GPS track and field: Your ultimate guide; athletes to watch
GPS schoolboy track and field championships: Your ultimate guide to Friday’s meet, including key athletes to watch and historical recollections from GPS doyen Ron Cochrane.
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The annual GPS track and field championships in juniors and seniors will be held on Friday, and the www.couriermail.com.au will be there to bring you reports and images from the action.
To preview one of the grand sporting events on the Queensland calendar, we bring you the names of some key athletes to watch ahead of the senior championship, while also tapping into the doyen of GPS sport, Ron Cochrane, and extracting some of his great recollections.
RELATED LINKS
HOW THE GPS FIRST XV SEASON FINISHED
HOW THE GPS FIRST XI SEASON FINISHED
WHO WON THE GPS SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP
THE PRESENT
Key athletes to watch
Nudgee College
Ashley Wong: Watch for Wong, an unlucky omission from the world junior squad, to compete in the pen 100m and 200m
James Swao: When it comes to middle distance, Swao eats up the metres at a great rate of knots.
Nixon Pasese: He is a rugby and rugby league footballer on the rise, but over summer he uses his brawn to shine in the under 15 shot put and discus
Ethan Grimshaw: Jumping Jack Beans, Grimshaw is an under 14 young gun on both the track and in the field. He will compete in the 100m, 200m, both the long and triple jumps, javelin and shot put.
Alex Wain: A young man with a big motor, Wain will challenge hard in both the under 13 800m and 1500m
Roman Jones: Jones is a rookie on the rise in the under 13 shot put, discus and javelin.
Open 4x100m: Nudgee were traditionally strong, with Ashley Wong, James Swao, Alex Romano and Lachy Hoban statistically one of the fastest teams to run at GPS
Toowoomba Grammar School
Hinata Inoue: TGS is the college which nurtured current world junior under 20 sprinter Jai Gordon and Olympian Matt Kenny, among others, and its current batch of outstanding athletes on the rise includes Inoue who will compete in the discus and shot put.
Matt Taylor: The Year 11 student will need a big breakfast to get through all the throwing
Ipswich Grammar School
Ipswich Grammar School has the likes of Joseph Deng IGS (800m Australian record), hurdler Rodney Zuyderwyk and sprint sensation Lynton Johnston as old boys, but who were IGS’s current young guns?
Lachlan Buckman: Buckman will take some beating in the under 16 javelin: He is four time national champion and was the winner of the 2022 Chemist Warehouse Australian Track & Field Championships with a throw of 66.17m. Buckman has competed for Australia and won the under 18 Oceania Javelin Champion 2022 in Mackay with 67.40m.
Joe Volker: With springs in his heels, Volker is an under 15 long jump talent coming off a win in the 2022 Chemist Warehouse Australian Track & Field Championships (6.73m)
Thomas Purcell: Another with explosive potential is 90m hurdler Purcell who claimed the under 13 2022 Chemist Warehouse Australian Track & Field Championships in a blazing time of 12.93secs
Gout Gout: The under 15 years competitor is an up and coming sprint talent with a PB of 10.93 in the 100m
Harrison Purcell: Purcell Mark II. We featured Thomas above, and now meet Harrison Purcell whose under 15 years second place at the 100m hurdles (Chemist Warehouse Australian Track & Field Championships) raised eyebrows. He will run in the 400m hurdles and 100m hurdles.
Brisbane Boys College
The BBC community last year were captivated to watch Ashley Moloney (Olympic bronze, decathlete) follow in the footsteps of the likes of Matthew McEwen (decathlete silver medallist, 2002 Commonwealth Games 2002) and Mitchell Watt (long jump silver medallist, London Summer Olympics 2012) as Games’ podiumers.
In 2022, who will be some key current athletes to watch on Friday from BBC.
Alexi Champion: The 2022 State Champion 17 years high jump and multiple GPS champion
Rhys Evans: Evans has had a big 2022, winning the state 16 years 200m and 110m hurdles
Seth Mahony: A young man with a big motor, Mahony is the 2022 silver medal winning in both the 16 years 1500m and 3000m
Mafi Aho: Watch for Aho after he was a national medalist in the 14 years throws this year.
Flynn Pumpa: The tried and tested Pumpa competed at the World Under 20 Track and Field Championships this year.
Brisbane State High School
BSHS has lost its star sprinter, First XV rugby winger Toshi Butlin, to injury (hamstring), but always reels out some of the state’s finest young athletic talents.
These include Liam Hude open shot put and javelin, terrific jumps talent Joel Templin (open hurdles and triple jump) and a teen with a big, big motor, 3000m young gun Joseph Saunders.
Churchie
Churchie’s latest old boy international is Ky Robinson (2019) who went from outstanding results at GPS level to Stanford University and most recently sixth in the 10000m at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Churchie also has one of the greatest GPS track and field athletes as an old boy - Brett Crew (1979). Crew’s two GPS records (800m and 1500m) are still unbroken and remain the two longest standing current records in the competition.
Rory Easton: Easton is captain of Churchie Track and Field. He won the State 18-19 years 100m on the weekend in a State All Schools record of 10.49, and also came second in the 200m.
Jack Love: Love won the under 17 Australian Championship for 400m Hurdles last April and won the 16 Years 400 Hurdles State Championship on the weekend.
Lachlan Cornelius: Cornelius won the State 18-19 Years 800m on the weekend and finished second in the 1500m.
Brisbane Grammar School
BGS has had some of the very best come through the college, including Norman Waraker (1910), Edgar Neiht (1933), Adolf Hoffman (1939), Ron Green (1948), David Whittle (1972), Lindsey Close (1975), Daniel Yates (1989), Cameron Brownjohn (1992), Andrew Cameron (1998), Dan Forsyth (2013) and Liam O’Brien (2013).
But there is also a thrilling crop of current students set to shine on Friday, including Alex Thakur, Year 12 – Open 400m Hurdles; Ethan Huang, Year 5 – 13 years 800m, 1500m; Archie Boorer, Year 8 – 14 years 800m, 1500m; Alfie Sprott, Year 12 – Open 800m, Open 4x400m Team; Tom Gulliver, Year 10 – 15 years High Jump
THE PAST - Ron Cochrane reflects on some magic moments through these fast facts.
+ From the mid-80s only IGS, Nudgee College, Brisbane Grammar School and Brisbane Boys College have won the championship.
+ Did you know IGS old boy Lynton Johnston once set 16 GPS in five years.
+ Olympic Games bronze medallist (decathlon) is a BBC old boy
+ Former Test cricket Shane Watson all-rounder threw discus for IGS at the championship
+ Former Test batsman David Ogilvie BGS (old boys) was once nicknamed by media giant Alan Jones as Tobin Bronze after the great racehorse of the day because he was a champion schoolboy athlete
+ Wallaby great Jason Little (TGS) was a four time high jump winner
+ Former Australian tennis champion Roy Emmerson (BGS) held the broad jump GPS record for a remarkable 20 years.
+ Great MIC’s include Alex McCardle, Nigel Grieve, Peter Kropp, Malcolm Staniforth, Stephen Hows and Russell Hansen
+ elite coaches such as Tony Booth,and Eric Brown, who coached Cedric Dubler (BSHS) and Ash Moloney (BBC) to the Olympics, were some of the great coaches involved
+ Australian representatives include Mitchell Watt (BBC) and Matt Denny (TGS)
+ Adam Connelly and Bernard Chee’s long jump battles, which delivered world class performances, were legendary.
+ Brett Crew once held the world record for his 800m.
+ Anthony Westaway and Brett Winter were the only two from any GPS school to ever win the middle distance treble on the same night (800m, 1500m and 3000m).
+ Shamiah James (Nudgee) won 15 from 15 jump events in five years.
+ Isaac Wohlsen (BBC) and Chee (Nudgee) both won 12 sprint titles.
+ Athletes like Andrew Cameron) BGS), Ken Bridge, Richard Pope, Danny Yates, Lachlan Grant, Cameron Lane, Steven Glover, Brett Althaus, Matt Cherry, William Weedon, Andrew Jarvis, John Gordan were among the best ever.
+ Angus Wardell (BBC), Liam Zamal Paez (Terrace) and Nicholas Vincent managed to win five consecutive titles in the same event during their five years competing.
+ Some of the great win records include:
Darryl Callaghan (IGS) won 13 titles
Michael Gretler (BSHS) 13 titles
Mark Sills (IGS) 11 titles
Danny Yates (BGS) 11 titles
Damian Bock (BBC) 10 titles
Yam Duong (BGS) nine titles.
+ Middle distance high achievers included Brett Crew (Churchie), Werna Botha (BSHS), Stu Bowden (Terrace), Rob Symmons (Churchie) and Andrew Southwell (Churchie).
+ High jump aces include Wardell, Little, Paez and Brett Darram (IGS), while long jump/triple jump exponents of note were Adam Connelly (IGS), Richard Pope (BGS) and Andrew McGray (BGS).
+ Legendary throwers included Steve Glover (TGS), Cameron Lane (Nudgee), Brett Althaus (TGS), Matt Cherry (BSHS), Liam Suter (IGS), Weedon, Nick Vincent (BGS), McNamara (BSHS), Adam Beesley, Alex Zanfirache, Bruce Spencer, Greg Buckle and Vensel Asi, all of BGS.
+ Adam Bevis was the ironman of GPS track and field, competing in 26 events.
+ Sprint stars include Doug Bartholomew (BGS), Tim Trezise (TSS), Neil Orford (BGS), Sam Long (TSS), Ken Evans (BSHS), Brett Stapleton (TGS)
+ Long-time coach Tony Booth was introduced to GPS athletics at the age of 14 in 1943 when he was selected to compete as a sprinter for Toowoomba Grammar School - coached by the Headmaster, Mr HE Roberts.
Booth then started his coaching career in 1956 after he had been appointed by Roberts to the staff who was then the Headmaster at Churchie.
From 1956 to 1989, Tony guided Churchie teams to 12 Premierships in Track and Field, 14 in Cross Country and 6 in Swimming.
In 1990, he was asked by Brisbane Grammar School coach, Malcolm Staniforth to join the Grammar coaching group and he became the Middle-Distance coach for the Grammar team until 2002. Grammar teams won seven GPS Cross Country titles during that time.
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