WEEKEND REVIEW | NSW Championships Headlines Huge Weekend

The New South Wales State Championships was the drawcard of a blockbuster weekend which featured qualifiers, records and state titles and the domestic season continued to gather momentum. 

NSW Championships Day One 

Already selected for the Australian Paralympic Team heading to Tokyo, Tasmanian Deon Kenzie (Philo Saunders) clocked a PB and Australian record of 3:59.79 in the men’s open 1500m heats. The T38 athlete just missed the world record (3:57.00) but becomes the first Australian athlete with cerebral palsy to dip under four minutes.

An Australian record and two Paralympic Games qualifiers highlighted day one of the 124th NSW Track & Field Championships at Homebush overnight.

Competing in the Seated Shot Put, Rosemary Little (HIL) and Victorian visitor Maria Strong (John Eden) were in good form with Tokyo B qualifiers. Rosemary put 5.82m and was incredibly consistent with all six attempts between 5.42m and 5.82m. Her best put, easily exceeded the F32 category B standard of 5.25m and approached her PB of 6.03m and A standard of 6.11m. Strong in the F33 class, put 6.21m bettering the B standard of 5.89m.
In the high jump events, Nicola McDermott (Matt Horsnell) and Brandon Starc (Alex Stewart) claimed the state titles with clearances of 1.91m and 2.19m respectively. 

In other results, In the F57 seated throws, Julie Charlton broke her own Australian records with distances of 16.54m in the discus and 5.97m in the shot.

NSW Championships Day Two

Sprinters took down records as teenagers record three U20 Championships qualifiers on day two of the  NSW Track & Field Championships at Homebush.

In good conditions Rohan Browning (Andrew Murphy) comfortably took the 100m title in his fifth fastest ever time of 10.20. Courtesy of the highly professional Athletics NSW photo finish team, five cameras were set up to capture all the results and their efforts were rewarded with Rohan clocking an Australian 100 yards best of 9.41 on route to his 100m win. It lowered Jack Hale’s (Adam Larcom) recent 9.43 mark.

The women’s race was also quick with favourite Monique Quirk (Greg Smith) winning in a PB 11.50. She was also clocked at 100 yards, recording the equal fifth fastest ever time of 10.58 seconds.

The women’s javelin saw training partner Mackenzie Little (Angus McEntyre) and Lianna Davidson (Angus McEntyre) go 1-2 in a quality competition. Mackenzie threw 59.96m, had 5 throws over 56m and fouled a 62m throw. Lianna smashed her PB nailing 54.64m on her second throw. It was a near two metre improvement and elevated her to number six Australian junior all-time.

Alexander Kolesnikoff (David Bruce) continued to pepper the 19 metre standard, winning the shot put title with a distance of 19.35m - his fourth consecutive 19 metre competition. He was just short of his recent NSW record of 19.51m.

Canberra junior Tom Palfrey stormed to victory in the men’s 1500m in his second World U20 Champ qualifier 3:47.21, while in the women’s 1500m there were PB’s galore led by inform Izzy Thornton-Bott winning in 4:17.33 (3.28 sec PB) from Holly Campbell 4:18.26 and 17-year-old Nicola Hogg 4:18.26. For Hogg it was a 4.75 seconds PB and a World U20 Championships qualifier.

NSW Championships Day Three 

The final hours of the NSW Track and Field Championships featured some stunning performances, with Bendere Oboya’s (John Quinn) 51.61 over 400m suggesting that the 20-year-old is nearing her career best form which saw her shatter the Australian U20 record in 2019. 

Monique Quirk completed the sprint double with 23.20 (+1.6) in the 200m, whilst Nick Andrews edged Nick Hough (Anthony Benn) in the 110m hurdles in wind assisted times of 13.45 (2.6m/s) to 13.46 in one of the best finishes of the meet. 

Abbie Taddeo took out the 100m hurdles title in 13.12 (+1.3) to add to her consistent season to date.

Outside of NSW

The ‘Summer Down Under Wheelchair Series’ at the AIS featured a number of Paralympians and Paralympic hopefuls, with the event conducted by Wheelchair Sports New South Wales. 

Also already selected for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Team, Madison de Rozario (T53, Louise Sauvage) continued her scorching form on the track after last week’s 1:46.68 over 800m - this time clocking another pair of Paralympic A qualifiers in the form of a 3:23.75 solo effort over 1500m and 11:12.24 for the 5000m. The performances are a firm indicator that de Rozario is at the top of her game and will be hard to beat come Tokyo. 

Angela Ballard (T53, Fred Periac) and Eliza Ault-Connell (T54, Fred Periac) had an enticing duel over 400m, where it was Ault-Connell who proved too strong when rolling her way to 56.31 to defeat Ballard in a time of 56.81. The pair were rewarded with their efforts by securing the Paralympic B standard. 

Sam Carter (Fred Periac) managed to edge out Luke Bailey (Andrew Dawes) by the narrowest of margins in the Men’s 100m, clocking 14.14 to Bailey’s 14.15 (+2.6). Carter also recorded a time of 47.34 in the 400m which is a Paralympic ‘B’ Qualifier. 

Sam McIntosh’s 17.75 (-0.6) in the Men’s 100m was also noteworthy, with the T52 multiple national record holder certainly capable of more in favourable conditions. 

The pole vault action in Western Australia rolled on with Kurtis Marschall (Paul Burgess and James Fitzpatrick) and Nina Kennedy  (Paul Burgess and James Fitzpatrick) taking out their respective events. 

The winning performances came in the form of a 5.60m clearance from Marschall and 4.70m from Kennedy, with both athletes enjoying a consistent season having qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. Liz Parnova  (Paul Burgess and James Fitzpatrick) and Angus Armstrong  (Paul Burgess and James Fitzpatrick) also competed strongly - registering 4.40m and 5.30m with their seasons trending in a favourable direction. 

The spotlight at Queensland’s Cathy Freeman Shield belonged to 19-year-old Joshua Cowley, who lept 7.96m (+1.9) in the Men’s Long Jump. The performance was a 13cm personal best for Cowley and has him knocking on the door of the elusive eight-metre mark - a feat that would cement his status as one of Australia’s premier athletes in the event. 

Abroad it was Oliver Hoare (Dathan Ritzenhein) who turned his attention to the 5000m after already locking away a 1500m Olympic qualifier, this time clocking 13:22.16 over the longer distance. The time is a significant personal best for Hoare and reflective of the breakout season the 24-year-old is having, with a ticket to Tokyo in the forefront of his mind. 

By Lachlan Moorhouse and David Tarbotton
Posted: 8/3/2021