Rain and wind came, but that didn't dampen the spirits of athletes from Illawarra Blue Stars who contested the NSW State relay titles, last weekend. Teams were down from the club due to various reasons such as injuries, non vaccination and the time frame that clubs had to put teams in.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Regardless most clubs were down for same similar reasons, but the competition was strong, especially the Sutherland women's team who smashed one of the longest standing records in the books in the under 20 4x100metres.
But there was heartache, and non more that the open womens team from Illawong and University.
Illawong, the clear favourite to take out the blue ribbon event dropped the baton, whilst second placed over the line, University, ran out of their mark.
This shows that teams are teams, and an understanding of one another is the key component to many relay teams. Blue Stars open men's 4x100 of Chris Devery, Cameron Chisolm, Lachlan Parry and Kyle Grubnic have been a team for many years and have never missed the final of the open mens 4x100.
Just qualifying in 9th spot, the men lifted in the final and ran home in 6th spot, against some of the best relay teams not only in NSW but in Australia.
They all know there are some up and coming sprinters in the club, and are kept on their toes with Corey Williams and Jonty Faulkner along with Liam Ryan pushing for a spot in this highly competitive squad of male sprinters in IBS.
Faulkner, Williams and Ryan combined with Cameron Chisolm to make the final in the open mens 4x200m to take out a great fourth spot.
Faulkner, Chisolm and Ryan then combined in a South Coast team with AW James McPaul to finish in 5 th spot in the final of the open mens 4x400m.
Chisolm combined with Corey Williams, who has been showing great sprint talent, and female sprinters Maddison Miller and Sara De Vies to finish in sixth in the first ever mixed 4x100m.
Our women athletes were magnificent.
Combining with her club mates for the first time in three years, Toyah Edwards, combined with Kaitlyn Neto, Sara De Vies and distance athlete Jessica Hogg, finished 11 th overall in the 4x200m.
Sara and Maddison Miller then teamed with sisters Grace and Ashlyn Adams to form the open womens 4x100m.
Giving a lot away in age, with 17-year-old Ashlyn, and never having any baton changing together before the event, the girls took to the track against the very best but came out of it with smiles on their faces when they finished 10th overall.
Sammie Jones has continued with his fine distance running, having a good lead up to the men's open 10,000m, with a run in the state 3km. Sam was happy with this run and saw it as great preparation.
Blue Stars reminds any registered athlete can come on down each Sunday and compete by invitation in the clubs weekly competition.
The Illawarra Mercury news app is now officially live on both iOS and Android devices. It is available for download in the Apple Store and Google Play.
