Athletics Australia – News – Records tumble at Australian Junior AWD Championships

An unbelievable 14 Australian records have fallen at the Australian Junior AWD Championships this past weekend, with more than 100 athletes taking to the track or field at the Australian Institute of Sport across the two-day event.

Joined in the record books by Commonwealth champion Louise Ellery who extended her own F32 shot put world record to 6.24m in an invitational open-age event, the new national benchmarks capped off what was a brilliant showcase of junior athletes with a disability.

“The great results from the weekend were the icing on the cake,” said Rohan Short, Athletics Australia Paralympic Preparation Program Manager.

“It’s always nice to see a few records tumble but the sheer volume from the weekend is a great sign for our sport and for the three new record-holders heading to the World Championships in January it’s a real confidence boost.”

Those three new record-holders are Erinn Walters, Mitchell Pink and Nicholas Hum, the trio setting new Australian standards in the U16 T35 200m, the U18 F38 long jump and the U20 T20 long jump respectively.

The youngest male and female members of the team bound for the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships, Pink leapt 5.38m to take victory in the U18 ambulant long jump with Walters stopping the clock at 38.26 (w:0.4) for her new national benchmark in the U16 ambulant 200m.

Their teammate Hum, who will compete in events for the intellectually disabled in Christchurch (NZL), leapt 6.29m to win the U20 ambulant long jump ahead of Adam Cunningham (F37, second, 4.23m) and Andrew Iselin (F38, third, 3.88m).

Rounding out the new record-holders are Natasha Morrison (12.58m, U16 F37 javelin throw), Kieran Setco (32.99m, U16 F38 discus throw), Chris Rushworth (18.91m, U16 F35 javelin throw), Mikey Lloyd-Tighe (4.48m , U16 F36 shot put), Amanda Krsticevic (7.88m, U14, F46 shot put), Dylan Patman (5.68m, U20 F20 long jump), Nathan Arkley (53.22, U18 T54 400m), Kristy Pond (1:26.75, U16 T34 400m), Kobie Donovan (48.48, U18 T40 200m) and Matt Silcocks (4:21.23, U18 T46 1500m).

Eclipsing her own world record twice before hitting her final mark of 6.24m, Ellery’s performance provided the open-age highlight of the weekend’s competition with the result a 7cm improvement on her 6.17m world mark set at the XIX Commonwealth Games in October.

Opening her account with a 6.18m heave, Ellery went on to throw 6.20m before hitting her new world mark of 6.24m with further details of her achievements available by following this link.

Away from the track, almost 70 officials came together for an IPC-endorsed seminar prior to the commencement of competition with those in attendance guided through international standard procedures relating to the call room and event set-up both on the track and in the field.

With practical training then undertaken as part of the Australian Junior AWD Championships, the seminar was instrumental in refreshing the knowledge of a large contingent of Australian officials headed to the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in January.

For full results of the Australian Junior AWD Championships, please follow this link to the Championships page.

Athletics Australia – News