TAREE Athletics Club had record-breaking success at the Little Athletics Regional Championships in Tamworth. A total of 64 Taree athletes competed in more than 200 events.
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The club returned home with five regional records and a medal haul of 29 gold, 22 silver and 29 bronze. To date, 25 athletes have qualified for the State championships in Sydney in March and will compete in more than 40 events.
In her first year at Little Athletics, 14-year-old Lilly Bennett broke two regional records, winning the under 15 girls 1500m and 3000m races on the same day in extremely hot weather. Lilly's time of 5.06:46 bettered the previous 1500m record by five seconds. Her 3000m time of 11.04:94 smashed the previous mark by 12 seconds.
John's medal haul
John Ussher, 13, won a swag of six medals, scoring gold in the 13/14 boys multiclass 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and shot put events, as well as silver in the discus.
John's time in the 100m broke the regional record and he also set a record in the 400m which was a new event on the multiclass program for this year.
It was also a successful weekend for 10-year-old Jarrah Butler, who came home with a regional record, setting a new mark in the under 11 girls 80m hurdles. Jarrah finished with three gold medals, winning the 80m hurdles, 100m and 200m, as well as a silver in the junior 4x100m relay and a bronze in the high jump.
Ivy Hoadley, 13 and Tegan McCallum, 11, were also triple gold medallists. Ivy won the under 14 girls 200m hurdles, javelin, and triple jump. She also brought home two silver medals in the discus and senior 4x100m relay and two bronze medals in the long jump and 80m hurdles.
Tegan won the under 12 girls 400m, 800m and 1500m, as well as a silver medal in the junior 4x100m relay.
Stand out
Hunter Davies, 10, was also a stand out performer winning the under 11 boys javelin by more than nine metres. His winning throw of 27.94m establishes him as a contender for the state finals, which is no small achievement in his first season of learning the javelin. Hunter also won a silver medal in the triple jump and bronze medals in the 100m and 80m hurdles.
The Taree club has a strong focus on technical events, which shows in their results with the club winning 14 hurdles medals, eight race walk medals, seven javelin medals, five triple jump medals and five discus medals. The club is also establishing itself in the middle distance events, winning seven medals in 800m and six in 400m events.
Alongside the medal tally, the club celebrates personal best performances and athletes are encouraged to write on a noticeboard any personal best achievements in the championship. By the end of the event almost 50 personal best performances had been celebrated, which is a notable achievement given the extreme temperatures.
Hot weather policy
On Saturday events were put on hold for several hours and resumed in the evening due to the hot weather with temperatures and humidity reaching a tipping point under Little Athletics NSW's Hot Weather Policy.
The State Little Athletics Championships will be held on March 22-24 at Sydney Olympic Park. It is expected that a small number of additional Taree athletes will qualify under a Little Athletics 'next best' policy, with the full state team to be announced in the coming weeks.