MWAS athletes represent Geraldton At State Track and Field Championships

Two Mid West Academy of Sport athletes represented Geraldton at the recent State Track and Field Championships in Perth last weekend, bringing home three medals.

Sixteen-year-old under-18 400m hurdler and decathlon state champion Reuben Chapman was again the standout competitor in the 400m hurdles under-20 division, taking out the gold medal by a huge margin and, in the process, beating all but one of the open division athletes in a personal best time of 55.6 secs.

 Academy coach Gary Clark said the decision to take Reuben down to the senior championships was to provide additional competition at the highest level in preparation for the National Junior titles in Brisbane in April.

 It was an outstanding result according to Clark by Chapman, as he was not only 2-3 years younger than most of the competitors, but he also had to negotiate extended hurdle heights from 84cm to 91cm and to PB was quite remarkable, he said.  It will hold him in good standing for the nationals the second week in April.

Wynand Neethling also competed in the under-20 division, making the final of the very competitive 100m with a personal best time of 11.17.  With one of his preferred events, the javelin, clashing with the 100m, he opted for the Javelin only to throw some 6m below his best to record a 44m throw and finish fourth.

Clark said it was not his day on the Javelin runway; he just could not get a fluid throw in and again had to settle for fourth.  He did, however, make up for it in the discus with a clutch throw of 41.16, a personal best to take out the bronze medal.

Neethling also competed in the under 20 pole vault and collected another bronze medal with a 2.75m clearance, well below his 2.90 at the recent state decathlon championships.  This is the first time a Geraldton athlete has won a state medal in the pole vault discipline.  Clark said pole vaulting was conducted in Geraldton in the sixties and seventies, but no one had competed at a state level previously.

Chapman will now spend the next 5 weeks preparing for the National Junior titles in Brisbane, where he will contest the under-18 400m hurdles and Neethling is still deciding whether to contest the under-20 Decathlon at the Sydney Nationals the first week in April.

Another former MWAS athlete, Rowan Dennis, who has been with the Academy for over 3 years and moved to Perth 2 weeks ago for university studies, finally broke through to take out gold in the under-20 women's 400m hurdles.

 This is a great result for Rowan, Clark said after working very hard, tackling the toughest track event with a time of 67 secs 2 secs off her best time.  If she continues with athletics, she will be one to watch at further state and national titles