Championship athletics made a long-awaited return with the NSW All Schools being held this past weekend. Many of our Junior clubmates suffered a dual blow earlier this year with both Nationals and the Little A's State Champs being cancelled on account of the pandemic.
A keenness to get back on the field of competition was clearly evident, with a huge cast of 34 AW athletes eager to do battle. Following the four days of combat, an incredible 18 medals were making their way back to the South Coast - including 9 gold!
The lion's share of these were in the keeping of the undisputed star of the Championships, Delta Amidzovski. Delta tallied an amazing four gold, winning titles in the 14 Girls 90m Hurdles, 200m Hurdles, Long Jump and High Jump. Three Meet Records were also in her kit bag, breaking the 90m Hurdles mark in both the heat and again in the final, and soaring past the 6m-barrier in the Long Jump. It was a near-miss in the High Jump also, with 3 close attempts at a new record once she had accounted for her competition.
Almost as startling was the performance of Tayissa Buchanan. It was certainly slim pickings for other 14 Girls as Tayissa continued the AW sweep, collecting gold in both the 800m and 1500m, before rounding it off with a bronze in the 400m.
Training partner Ashleigh Goncalves went even better in her 400m in the 16 Girls division, collecting gold with a big PB.
And the field wasn't to be left out either, with further gold going to Thomas Noakes in the 17 Boys Pole vault and Chelsy Wayne in the 13 Girls Discus.
Silver medals were scored by Jett Link in the 17 Boys 110m Hurdles, Olivia Sivills in the 16 Girls 2000m Steeplechase, Naomi Gibson in the 14 Girls Pole Vault, William Willis in the 13 Boys Hammer Throw, and Charlize Colwell in the 12-15 Para 800m.
Finally, our remaining bronze medal winners consisted of Jude Basnet in the 16 Boys Hammer Throw, Holly Rea in the 13 Girls 100m, and Cooper Morrison in the 12 Boys Triple Jump.
Top-three finishers also earned themselves an automatic selection in the NSW Team for the upcoming Australian Track and Field Championships.
All-in-all, it was an outstanding performance from all Athletics Wollongong members! Well done, everyone :)
Full results of the Championships are available HERE
