Australian All Schools: NSW Day 2 – Beacroft breaks Australian record

Published Sun 11 Dec 2022

10 December 2022

Australian All Schools: NSW Day 2 – Beacroft breaks Australian record

An Australian record and more NSW dominance in hurdles and the hammer throw highlighted day two for NSW at the Chemist Warehouse Australian All Schools Track and Field Championships being held in Adelaide this weekend.

Beacroft breaks 27-year-old Australian record

The aim today for Isaac Beacroft was gold in the U16 3000m walk, but an Australian record was a bonus.

But he had to overcome the threat of a regular rival, Canberra’s Owen Toyne.

“I was pretty nervous going into the race. I had to trust my ability, I’ve done the training and had the ks behind me,” said Isaac.

“Owen and I have always been very close in races. It is always good to race against him.”

In warm conditions, Isaac, Owen and Victorian Riley Coughlan raced a pack for the first 2km. It would not be until with about two laps to go, that Isaac would break away, going on to win in 12:04.09, 14 seconds ahead of Owen.

The time sliced 41 seconds off the meet record and more significantly broke the National record set 27 years ago by Troy Sundstrom. Interestingly his sister Jodie was one of the race walking judges on Isaac’s race today.

However the time was not as quick as Isaac’s recent record-breaking effort in Sydney which was not ratified.

Prior to the race, Isaac had not planned the required splits to break the record, it was only when the race started Owen and he calculated they needed 1:36 splits.

It had been a few years since Isaac had competed Nationally.

“There was no All Schools last year due to COVID and I missed the Australian Championships in March and I haven’t walked any road walks,” he noted.

Isaac had warmed-up for his record-breaking performance 24 hours prior by winning silver in the steeplechase.

More speed from the Sultan of sprint

After taking down the National U16 100m record last month, it was odds on that Sebastian Sultana could also break the 200m record of 20.90, especially after he ran a wind assisted 20.92 recently.

With good conditions Sebastian fulfilled that prospect clocking 20.71, but the conditions were too good, aided by a trailing wind of 4.5m/s. Officials and media track side for the race couldn’t feel any breeze, but on the bend the pole vault wind sock did indicate a healthy tail wind.

He did however take the meet record of 20.94 held by Kurt Mulcahy.

More hammer titles

NSW athletes dominated the hammer throwing events on day two, winning three titles, two by margins of six and 13 metres.

Albury’s Logan Sandland was untroubled winning the U17 boys title with his third-round effort of 60.26m – 13 metres ahead of the silver medallist. In the U18s, Sydney’s Sam Perkins, throwing the same 5kg implement, went even further with 66.47m for a six metre win. He now moves up to the 6kg implement in the new year.

The U18 girls event was a thrilling contest. Only a few metres separated the leading medal hopes and after three rounds of competition just 1.01 metres separated the top-3. But then Sydney’s Unitty Ta’Uo was the first to move, nailing the eventual winning throw of 58.61m in round four. Westfields Sports High’s Molly Goetz also responded with 57.39m in the same round, eventually holding on to second place and taking the silver medal. Tasmanian Arielle Cannell didn’t improve on her 56.11m in round three to take the bronze.

Hurdlers on fire as records tumble

The new kid on the block in the hurdles, Oliver Facer confirmed he was the real deal with a comfortable win in the U15 100m hurdles in a championship record time of 13.01 seconds. With a legal wind of 1.2m/s, Oliver broke the old mark of 13.29 seconds, albeit he had broken the record in the heat with a time of 13.27.

“I was nervous on the blocks but felt composed,” said Olivier. “I felt a little pressure but was calm. I was aiming for gold, I achieved that, so I am happy. It means a lot (to win), it’s quite crazy.”

The U15 girls 90m hurdles race was very close, but still a win for the Sutherland Shire’s Tammin Lampret in a time of 12.73, just missing the 16-year-old meet record of 12.68 held by another Shire athlete Carly Rodgers. It was also a 0.02 seconds PB for Tammin.

The massive improvement this summer for Ellen Murphy continued in the U17 400m hurdles, when she won with a PB time of 61.95 seconds.

She had started the season with a best of 71 seconds, after restarting her athletes career last summer.

“I took a big break(from the sport). I lost motivation during lock down and it took a while to get back into it due to injury.”

A former National hurdles champion at these championships, on her return last summer, she dabbled in a new event, the 400m hurdles.

“I thought I’d give them a go for something different and I started to enjoy them and kept going. I do now have to rethink what events I want to do.”

The terrific season form of Matthew Hunt continued at the National All Schools with a win in a 0.71 seconds PB time of 54.52, defeating Queensland’s Joel Drew in a very close race (54.91).

First National medal for Meaker and it is gold

In the first event of the day, Balmain’s Claudia Meaker was a surprised gold medallist in the U16 girls 3000m. A real bonus was a seven second personal best in the heat. From the gun, the race was busy as the event was combined with the U15s.

Going into the race Claudia had a race plan.

“The aim was to just hang on to the group and then on the last lap give it everything,” she said.

A large initial pack of about eight athletes toed the line, with Claudia strong from the start.

But as the pace quicken Claudia could not be shaken.

“A few people were dropping off the pack, but I tried to stay on. I was feeling pretty good, although my legs were heavy.”

Into the closing stages of the race, with the pack now down to four, Claudia was still in the mix. She would eventually cross the line second, but first in the U16 event, to win her first National medal in a time of 9:53.30.

“All I wanted to achieve was a PB, so the gold medal was a bonus,” said the Year 9 student.

Other Australian champions on day 2 were:

U17 girls Para 200m - Telaya Blacksmith 26.70

U17 girls long jump - Delta Amidzovski 6.10m

U16 girls high jump - Izobelle Louison-Roe 1.80m

U15 boys Para 200m - Cooper Robb-Jackson 26.41

U17 boys 800m - Jade Kitching 1:53.37

U18 girls 800m - Adelaide Marshall 2:11.17

U15 girls Para 200m - Abbie Peet 32.95

U15 boys shot - Jozef Cluff 16.75

U17 boys Para discus - Malachi Canning 31.37

U20 boys Para discus - Corey Alliston 26.82