Athletics Report

Saturday 30 August 2025

Invitational #2

Despite the icy start to the morning, huge numbers of our young athletes turned up ready to solidify their place in the Athletics team for 2025. Captain Charlie Mott and Vice-Captain James Bestic rallied the troops and led by example, posting some cracking times in their respective races: Charlie (11.27sec in 100m) and James (2.03.34 in 800m). Both are keen to continue to improve in the final Invitationals before GPS on Saturday 20 September.

Sprints

The second Invitational Carnival of the season saw our athletes return to E S Marks Athletics Field (E S Marks), continuing the momentum from last week with strong participation across all age groups. The enthusiasm and commitment from our students were evident, particularly in the Under 13 category, where the sheer number of competitors in the 100m relay presented a logistical challenge for our relay specialist, Coach Mr Wallace.

The Under 13s 100m sprint remains fiercely competitive. Gilbert Cay led the charge, improving on his previous performance with an impressive time of 12.74 seconds. Close behind were Fraser Hadley and Alexander Mouracadeh, with Billy Coassin, Sam Courtenay, Henry Ferguson, Beau Hockey, Archie Smith, Josiah Thomas, and Thomas Jeffreys all showing consistency or improvement compared to last week’s results.

Across the other age divisions, standout performances in the 200m included:

Fin Glanville (U14) – 26.96 seconds
Harry Hemming (U15) – 26.86 seconds
Scott Robson (U16) – 24.91 seconds
Jeremy Bremner (U17) – 26.32 seconds
Rory Tucker (Opens) – 24.58 seconds

These results reflect the athletes’ dedication and progression as we approach the critical stages of the season. The team is clearly building momentum, and we look forward to seeing continued excellence in the weeks ahead.

Hurdles

Our second meet saw incredible numbers in the Under 13s age group as eight Shore hurdlers took to the track, with Salvador Apfel improving on his personal best time. Under 14’s Sam Holt completed his first run of the season, looking strong, as did Toby Cay’s debut in Under 15. Scott Robson continues to impress in the Under 16s with both technique and speed, posting another personal best. Our representation was less in the Senior Age Groups due to exams, and we look forward to a massive week on the track as we confirm selections this weekend.

High Jump

Another Saturday at E.S. marks and another round of personal bests from members of the high jump team. The enthusiastic Under 13s age group showed great improvement overall, with Billy Cossain leading the jumps with 1.45m. In the Under 14s, we had two jumpers tied on 1.5m, one of whom was Sam Holt, who was a new addition to the team and achieved a personal best. In the Under 15s, Ryan Leckie achieved an impressive 1.6m, 10cm higher than last week. Hugo Noe performed well in the Under 16s, reaching new highs of 1.80m. Julian Harrison also jumped well for the Seniors, but some minor technical errors kept him off his best. After two meets, Shore looks to be building nicely toward the GPS carnival.

Shot Put

Shore had a vast improvement in numbers this weekend at E S Marks and consequently saw many athletes throw personal bests. Shore’s standout shot putters this week were Harry Fuzes and Angus Leslie, both putting over 11 metres, in the Under 15s and Men’s Open categories, respectively. However, it was Noah Quayle who shone brightest with his 13.05m, taking out the competition in the Under 17s.

Long Jump

We had a strong weekend of results from many of the long jump squad. Many boys jumped personal best efforts with improved run-ups, take-offs, and execution of the jump overall. It is noteworthy that so many boys trained throughout the week, culminating in significant improvements to match their dedication to training. Furthermore, it was also noticeable that many new boys that jumped for the first time in the second week of the season. Best jumpers included Harry Hemming, Will Ward, Andrew Milton, and Noah Quayle. The squad looks forward to next week’s invitational carnival to continue developing and practising skills to progress further and continue building confidence towards the AAGPS Championships in three weeks’ time.

Middle Distance

The Middle Distance coaching staff were buoyed to see a few more athletes arrive at E S Marks last Saturday to stake a claim on a Shore spot to race at the GPS Championships. It was Windy (notice capital W!) last Saturday, and it made racing difficult for those required to do a few laps of the track, thankfully, though they are the tough athletes already…

The 3000m runners were sad to hear that Tom Gray had succumbed to the lurgy and James Warren still had a niggle; both prudently deciding to keep their powder dry for next week. Jonty Jagger had to do it solo up front and sadly missed the kick when a few athletes from other schools made their move. Should he have been watching more closely, we feel he would have gone sub 10, though he still finished in a respectable 10min15secs. Harry Edmunds saddled up again and had to pull out mid-race, and Oscar Miller indicated he had some potential as a distance athlete as he secured a result of 11min 20secs, looking super comfortable.

The 800m runners were there in number, well, the Under 13s were, with six fronting up for a run! Some solid performances came from Henry Ferguson, staying upright unlike last week… as he clocked 2min 27.68secs, Zac Robertson crossed the line in 2:29:51 and looked to have plenty of petrol in the tank. Fraser Handley finished, as fresh as a daisy in 2:30:69. He needs to back himself and go with the leaders, or thereabouts, next week. Henry Grieve went out a bit harder, which was good, clocking 2:32:26. Jackson Harris and Patrick Old also fought hard. These blokes need to believe in themselves and get into the race, that’s the point of it after all… Jake Mears showed plenty of potential in the Under 14s, and also needs to back himself in his racing and training… It was deja vu in the Under 15s with Toby Ward and Tom Armati in a ding-dong battle, as was the case last year. Toby looked to have Tom, until Tom slid past. With 80m to go, Toby looked to be staging a comeback that didn’t eventuate, maybe tomorrow! Tom recorded a pleasing 2:14:56 to Toby’s 2:16:95. Archie Watson crossed the line in a pleasing 2:22:86, with Hunter Kitchen fighting hard not far behind. Hugo Stewart was our quickest Under 16s athlete as he was 2:06:06, not quite as quick as last week; he obviously needed a ‘race’ as he wasn’t headed for the win. Jonty Jagger looked for some speed, found a bit, as he recorded 2:16. Fraser Pandit led the
Under 17s in an injury-free first outing, yay, as he was 2:12:72. Pleasing runs from Henry Roxburgh and Joel Gilmour too! James Bestic made sure Hugo wasn’t the fastest 800m Shore athlete for the second week in a row as he muscled his way to a 2:03.

The middle-distance team looked a little depleted mid-afternoon for the blue riband events, the 1500s. You can forget that 100m nonsense, it’s the 1500m athletes, or milers, everyone wants to see… Henry Grieve led the Under 13s and wasn’t far adrift of the 5min mark as he finished in 5min 5:37secs. Zac Robertson wasn’t far adrift in 5:15. Jackson Harris and Patrick Old both backed up well from the 800s, and Alex Baxter pleasingly turned up for a run! Jackson Sprott was his usual tough self, and worked his way around the track in some discomfort to break 5min, just, in 4:59:69. Tom Armati also backed up, benefiting from a few extra kms in the legs and race experience and laid down a pleasing 4:55:80, slowing only a little from 4:35 pace toward race end. Next week! We loved that Hugo Stewart took on James Bestic in the Opens 1500. It was a Shore delight as these two pushed each other for the duration, James prevailing at 4:30:01 to Hugo at 4:30:45; this was a great way to finish the day for the Blue Street Boys!

Reports written by the Athletics Coaches 2025