Top school talent leads North charge
TOWNSVILLE’S top young athletes will make the trip up the Bruce Highway in their quest for medal glory at this weekend’s Australian All Schools Athletics Championships.
Barlow Park in Cairns will host the best school- aged track and field stars from across the country from tomorrow as they battle it out for the coveted title of national champion.
The Northern region will be well represented, with Ashley Thomas ( discus, javelin), Hayden Lammon ( shot put), Maeghan Saldumbide ( high jump), Ayoka Wong ( triple jump), Kholan Hayes ( triple jump), Elliarna Mitchell ( 400m), and Tayla Clifford ( triple jump, long jump) all set to compete.
They’ll be joined by paraathletes Matthew Lundie ( 100m, discus), Keegan Elrick ( 100m, 200m, long jump), Brennan Baird ( long jump), Kaylah Collins ( 100m, 200m), and Sidney Short ( discus, shot put).
Confidence is high for the Northern athletes following their strong performances at the recent state titles and Townsville coach Gary Cairns said they were excited for their opportunity at the national level.
“They’re out there to try and do their best and get a good result. You train all year for it,” Cairns said.
“Ashley Thomas has been a consistent performer at nationals every year so he’s quite used to it. The only problems he’s got is competing against boys that are a year older than him, which makes it a bit tough, but he usually produces reasonably well so we’re not expecting anything less.
“You can only do your best, but what I see ( at training) should translate into some decent results.”
Last year’s All Schools Championships were held in Adelaide and Cairns said it was a nice boost for the young Northern athletes to be able to compete closer to home.