkner from IBS. Each boy dug deep but the last lap by Cooper demonstrated he has the heart the size of Phar Lap where he ploughed his way down the home straight giving it absolutely everything he had as he tried to pass the runner in front. The cheer squad in the stadium screamed themselves hoarse, particularly our loudest cheerer, Erin Smart.
The girls U18 team of Ella Dyball, Alexis Charalambous, Chelsea Pascoe and Jade Mustapic were the last event of the day on Saturday. They ran strongly, claiming some personal bests to finish 5th in the 4x1500m. Their team connection and muscle flexing poses were another highlight of the weekend.
On Sunday Emerson Brian joined Cooper Thomson, Blake Hartnett, and Lachlan Kaszonyi in the U20 4x100m where they finished 4th; a baton change probably costing them a third, just missing out on the podium by 0.29 seconds.
It was a fantastic weekend and the Committee would like to thank everyone for participating and spectating and supporting the Relay Championships and Nowra Athletics Club. We look forward to our next big competition of the Country Championships, to be held January 24th – 27th in Glendale.