Future stars make their mark at athletics championship
Records tumbled as some of the best young athletes in Australia showed off their wares at the NSWCHSSA Secondary Athletics Championship. Glenn Cullen reports.
20 September 2024
Deniliquin High School shot putter Connor Wilson smashed an Australian age record for shot put as multiple marks fell at the NSW Combined High Schools Sports Association (NSWCHSSA) Secondary Athletics Championship.
Held across three days at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre, the event saw more than 2400 students competing from across the state.
Five able-bodied records for the meet were logged, as well as 27 multiclass records (10 broken and 17 new).
The standout was Year 9 student Wilson, who trimmed an incredible 77cm off the carnival record when he threw 18.68 metres in the boys 15 years shot put.
It was 51cm better than the national record for his age group, suggesting there could be big things ahead for the Riverina student.
Other records of note included: Annabelle Vella (Galston High School) trimming more than three seconds off the longstanding girls 12-14 years 3000m record; Manaia Coulter (East Hills Girls High School) in the girls 17-19 years shot put; and Tallara Joseph-Riogi (Canterbury Girls High School) in the girls 15 years javelin.
Tallara capped a successful meet by also winning the shot put and the discus.
Other triple gold medallists were Oscar Turnbull (Galston High School) in the boys 14 years 200m, 400m and 800m; Sienna Vassella (St Ives High School) in the girls 13 years 100m, 200m and long jump; and Reki Roberts (Hurlstone Agricultural High School) in the girls 16 years discus, long jump and shot put.
Among the multiclass standouts, Maximas Papacastantinou (Menai High School) claimed gold in the boys 16-19 years 100m, 800m, long jump and shot put; Anouk Laverty (Bellingen High School) took out the 800m, javelin and shot put for the girls 15 years; and Michayla Espie (Kingswood High School) won the javelin, shot put and discus in the girls 12-15 years.
New events at the 2024 meet included the 4 x 200m for athletes 12-15 years.
NSW Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar attended the event, which was also streamed on days two and three.
Leader School Sport Unit, Peter Banks, said the stream had since attracted more than 20,000 views online.
“We saw three outstanding days of competition at Olympic Park and some remarkable performances across the able-bodied and multiclass divisions,” he said.
“Our pathways to representative school sport are class leading and I have no doubt some of the young athletes we saw during competition will be right in the mix to represent their country at the Brisbane Olympics in eight years’ time.”
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