NSW Country Athletics Championships 2024: results, wrap, highlights, top athletes from the carnival
There were new records, stunning victories and plenty of excitement as the NSW Country Athletics Championships took place in Wollongong over the weekend. Check out the highlights.
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There were new records, stunning victories and plenty of excitement as the NSW Country Athletics Championships took place in Wollongong over the weekend.
With more than 800 competitors from all over the state taking part, it was one of the biggest carnivals on record, with athletes from under-9s through to the over-70s lining up for their shot at glory.
In the overall team score, Athletics Wollongong cemented its status as the premier athletics club in the bush by dominating the weekend, more than doubling the points of the next best team, Nowra Athletics Club.
With so many great performances and stories to come out of the championships, we’ve taken a look at some of the weekend’s highlights below.
MAITLAND’S SPRINT KINGS AND QUEENS
Maitland claimed bragging rights in the sprint relays, with the club taking out both the men’s and women’s 4x100m events.
The men’s team of Tyler Sweetman, Jasper Cain, Jack Deguara and Jarrod Sansom blitzed the field to finish first ahead of Eastlakes and the Blue Mountains Athletics Club.
Meanwhile the women’s relay sprint team of Claudia Hughes, Katie Smee, Petra Greaves and Maya Piras were too quick for Athletics Wollongong and Illawarra Blue Stars Athletics to claim the club double.
FASTEST MAN AND WOMAN CROWNED
The open 100m sprint is usually one of the headline acts of any athletics carnival and it certainly wasn’t any different in Wollongong with some thrilling finishes.
In the men’s dash, Woolgoolga’s Ethan Striegher took out the title with a sharp time of 10.57 to edge out Athletics Wollongong’s Mitchell O’Neill (10.63) and Eastlakes’ Liam Granato (10.69).
Meanwhile in the women’s Maitland’s Katie Smee bounced back from silver last year to take out the open women’s 100m sprint.
In what was a double to the team relay win, Smee crossed the line first ahead of last year’s gold medal winner Bronte Carroll, who came in second.
LOCALS BLITZ SPRINTS
Quickly racing clear in the overall team pointscore, Athletics Wollongong certainly cashed in on the sprints.
The club claimed seven of the 20 male 100m sprint races in a totally dominant performance, along with three of the women’s sprints.
But it wasn’t just in the 100m where the club shone, with some star performers claiming multiple wins.
Zacharia Rusin (under-16), Chase Grant (under-18) and Rob Bongiorno (50-59) all took out the 100m and 400m sprint double for the club, while young gun Jarrah Flack outdid them all, winning the under-10 boys 100m, 400m and long jump events in a superb hat-trick.
WELLS TAKES COUNTRY CROWN
Fresh from taking out Commonwealth and national junior titles in 2023, Gosford Allstars gun George Wells kicked off 2024 on the right foot by claiming the under-20 men’s discus and shot put titles, beating Angus Clues from the Blue Mountains Athletics Club in both.
Discus in particular proved to be a good event for the Gosford Allstars, with the club claiming seven of the 32 titles on offer.
GOSFORD GUNN GOES BACK TO BACK
Gosford Allstars champ Katie Gunn showed why she’s the undisputed queen of long jump by defending her title in the open women’s division.
Gunn blitzed the field, winning gold with a jump of 5.93m, a whopping 51cm further than second-placed Elana Withnall-Dickson from fellow Central Coast club Mingara.
GEORGE TAKES FULL FLIGHT
Gunn wasn’t the only woman to dominate the jumping events, with Macquarie Hunter’s Sukontha George taking out the long jump/triple jump double in the under-20 division.
The 18-year-old was a class above in both events, winning by margins of 35cm and 53cm, respectively, to run out a comfortable winner.
YOUNG GUNS CLAIM TITLES
One of the main drawcards of the country championships is the amount of talented, up-and-coming athletes who use the meet as preparation for major state and national events.
Port Stephens sprinter Summah Harrison continued her strong recent form – which saw her win gold at the NSW All Schools carnival in September and claim bronze in the Australian All Schools in December – by taking out the women’s 100m sprint in the under-20 division.
In the corresponding men’s event, Tamworth’s Benjamin Kelly backed up his bronze in the under-17 NSW All Schools by taking out gold with a sharp time of 10.89 seconds.
Meanwhile Nowra’s William Dyball, who was coming off a silver in the under-19 800m final at the NSW All Schools meet, took out the under-20 1500m, before once again claiming silver in the 800m event.
PBs, RECORDS AND QUALIFIERS
Beyond simply preparing for major events on the athletics calendar, some of the athletes used the meet as a chance to try and qualify for the 2024 World Junior Championships, to be held in Lima, Peru.
Newcastle Runners’ Jemma Pollard was on fire, taking out the open women’s 200m and 400m sprint double in sharp times of 23.94 (2.0m/s) and 54.86.
Meanwhile local gun Delta Amidzovski from the Athletics Wollongong club also posted a qualifying time of 13.38 in the women’s 100m hurdles under-20 division, a personal best over the senior hurdle height of 84cm.
Elsewhere, Athletics Wollongong’s Chelsy Wayne was another to post a Junior Worlds qualifying result with a throw of 51.43m in the open women’s discus, bettering the country record by about three metres. In an impressive meet, the 16-year-old also took out the open women’s shot put event.
Not to be forgotten, Cowra’s Ky Garratt smashed a 41-year record when he threw 60.68m in the under-18 hammer throw, adding more than four metres to the record.
KRAUSE’S RECORD-BREAKING RETURN
She was recently sidelined with a fractured leg, but Temora’s Grace Krause made a successful return to competition by taking out two gold medals.
She won the women’s under-18 sprint, before going on to break the carnival record in the under-18 long jump leaping 5.76m to eclipse the record set by Brianna Tisdell in 2009 by one centimetre.
DOGAN FAMILY’S WINNING WEEKEND
There would have been plenty of celebrating in the Dogan household after a stellar performance from the family in the longer-distance races.
From the Byron Bay Runners club, Luke Dogan took out the under-11 boys 1500m, with sister Skye winning gold in the under-16 women’s 2000m steeplechase.
As outstanding as those performances were, it’s fair to say sister Alexandra would have taken bragging rights, winning both the under-14 1500m and under-16 3000m events.
PORT KEMBLA DO 1500M DOUBLE
Kembla Joggers showed their dominance in the 1500m races by taking out the open men’s and women’s double.
In the women’, Renee Placek blitzed the field to claim gold ahead of Illawarra Blue Stars’ sisters Jessica and Ashleigh Hogg, while in the men’s Bradley Holland prevailed in a much tighter contest, edging out Orange’s Bayden Willis by three seconds to claim gold.
PREVIEW: ATHLETES TO WATCH
One of the most popular events on the athletics calendar returns this weekend when the 2024 NSW Country Championships takes place at the Kerryn McCann Athletic Centre in Wollongong.
Kicking off on Friday 19 January and running until Sunday, the carnival will see athletes from all over regional NSW come together for a weekend full of action.
As a meet that contains World Athletics-ratified events in the opens and under 20s divisions, as well as less competitive races in age groups ranging from under 10s to over 70s, the Country Champs will see a fantastic mix of athletes of all different ambitions and abilities hit the track.
Ahead of the meet, we’ve previewed a number of athletes to keep an eye over the course of the weekend.
George Wells (Gosford All Stars)
A Commonwealth and national champion to be hitting the field in Wollongong, Wells is coming off a huge 2023.
After claiming gold in discus at the Commonwealth Young Games in August, he then backed it up with the under-17 discus and shot put titles at the NSW All Schools meet in September, before travelling to Perth to blitz the under-18 division in both events in what was a spectacular year.
Taking part in both those events in the under-20 division, he’ll be looking to build for a big 2024.
Delta Amidzovski (Athletics Wollongong)
One of the absolute superstars of the meet, the young gun from Albion Park will be on familiar territory for the carnival in Wollongong.
While the 17-year-old might only be competing in one event – the under-20 100m hurdles – it is her favourite, having famously broken Olympic champion Sally Pearson’s national under-18 record last year at the Australian Junior Championships.
It capped off a big year for Amidzovski, who claimed gold in both the 100m hurdles and long jump at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago, before going on to win both events in the under-17 division at the NSW All Schools Championships in September.
Having competed in the World Junior Championships back in 2022, the Illawarra star will be hoping to use the country championships as the perfect platform as she build towards qualification for the 2024 event in Lima, Peru.
Ky Garratt (Temora Athletics Club)
The 17-year-old from Cowra will come into the first major meet of the year on the back of a golden 2023, which saw him claim both the state and national titles in the under-16 hammer throw event.
Coached by legendary hammer throw mentor Ernie Shankelton, the young gun will be hoping to start 2024 on a positive note.
Ella Penman (Dubbo Athletics Club)
From a family full of athletics fanatics, the 17-year-old will test herself by racing in the open age groups in the women’s 200m, 400m and 800m events.
It seems she’ll be well-primed for the challenge, having cleaned up at various junior meets in 2023.
After winning 800m silver at the Australian Junior Championships in the under-18 division, Penman went on to claim 400m gold and 800m silver at the NSW All Schools carnival in September, before backing it up with twin silvers in those events at the Australian All Schools in December.
Malachi Canning (Lismore Track & Field)
Competing in four events at the carnival, the talented para-athlete will certainly be one to watch.
The 17-year-old will come into the championships in good form, having claimed gold in long jump, shot put, discus and javelin events at the NSW All Schools carnival in September.
It was his third-straight long jump title at the meet, and his fourth para discus crown in a row.
Erin Smart (Nowra Athletics Club)
When it comes to domination, it’s difficult to go past Nowra’s Erin Smart, who seemingly has a mortgage on her events in the 40-49 age bracket.
In what was a remarkable performance, she last year defended all four titles in the women’s 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m race to be one of the best athletes of the carnival.
While the 41-year-old won’t be defending all of her quartet of titles in 2024, she will still be gunning for a hat-trick in the 100m, 200m and 400m races.
Mitchell O’Neill (Athletics Wollongong)
The hometown lad will be one to keep an eye on as he takes on some of the quickest men at the meet in some of the marquee events.
Fresh from claiming gold with the open 200m sprint last year, O’Neill will be hoping to do the double in both the open 100m and 200m events.
Bronte Carroll (Mingara Regional Athletics Club)
Likewise on the women’s side of the draw, Bronte Carroll will be looking to defend her open 200m title.
While training has been somewhat affected since finishing uni and starting full-time work as a physio, the 24-year-old from the Central Coast will still be one to keep an eye on in the headline races.
Grace Krause (Temora Athletics Club)
One of the most talented young athletes turning out in Wollongong, Krause is coming back from a major injury sustained throughout the back half of last year.
It soured what had been a promising year, with the 16-year-old claimed long jump bronze at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago and doing extremely well to qualify for the final of the women’s 200m, where she finished seventh.
In Wollongong, she’ll build on her comeback by taking part in the long jump, 100m and 200m events in the under-18 division.
Summah Harrison (Port Stephens Athletics Club)
The 17-year-old sprinter has roared back into some great form over the past six months with some excellent results.
She notably won gold in the 100m sprint at the NSW All Schools carnival in September, before claiming bronze in the Australian All Schools in December.
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