Medals for Albany athletes after stellar display for WA at Australian Junior Athletics Championships in Perth

Young Albany athletes flew the flag strongly for the region at this year’s Australian Junior Athletics Championships, competing over five days in Perth to bring home a swag of medals. Seven Albany athletes were selected for the WA team after impressive State competition performances in March, and travelled back to Perth on April 4-8 to compete in the national competition at the WA Athletics Stadium. On the opening day of competition on April 4, Ella Tasila competed in triple jump and notched a 10.44m score, while Ginger Gleeson and Caleb Benson scored finals places in the 400m and 800m running events respectively. Both made outstanding finals performances on day two of competition, with Gleeson placing seventh and Benson setting a new personal best while finishing sixth. Makiah Suttie claimed the first medal for the Albany group on day two as one of four girls in the under-14 4x100m relay team which won bronze. Waylan Ciobanu lined up for the triple jump competition on day two, making 12.51m. Mason Watkins claimed his first national medal in the under-17 triple jump on day three, taking bronze before also snagging a silver in the under-17 long jump on day four of competition. Zoe Bascombe also represented Albany on day four, competing in both hurdles and long jump and putting a 4.63m jump on the scoreboard. Brody Oliver secured fourth in the 200m final on the last day of competition and Gleeson pulled off a bronze medal in the under-17 400m hurdles, running a personal best time. Albany Little Athletics president Rebecca Gleeson said the dedicated group of Albany athletes represented WA’s future of athletics with style. “It was incredible to see so many kids from one small country club representing WA,” she said. “It’s testament really to how the club is going . . . that we’ve got so many kids working hard and chasing their dreams who are able to compete at this level. “The country kids definitely don’t have the same accessibility, to coaches or equipment, or getting to competitions during the year, so it means more that they can go out and do so well at a national competition. “For a lot of these kids, it was their first time competing at nationals, so they will all be looking to next year to adjust their goals and push that little bit further now that they’ve had that experience.”