Athletics Report

Saturday 23 August 2025

Invitational #1

Shore hosted the track events at the first Invitational carnival of the 2025 Athletics season. Thankfully, after a wet training week, the sun was shining. It was great to see so many new athletes at the track after a very wet week of training.

High Jump

We saw a strong turnout from the High Jump squad, with enthusiastic participation from Year 7 students in their first carnival, all performing with great spirit and skill. The standout performance came from Lucas Wright in the U16 competition, who achieved a personal best of 1.92 metres—surpassing his previous record of 1.88 metres. Another highlight was Jordan Gao’s impressive 1.65-metre jump in the U15 event, rounding out a successful day marked by determination, sportsmanship, and promising talent across all age groups.

Sprints

A good number of Shore athletes entered the 100m and 200m events. Ten U13 boys ran a 200m with Gilbert Cay posting the fastest time of 27.23. Other U13 athletes, Henry Ferguson, Salvador Apfel, Tom Jeffreys and Joe Reidy also posted solid times in their first 200m runs of the season. Best times across the other groups were Fin Glanville (26.56 in the U14’s), Harry Hemming (26.01 in the U15’s), Scott Robson (24.81 in the U16’s), Henry Wheeler (24.44 in the U17’s), and Team Captain Charlie Mott (23.03 in the Opens).

In the 100m events, Gilbert Cay impressed in the U13’s with 13.17, as did Orlando Stewart with 12.58 in the U14’s. Jeremy Bremner clocked an 11.72 (in U17’s) and Digby Hockey 11.61 in the Opens.

It was also good to see Shore field four 4 x 100m relay teams in Week 1. Two teams ran in the U13s, as well as a U15 and a combined U17/Open team.

Shot Put

Shot put results from the weekend were sparse due to low numbers, but a few promising throws were still seen from the Shore boys at ES Marks. Notable throws this week came from Ben McHutchison in the U17s with a 12.14m and Orlando Stewart, returning from a broken collar bone injury, pushing an impressive 10.39m in the U14s.

Middle Distance

The middle distance coaches were quite pleased, despite a few athletic holes, with the start made on our 2025 Season at ES Marks last Saturday. The day started bright and early for the 3000m lads, chasing the worm at 7am for warm up. They were then, soon after at 8am, led around in racing by Tom Gray, showing signs of some good form as he was our first athlete ‘Under 10’ for the season in 9 min 53 secs. Jonty Jagger wasn’t far adrift, nor was James Warren on 10:05 and 10:21, respectively. We were buoyed by the large number of Juniors who saddled up for an ‘800’, no less than eight 13 year-olds starting! Zac Robertson was solid as the fastest in 2 min 24 secs. He’ll be under 2:15 in no time! Shout out to debutante in Athletics George Harvey in the U14s as he ran a solid first up 2:27. Toby Ward was tenacious as he clocked a pleasing 2:14, which will plummet as he relaxes into the season and his racing. Tom Armati was, not unsurprisingly, not far in arrears in 2:16. Hugo Stewart ran an excellent 2:04 to be Shore’s fastest on track in the 800s on the day. James Bestic was his normal tenacious self, who was talking himself down pre-race and ending up beating a rival he said he was ‘going to follow’, with a super 2:05! The 1500s were a little less pleasing, though only in the number of Shore lads competing. That being said, Fraser Handley stood up as someone to watch as he was under 5 mins in the U13s on debut! Even more impressive was that he went in 60:80 secs shortly beforehand in a 400! Lactic? Nah!!! Awesome, says he, already putting his name down for Cross Country next year! Henry Grieve was solid in 5:12 on the back of a 400m, and Zac Robertson did well to back up for a run after his Achilles played up after his 800. He’ll be ‘in the thick of it’ in no time! Keen for a few more 800 runners to emerge from our 400m ranks, and believe in themselves, as I know you would be sensational with some training and experience in racing. Here’s looking at you Henry Wheeler and Liam Kennedy! We’ll keep trying…

Hurdles

The Hurdlers began their season with most of our squad competing. The first run over the hurdles is always a tricky assignment, especially after the wet weather in the lead-up to the carnival. All the boys equipped themselves, with Thomas Eaton in the U14s performing well, followed by Henry Frape in the U15s. Tom Kierse led the charge in the U17 category, and Charlie Mott finished off the Hurdles with a nice first run over the high hurdles. It was pleasing to see many Under 13 boys having a run, and we look forward to continued improvement this week.

Long Jump

It was fantastic to see the long jump squad get underway. Several students competed for the first time, including juniors Gilbert Cay, Thomas Jeffreys, Saxon Taylor, Salvador Apfel, and Sam Courtenay, all of whom handled the occasion with confidence. Thomas Jeffreys showed strong consistency across his attempts, while Gilbert Cay demonstrated noticeable improvement as the event progressed. In the Under 15s, Harry Hemming produced solid jumps, building on each attempt. The squad also displayed great support for one another throughout the day, laying a strong foundation for the season ahead.

Reports written by the Athletics Coaches 2025