Australian Track and Field Champs: Day 1 review - Princena -White vaults to title

30 March 2023

Australian Track and Field Champs: Day 1 review - Princena -White vaults to title

NSW’s campaign at the 2023 Chemist Warehouse Australian Track and Field Championships received a great lift on day one with a win in the men’s U20 pole vault, while on the track, NSW teenage race walkers Allanah Pitcher and Lizzy McMillen strode to personal bests, National titles and medals.

Bankstown’s Aiden Princena-White started favourite on paper for the U20 men’s vault as the only athlete to have cleared five metres. And didn’t disappoint, but it was a close battle. Aiden opened at 4.65m and cleared on his second attempt. At 4.85m Aiden and Victorian Tom Coghlan were still alive with clearances, although Aiden had the upper-hand as the leader on countback. At 4.95m Aiden was clear again, while Tom was unable to negotiate the height, making it a decisive win for Aiden, who missed a new PB with his final attempts at 5.10m.

Conditions for the last event of the day, the open and U20 women’s 10,000m Walk, were perfect as the temperature had dropped from the heat of the day and it was very still. And the athletes responded with terrific times. Placing a brilliant second in the open race, Central Coast teenager Allanah Pitcher smashed her PB by 72 seconds, clocking 45:43.34. In third, NSW champion Hannah Mison, took nearly three minutes from her PB clocking 46:02.80. In the U20 race, Lizzy McMillen also took down her best clocking 47:14.68 – a 13 seconds PB, as she claimed the National title by over 90 seconds.

Wollongong Para sprinter Telaya Blacksmith (T20 class) claimed the U20 100m in a time of 12.79 seconds. She tallied 92.18 on the para scoring tables to defeat Queensland’s Abby Craswell (T36 class) who clocked 14.98 seconds and a score of 91.32.

The NSW team of Jessica Laurance, Bronte Carroll, Bronte Pickering and Katie Smee, combined to take the 4x100m relay title. They clocked 45.54, just behind visitors Singapore.

Full results, timetable, entry lists and link to the live stream: https://www.athletics.com.au/events/160833/

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Image: Aiden Princena-White (image courtesy of David Tarbotton)