National Athletics Championships

Twenty seven DAC members travelled to Sydney in the last weekend of March to contest the Australian Athletics Championships, with our athletes competing in many different events across nine days of competition. At the end of the championships, our athletes had won three gold, seven silver and four bronze medals as well as achieving a dozen placings in finals and three club records being broken. 

In the field, Stephanie Ratcliffe continues to prove she has a very bright future in Hammer Throw, pushing Commonwealth Games representative Alexandra Hulley all the way in the qualifiers and final, eventually finishing second with a performance of 61.77m. Stephanie’s performance is sure to generate some interest in the US, despite taking a break from her studies at Harvard University.

Our junior female Pole Vaulters continue to impress, with Tahlia Grace finishing equal second on countback in the Under 16 competition, making it the second year in a row Tahlia has medalled at these championships. Allegria Basile’s rapid rise in the event continued, claiming bronze in the Under 14 competition with a personal best vault of 2.30m. Jamison Harding contested the Under 14 and Under 15 competitions, winning her first national title in the Under 14 event with a clearance of 2.75m and claiming a silver medal in the Under 15 competition with a vault of 2.80m. 

On the track, Jamison’s older sister, Shakira followed in her father Murray’s footsteps by setting new club records in the Under 16 90m (13.03) and 200m hurdles (29.60). Her 13.03 improves the ten-year-old Under 15 and 16 club records by .20 and .11 seconds respectively, while her 29.60 knocks just over half a second off the Under 15 record, set seventeen years ago. In the Under 20 100m hurdles, Alessia Wynne ran a world junior qualifying time of 14.13 on her way to silver, throwing herself into contention to be nominated for the championships in Colombia in August. 

Thomas Reynolds’ remarkable season concluded on a high with a gold medal in the Under 20 400m. Despite the shocking conditions, Tom put in a gutsy effort in the final 100 metres to storm home in 47.83, and win his first national title. Another outstanding track performance came from Abbey Caldwell who ran 4:10.75 to win her first open title in the 1500m, beating Olympic and World Championship representatives in a high-quality field. 

Congratulations to all of our athletes who competed in the championships. A full list of DAC athletes results and placings can be found below.

Local Competition – 9 April

We also wish to give a special mention to three members who ran personal best times in the 5000m at the Collingwood Classic last Saturday the 9^th. Anthony Paige broke 17 minutes for the first time, clocking 16:54.60 to finish fourth in the Mixed C race, John Portwood cracked the 15-minute barrier for the first time, finishing ninth in 14:56.40 in the Men’s A race and Lydia Rinaudo finished fourth and ran a personal best time of 17:47.40 in the Women’s A race. 

National Athletics Championships Results:

Note: Relay team members names in italics are not DAC members.