THE Nowra Athletics Club’s teams got off to a flyer on day one of the Athletics NSW State Relay Championships Sydney Olympic Park.
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First on the track were the under 18s men four by 400 metres team led by Nick Woolley who got the team off to a flying start.
He passed to Zac Havadjia who continued his recent form with another fast 400 before passing to Jye Edwards who gritted his teeth to show speed to burn – not bad for a cross country and middle distance runner specialist.
The team was anchored by the experienced Josh Byron who stormed home and won the club’s first medal a bronze behind the more fancied opponents of Scots College and UTS Norths.
This race gave Nick his first ever state medal.
The under 16s women’s four by 100 metre team were up next for their heat.
This team was an interesting combination of youth with two 13-year-olds, Jade Mustapic and Jenna Bentley, and two 14-year-old sprinters Ebony Johnson and Shenay Edwards.
Shenay, better known as a middle distance runner, got the team off to a great start before passing to Jade who tore down the back straight in a sizzling display.
Ebony then flew around the bend before passing to up and coming sprinter Jenna Bentley who chased down the fast finishing teams.
With 10 minutes training these girls secured themselves a seventh place seed in the final with a respectable 51.58 minutes.
The under 18s men’s four by 100m sprint team then came onto the track.
Coach Paul Byron put the finishing touches to their changes and the boys were on the track ready to do business.
At just fifteen years of age Emmerson Brian showed maturity beyond his years and got the team off to a brilliant start before passing to Josh Byron who used his speed and athleticism on the back straight.
Zac Havadjia, who loves a good bend run, didn’t disappoint before passing to a fast finishing Nick Woolley earning the boys a berth in their final in sixth place with 45.22.
“Zac your support to this team and their confidence didn’t go unnoticed and your coach and parents would be proud,” Nowra Athletics Club captain Mel Mustapic said.
The under 20s men’s four by 800m was a mix of youth and experience with Arron Spiessberger-Parker (18) Jake Myors (18) and Jye Edwards and Harry McGill both 16 years of age on the track.
This race was always going to be tough against the depth and numbers of the Sydney clubs - a challenge is something these boys love.
Arron led the team out with a strong, tactically smart 800m passing to Jake who is enjoying his shorter races this season.
Jake ran a gutsy race holding his own and running above expectations, before passing to Harry McGill who showed he wasn’t out of his depth over 800m passing to Jye for the final 800m.
Jye is one of the toughest competitors on the track and set about with a blistering first 400m that saw the team chasing down Randwick Botany in first place 8.04.65, with Nowra second in 8.06.17 and Asic’s Wests 3rd in 8.10.93.
The under 18s four by 800m women’s team was another true display of Nowra spirit.
Seventeen year old Kristin Kalemusic was keen to run the relay’s and the younger ones were happy to oblige and this team also consisted of Clare Dobson (15) Shenay Edwards (14) and Jade Mustapic (13).
So the girls knew they had to pull together to get a good run.
Kristin’s experience and determination got the team off to a great start passing the baton to Clare who ran a strong 800m and kept the team in second.
Jade literally pushed through her pain and maintained the team’s second position and Shenay then finished the race with gutsy run to secure the silver medal, which was a mighty effort.
It was time for the girls under 16s four by 100m final and Jade and Shenay had 10 minutes to get their breath back before switching back to the 100m sprint event.
A missed first change with Jade and Shenay wasn’t going to dampen their determination with Jade passing the baton to Ebony.
The team was last but Ebony worked hard on the bend to pass to Jenna who ran out of her skin to pull back one place with the team dropping just one place from their heat finishing in sevent place in 53 seconds.
The under 18s boys Nick, Josh, Zac and Emmerson then came back out to the track to take on teams from Scots College, UTS Norths, Westfields, Trinity, Mounties and Sydney Pacific.
With a 6th place seed our boys knew they had to lift again if they had any chance to get on the podium.
Emmerson once again held his own plus some, Josh was flying on the back straight and nobody was going to mess with Zac, while Nick grabbed the baton and literally threw everything at the line to help secure this mighty team effort of a bronze medal (44.43) behind Scots College and UTS Norths.
This medal was Emmerson’s first state medal and Nick bagged number two for the day, they will treasure the moments and experience forever.