St Peters schoolgirl speedster shines in record breaking run at the All Schools Athletics Championships
VIDEO: Here’s a 23.15 second reason why a rapid Queensland schoolgirl could join her stablemate Torrie Lewis as an Olympian. Watch Amaya Mearns’ record breaking 200m dash here.
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Samford’s Amaya Mearns has raised her radar to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games after a record-breaking performance over the weekend at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships.
Mearns, who attends St Peters Lutheran College, also went past the 200m time of Paris Olympian Torrie Lewis when Lewis was still at school. Now only the great Raylene Boyle has a faster U18 200m time than Mearns.
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Mearns, who is ironically coached by Lewis’ Brisbane coach Andrew Iselin and who has trained extensively next to Lewis, ran 23.15 seconds for the 200m U17s. That time was faster than Lewis’ 23.18 seconds when Lewis was a schoolgirl - also at St Peters Lutheran College in 2021-22.
Lewis is Australia’s fastest woman after running 11.10 seconds for the 100m earlier this year.
For Mearns, it is a long way from being the Arana Little Athletics’ club captain to now aspire for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, but she has started to climb toward that landmark.
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“It is definitely my goal to compete at the 2032 and even win in front of my home crowd would be amazing. I would be a good age for a sprinter,’’ Mearns said.
All this from a teenager who started athletics in Tiny Tots at the Arana Little Athletics club where she is the current club captain.
While she is coached by Iselin of Mayne Harriers, the Red, Black and Whites of Arana will always be a part of her.
“I have been at Arana for nine years. It is pretty much where it first started.
“I love them. They are a very good club and I am proud of them and I love my club. I have made lots of friends and went to New Zealand with the club. It was a fun experience.
It is where it all started and I recommended little athletics to everyone.’’
When Mearns is training under Iselin, she can be surrounded by high achievers.
Olympians Caleb Law and Lewis, who both made their Games’ debut in Paris, were two athletes who trained under Iselin.
She particularly enjoys Law’s personality.
“I like how he can win and still have a bit of fun, chuck his hand up in the air before he crosses the line and still do amazing times.
“I do athletics to relax. All my mates are there. It is a great atmosphere.’’
Mearns also had high praise for coach Iselin.
“I could not do it without Andrew (Iselin). He is outstanding. All the credit goes to him. He is pivotal to my success.’’
While Mearns is aspirational, and the Brisbane Games were a genuine ambition, she does not look too far ahead or get carried away.
Indeed she was surprised by her record breaking 200m performance at the All Schools, and also her 100m time of 11.49 seconds which collected her a silver medal behind her friend Thewbelle Philp. Mearns’s time of 11.49 seconds crushed her previous best 100m time of 11.61 seconds.
“I was not chasing records for this event. I was just trying to make it through the event,’’ Mearns said.
Selected for the Australian Oceania team bound for Fiji, but then withdrew due to injury, Mearns said she now aimed to make the Australian U18 4x100m relay squad in 2026.
"I am stoked. I am pretty proud of how I went,’’ Mearns said.
“It was a big weekend, and after recovering from a hamstring injury at the start of the year, I was just pleased to be at the event, and to get the record was exciting.
“It is a lot of work which goes into it and it is rewarding to see (the results).
“I am excited by this meet and hopefully I can be consistent.’’
She has been an athletics high achiever, winning around 24 national medals for 200m, 100m, long jump and relays since the age of 13, most of which came while attending her past school St Paul’s.
But Saturday’s gold medal is “probably my proudest moment in my athletics career’’.
“I was told to go into the event as a recovery, rehab exercise and don’t expect much out of it.
“To come out with that (the record) I was ecstatic.’’
Mearns will now enjoy a holiday in the USA - but there will be some pain with the pleasure.
She has been invited to run at the Puma New York City International invitational showcase (indoor) in The Big Apple, New York.
“It will be my first time in America and my first time running indoors and I am very excited,’’ Mearns said.
It is little wonder Mearns can run because sport is in the family tree. Her grandmother Ann Gerhardt, nee Mollah, medalled multiple times Queensland championships in the 100 yards sprint and great grandfather Gunnah Mollah represented Australia in baseball and umpired in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Meanwhile, Mearns’ helped St Peters Lutheran College win the senior girls national schools challenge yesterday, while Moreton Bay College claimed the intermediate girls and St Aidan’s the junior girls title.
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