Grills has the skills

Teen athlete brings home gold, shatters personal best

GEELONG Guild athlete Ethan Grills is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Mark Blicavs after being crowned the under-16 national steeplechase champion in Sydney.

Grills, 15, was the one to beat at the Australian championships earlier this month and he didn’t disappoint, breaking his personal best by 12 seconds to win gold in the 2000m steeple.

Grills, who is coached by his dad Andrew, also won a silver in the under-16 3000m final, exceeding his team’s expectations.

“We were over the moon,” Andrew said.

“There were some very good runners and we knew he’d have to do PBs, but he did so it was fantastic, we were really pleased.

“He had the title for the steeple from last year but it was a close race last year, so he went in probably the favourite to win the steeplechase, but he managed to win by much bigger than we anticipated, which was great.

“The 3km, though, he wasn’t really in the running in terms of times, in fact, he only came second in the state for the 3km. But in the nationals, he only lost by a nose at the very end, so he did exceptionally well in that race.”

While the athletics season now turns to cross country, Andrew said Ethan would now turn his focus towards football with Geelong Amateur.

“He’s hoping to retain the Victorian Cross Country title and he came second in the national cross country last time he competed but he wasn’t able to run last year, so he’s keen to try and be able to get some medals in those,” he said.

“But he’s very, very keen on footy, so he’s really throwing himself into footy season at the moment.

“He’s just really, really passionate about his footy and he’s trying to model himself on Blicavs. He’s hoping to have a shot at the Falcons.”

Grills has been a consistent performer at a high level in recent years and was celebrated for his outstanding results and sporting attitude with nomination in the Geelong Advertiser’s Junior Sports Star of the Year Award last year.