Athletics Report
Saturday 20 August saw the first of the Athletics invitational carnivals for the 2022 season. A sunny afternoon greeted the Shore Team who travelled to Homebush to compete against all the other GPS schools. After two years of interrupted training and competitions, it was great to see many competitors and a sizable crowd in the stand. Myles Kinchington was the first Shore athlete to step onto the track and ran a commendable 3,000 metres to just miss out on breaking the ten minute barrier. Some of our sprinters then tested their early season form over the 200 metres race. Ben Gordon realised the benefit of running in spikes to post the quickest 200 metres out of the Shore athletes in the Under 13 age group. He was followed by Will Powell in the Under 14 age group and Charlie Mott in the Under 15s who was third runner overall. Digby Hockey enjoyed his first run in the Shore uniform with a personal best in the 200 metres, while Zac Chadwick showed his athletic potential in the Opens 200 metres.
The 800 metres races began with Ben Frantz and Jonty Jagger showing the outcome of some winter Cross Country sessions with nice runs in the Under 13s. The Under 15 age group showed some great early season promise with James Bestic and Ben Hocking being very competitive. James ended up with a new personal best of 2 minutes 15.79 seconds. Ryan Gilmour made his mark in the Under 16 800 metres with his first run in the Shore colours to record 2 minutes 15.14 seconds. The early find of the Athletics squad is Will Nutt who ran a controlled 800 metres in his Under 17 race to run 2 minutes 02.37 seconds for his first 800 metres race. Not to be outdone, Nathan Stanmore showed a great return to form to win his race in a very smart 1 minute 56.58 seconds. The Hurdlers then took to the stage with Will Rintoul and Ben Gordon coming 3rd and 4th in the Championship race. Nick Wendt then did even better with 2nd in the Under 14 Championship race, before Jack Riding and Ethan Nam recorded personal best times in the Under 15 race to commence their season. James Kase left the Year 12 books behind for a controlled first hurdles race in the Under 17 Championship.
The first races for the 100 metres sprinters saw a competitive Under 13 group do well in their heats. This included Will Rintoul, Ben Gordon, Toby Cochrane and Scott Robson. This was a wonderful start to their season. Charlie Mott in the Under 15s and Marcus Warner in the Under 16s were the quickest Shore runners in their respective age groups, while Hugo Orpin was the fastest in the Under 17s. Our Captain, Henry Murray, ran a very relaxed Open 100 metres to place in the Championship race. He also backed up to win the Long Jump with 6.53 metres. The pick of the 400 metre races included another personal best for James Bestic of 56.9 seconds in the Under 15s, while Will Nutt ran 53.1 seconds in the Under 17 age group. Not to be outdone, there were plenty of personal bests in the field events with Harrison Brunker 2nd in the Under 13s with 12.02 metres, Hugh Trafford-Jones 3rd in the Under 14s with a 12.00 metre, Angus Leslie throwing 11.56 metres in the Under 16 age group, Charlie Bowditch throwing 12.46 metres in the Under 17s while Vice-Captain, Jackson Stiel threw 11.89 metres for third place. Our two Under 17 High Jumpers, Owen Chang and Stef Petrellis both recorded 1.81 metres for equal second spot.
Performance of the Week for the Juniors: Will Rintoul 1st in the Under 13 Long Jump with 4.87 metres.
Performance of the Week for the Intermediates: James Bestic in the Under 15s 800 metres, with 2 mins, 15.79 secs.
Performance of the Week for the Seniors: Nathan Stanmore winning the 800 metres in 1 min, 56.58 secs.
Reverend Anthony Benn
MIC, Athletics
