Athletes from the four Ballarat based clubs headed to Sydney over the past week (Sat 26 Mar 2022 — Sun 03 Apr 2022) to represent Victoria at the Australian Track & Field championships with incredible results recorded. With athletes in a variety of different events and age groups, Ballarat was well represented throughout the week.
Holding their own on the national stage, Ballarat athletes came away with a staggering 20 medals which included an impressive 8 gold medals across the championship. Along with our talented athletes, Ballarat sent officials across who braved the cold and rainy condition to support the event, we can’t thank our officials and helpers enough for all the work they do within athletics.
The first gold came in the U15 Men 2000m Steeple event where Ballarat YCW member Riley Shillito came away the national champion completing the race in a time of 6:30.85m. This is only Shillito second steeple race after securing victory at states, extremely impressive for someone so new to the event.
Fraser Saunder followed up with gold In the U20 Men 10,000m Race Walk event winning by more than 4 minutes as he finished in a time of 47:15.56m and continued his strong form this season. Sam Rizzo then took gold in the Open Men Wheelchair 1500m event finishing in a time of 3:48.60m continuing his dominance within the event.
Distance running was again a speciality for Ballarat athletes with Daisy Sudholz coming home with TWO gold medals within the U17 Women’s field with dominate displays across the 1500m and 3000m event. Sudholz first won the 1500m event in a time of 4.29.22m before following up with gold in the 3000m in a time of 9.48.07m. Following a silver in the 1500m event, Archie Caldow took gold in the U17 Men 3000m after blasting the field to finish well clear in a time of 8:36.77m.
Over to the jumping and we saw a very impressive 4 medals won by High Jumpers with two golds across the week. Within the U18 Men event, Lachlan O’Keefe jumped an impressive 2.15M to claim the gold and record a World Junior Qualifying (WJQ) result in the process. O’Keefe recorded the personal best in dreadful conditions for jumpers, highlighting his exciting talent. Along with O’Keefe, the leaping landscaper Yual Reath took home gold within the Open Men’s category with a jump of 2.20M. Reath took out the competition outright after clearing 2.20M on his second attempt.
Along with our gold medal athletes, Ballarat saw an abundant of silver and bronze with impressive performance across grades. Grace Kelly took home TWO silvers and ONE bronze within the U17&18 Women field across the 100m, 200m and relay team. Other athletes recording medals include Armani Anderson, Alanna Peart, Zac Grainger, Madison Wright, Mackayla Culvenor, Floyd Burmeister and Caytlyn Sharp.
Congratulations to all athletes who made the trip to Sydney and represented Victoria, you have done your club and state proud!
