NSW All Schools Preview: Four emerging NSW athletes

Published Mon 06 Dec 2021

6 December 2021

NSW All Schools Preview: Four emerging NSW athletes

With nearly 2000 athletes set to compete this week at the 2021 NSW All Schools Athletics Championships, we feature four emerging athletes Mali Lovell, Hayley Kitching, Adam Bruntsch and Ben Jones. Enjoy their stories and follow their journey into senior athletics.

Mali Lovell (Mackellar Girls) 17-19 years Para Ambulant 100m and 200m

Last summer Mali was on the cusp of Tokyo Paralympic selection, coming so close to qualification in the T36 (cerebral palsy) 200m. No doubt her weekly battles with Rio Paralympian Tamsin Colley (Randwick Girls High) helped their push towards the qualification. They resume their rivalry this week over 100m and 200m at the NSW All Schools.

Coached by Olympic great Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Mali reflected on her 2020/21 campain.

“I really enjoy racing and loved getting out to compete in as many events as I could last season in the hope of qualifying for Tokyo,” said Mali. “While I came close, I was happy with how I improved over the season and I am really excited to see what I can achieve in this coming season and the future. I really owe it to my coaches, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and Katie Edwards, with working hard throughout the season because they believed in me so much. The culture of our training group that Mel and Katie work so hard to create make those killer sessions easier to bear.”

What are the future plans for the 17-year-old?

“My focus is definitely working towards the World Para Champs in Kobe and the 200m. While the schedule of events hasn't been released yet for Paris 2024, watching the Paralympics has certainly fuelled the fire. There is a lot of hard training to be done between now and then but I am 100% committed to the hard work needed.”

During 2021 the Year 11 student coped okay with the lockdown.

“The school has been amazing with online lessons. When I needed a break from the computer, I jumped on the treadmill at home.”

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Hayley Kitching (Coffs Harbour Senior College) 17 years 400m, 800m & 1500m

What a summer in 2020/21 for Hayley Kitching, closing her campaign as the national under-18 800m champion. She started the season with a best 800m time of 2:12.96, but her four PBs during the summer brought her best time down to an impressive 2:07.16, as she capped off the season with the national title.

Hayley explained the progress last summer.

“I didn’t really do anything drastically different; I think I improved so much over the last summer because I’ve been training consistently for a few years now and it’s starting to pay off,” said Hayley.

It is still early season for Hayley, but a duplication of her 2:07.16 performance would be the fastest time in the history of the NSW All Schools Championships.

Hayley will have hot competition from Newcastle’s defending champion Montana Monk, whom Hayley defeated to win her national 800m title. How has Hayley’s preparation been going?

“My lead up has been pretty challenging, as I’m sure it has been for everyone else who’s entered all schools because of how much COVID has affected us. I’ve still been training hard, and I’m super excited All Schools is going ahead, as it’s helped to keep me motivated over the past few months. I’m keen to race again.”

What are her goals this summer and in the future?

“My goals are to just keep improving each year, and I would love to get a world junior qualifying time.”

How does Hayley manage with the six hours travel from Coffs Harbour to Sydney?

“It’s a long drive from Coffs to Sydney but it’s definitely worth it. It doesn’t bother me that much, I don’t mind having the excuse to sit around and watch Netflix for six hours.”

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Adam Bruntsch (Epping Boys High School) 17 years 2000m steeplechase, 800m & 1500m

Two breathtaking performances by Adam Bruntsch last summer earmarked him as an athlete with a big future. At the 2020 NSW All Schools, Adam won the 16 years steeplechase by 23 seconds in the impressive time of 6:06.08 minutes. Four months later he stunned with a time of 5:59.75 to win silver in the national championships.

From a very sporty family, Adam has been inspired by his grandfather who competed in the same event for Germany. Karl-Heinz Bruntsch ran 8:27 for 3000m steeplechase as a teenager when competing at the European Juniors in 1970.

“Steeple is my favourite event which was encouraged by my grandfather,” said Adam.

Adam’s father Daniel was an elite cyclist in Germany, while his mother Christine Fiedler competed for Hornsby Little Athletics Centre and was selected in the 1981 NSW Little Athletics State team for the Australian Championships where she ran the sprints.

Last NSW All Schools Adam was also capable of mixing it with the flat runners, placing a close third in the 1500m, but his clear favourite is the steeplechase.

“I enjoy the event (steeple) because of how hard and painful it is compared to other track races,” he said.

“Last year my improvement from 6:06 to 5:59 in the steeple was based off hard training and improvements to technique over the barriers to become as fast as possible. I enjoyed every moment of training.

“My goals are to continue with the sport and enjoy every moment of racing in the future. I hope to make it to the international stage and represent Australia in the near future.”

How is his form looking ahead of the 2021 NSW All Schools?

“Over the last couple of months leading up to All Schools I have been doing a moderate amount of training and started racing again which has been great. I look forward to All Schools to see how fast I can go.”

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Ben Jones (Kinross Wolaroi School) 17 years 400m, 800m & 1500m

What a contrast the last two COVID effected years have been for Orange’s Ben Jones. “COVID made me,” Ben recalled this week of his amazing break through over the summer of 2020/21 where he clocked times of 48.41 for 400m and 1:53.40 for 800m aged just 16.

In his early high school years Ben was primarily a rower in the school’s Eights. Then during COVID he was initially dropped from the School’s A boat and eventually the rowing program. He immediately turned his focus to athletics which he had started dabbling with in 2019 while in Year 9. That year he ran in the heats of the 800m at the NSW All Schools and was a modest seventh in the 400m final. During lock down in 2020 his coach Mitch Williamson helped him with his training. The signs were positive at his first major test, the 2020 NSW All Schools where he was second in the 400m with 49.20 and third in the 800m with 1:56.63.

He returned to Sydney in March 2021 to record two breakthrough performances. Over 800m he ran 1:53.40 and a week later won the NSW Under-18 400m by over a second in a time of 48.41 seconds. The next month he competed in the national championships where he was brilliant placing third in the under-18 400m and fourth in the 800m. He was now competitive with the best juniors in nation.

But since the April 2021 nationals things have not gone to plan for Ben. He injured his hamstring at the nationals and in his second year of COVID has spent six months rehabilitating the hamstring. Ben spoke about how devastating the year has been, but the good news is he has been back training for two months but admits he is not in top form for the 2021 NSW All Schools Championships.

It is quite amazing to understand what Ben has achieved off very limited milage – just 12 km per week including distance covered in track sessions. It augurs well for the future when he is older and can sensibly increase his mileage.

Through Ben’s progression over the last couple of years, he has been inspired by the great successes of athletes like Jessica Hull, Morgan McDonald and Ollie Hoare. He also says he has been motivated by the opportunity to race against contemporaries like Charlie Jeffreson. He is in awe of his progression.