Day 2 Australian All Schools Championships: relays and field events dominate

8 December 2019

Day 2 Australian All Schools Championships: relays and field events dominate

On day two of the Australian All Schools temperatures were a little cooler, but not the performances for NSW as they won titles across the day, age groups, and event disciplines.

Profiled in the leadup to the Australian All Schools, Newcastle’s Ashlyn Blackstock, experienced a very challenging leadup to her under-16 discus. After competing against Dani Stevens for the first time on Saturday, on Tuesday just three days before the nationals, while at training in Newcastle she picked up an injury.

“On Tuesday during training I pulled something in my neck and shoulder and couldn’t train properly,” Blackstock explained.

She was very worried.

“As soon as I realised I was in pain and couldn’t throw I was freaking out I’m not going to throw well.”

But Blackstock and her support team were determined this would not derail all the work she had done to prepare.

“I went home and spoke to my parents and coach and we discussed the need to have a good mindset and focus on throwing well. So, I rested, didn’t go to school for the day and took time to take care of myself.”

She then had to travel Newcastle to Sydney then to Perth, remaining positive.

“When I got here I organised to meet with the physios and rested whenever I could. When I went out today I wasn’t in as much pain as I had been.”

She started strongly with a throw of 44.20m, then followed with 42.44, and a foul. She led going into the last round and on her last throw, knowing she had secured the gold, she led the disc fly out to an impressive 47.14m for a near 5 metre win.

In was personal bests all-round for NSW the pole vaulting brothers in Perth. Aiden Princena-White, the younger brother claimed the U16 event with his first attempt at 4.50m, adding 5cm to his PB and his own NSW record.

“I was really happy with the win and to get a PB,” said Aiden.

Despite a miss he was ‘on’ from the first jump at 4.25m.

“First attempt I failed because I jumped too well for the pole I was on. My coach (Zsuzsanna Olgyay-Szabo) said to stay focused and wait for the good wind conditions. After winning the title at 4.45m, he then cleared 4.50m, before missing 4.60m.

Over summer he has some technical goals to work on.

“I’ll be working on the long run, as I was new to the long run today, and trying out new poles.”

Older brother Ethan Princena-White, in the under-18 pole vault, didn’t have the most ideal leadup.

“I was nervous at the start as I couldn’t find my poles and then I was struggling to take off in the warmup,” he recalled.

After his warmup he had to wait for the bar to move from the starting height of 3.20m until he opened at 4.00m.

“We just stayed in out tracksuits and ran up and down a little.”

But then things clicked. After an initial miss at 4.00m, he compiled a clean sheet through 4.20m, 4.50m, 4.60m, 4.70m. The last height a 5cm PB. At this stage he was leading Victorian James Woods, but on his last attempt Woods negotiated 4.80m, while Ethan missed, with Ethan claiming a well-deserved silver medal.

NSW athletes dominated the under-18 girls 3000m, with Imogen Gardiner and Eleanor Miller going 1-2.

The weather forced Gardiner to change her race plan.

“Initially I thought I would take the lead and go for a good time, but the conditions were a bit blustery, so I decided to sit for the first half and build from there,” she said. “The first half was a little slow, but the back half was a lot quicker. With one lap to go I gave it whatever I had left. The time wasn’t near my PB but I’m still happy with it.”

She finished in a winning time of 9:46.17 – fastest of the day.

The wind also dictated the race plan of second placed Eleanor Miller.

“I thought I’d tuck in behind the leading pack and go with three laps remaining and see what I could run.” Miller ran on strongly to clock a breakthrough performance in 9:54.41.

“It was a PB today (13 seconds) and first time under 10 minutes so very happy with that.”

The under-16 boys high jump was a tremendous battle between NSW pair, Darcy Holmes and William Moir. In the NSW All Schools, Homes won by 3cm at 1.97m with a last attempt clearance when the event looked like requiring a jump-off. They resumed their battle in Perth and after they saw-off any competition at 2.01m, they battled on. In a tactical competition, passing of heights was used to go for the win. Moir clear 2.01m and 2.03m at his first attempts to hold the lead, but on his last attempt at 2.05m, Holmes was over, taking gold.

NSW dominated the girls 4x100m relays, winning all three ages – under 14, 16 and 18.

The under-18 team of Grace Hewitt, Emma Klasen, Alice Dixon and Teagan Berry clocked 46.47 for the win.

After the race, the first leg runner, Grace Hewitt, recalled how she was feeling.

“I was really nervous at the start as I didn’t want to let the girls down. I got that out of my head and got us off to a really quick start.”

Tamworth’s Emma Klasen pushed the pace down the back straight on leg two. “With the relay it is a team event and you put fatigue out of your mind as you want to race your best leg for the girls.”

PLC’s Alice Dixon, running on leg three reminded us about the honour of representing the state, but to put the opportunity in perspective. “It is such an achieve to represent your state. It is important to compete well, but also to enjoy the experience and make as many friends as you can.” Teagan Berry anchored to team to gold.

In the under-14s NSW’s team is probably the best ever team we have assembled. The team of Delta Amidzovski, Ellen Murphy

Chelsea Ezeoke and Damita Betham clocked 48.46 to win from Victoria. The under-16 NSW team, were anchored to victory by Westfields Sports star, Aleksandra Stoilova in 46.90. Earlier runners were Gabriella Taylor, Shola Adeniran and 200m national champion Olivia Inkster.

In the under-16 girls triple jump Nakeisha Brimble leapt a massive PB of 12.45m (previous best 12.19m) to win by 1cm over Victoria Tiana Boras.

Annabelle Rodgers and Saskia Newman, in the under-18 girls para shot achieved the same distance of 10.14m, but on the scoring tables with Annabelle took the gold.

Wollongong’s Delta Amidzovski claimed her first of two gold medals on the day, winning the high jump with a clearance of 1.71m.

Dylan Mendonca won his second gold of the championships, winning the under-16 boys para shot with a distance of 5.47m.

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Image: Damita Betham anchoring the U14 4x100m relay team to victory (image courtesy of Laura Crowhurst)