10.12.2009

Schools action a knockout at Melbourne Olympic Park

The top athletics secondary schools across Australia today braved wet and windy conditions at Melbourne Olympic Park to contest the annual Schools Knockout.

An action-packed day of track and field saw almost 400 athletes participate in this morning’s battle for the Plate before all attention turned to the afternoon tussle for the Cup.

In the prestigious Cup competition it was Penrhos College (junior girls), Ipswich Grammar School (junior boys), Penrhos College (senior girls) and Haileybury College (senior boys) taking home the honours.

Winner of the under 16 boys 400m at the UTAS Australian All Schools and Youth Athletics Championships in Hobart at the weekend Max Waldron maintained his winning form, blowing away the opposition in the junior boys 400m (green) to cross the line in 51.91 and notch up the points for The Hutchins School almost three seconds ahead of his nearest rival. Waldron went on to place second in the junior 100m (gold) in a time of 12.03 (w:0.1).

Sharing one of the most famous names in athletics Elizabeth College representative Degan Gebrselasie hit the track in the senior 3000m (green), where following in the footsteps of the closely-named star of international distance running Haile Gebrselassie the young runner took out the event in 9:18.35. The win followed Gebrselasie’s fourth placing in the senior 800m (green) earlier in the night, the two-lap race taken out by Immanuel College runner Brett Fisk in 1:59.34.

Westfields athlete Bradley Sharne took home two event victories on a busy day at Olympic Park, figuring in the long jump (gold) with a leap of 6.44m (w:3.4) and the discus throw (green) with a best effort of 47.22m. Also asserting their names on the results sheets were Ipswich representatives Billy North, taking out line honours in the 400m (gold) in a time of 54.08 and 100m (green) in 12.06 (w:-1.4), Josh Mueller in the junior 100m (gold) in 11.82 and blitzing the field in the 200m hurdles (gold) in 26.54, and George Freeman of Ipswich College with wins in the junior long jump (green) with 5.97m (w:0.6) and the 200m hurdles (green) in 28.11 (w:-1.2).

In the girls’ competition Morton Bay athlete Zoe Bogiatzis took out the junior girls 400m (gold) in 61.11 before securing victory in the triple jump (gold) with a leap of 10.40m.

Also featuring in the action was world youth championships 800m representative Bronte Gange (Carey Grammar), pipped in the 400m by Immanuel College runner Jess Rowe in 57.72. Gange placed second in a time of 58.47.

Earlier in the day honours in the Plate competition were shared by Sacred Heart College (juniors girls), St Virgil’s College (junior boys), Westfields Sports High School (senior girls) and Nudgee College (senior boys).

In a dominant display in the senior boys competition, Nudgee College collected 11 event victories, the wins coming courtesy of Mitch Grehan (long jump green), Jake Myers (long jump gold, high jump green), George Dever (800m green, discus throw green), Alex O’Regan (800m gold), Cameron Lane (discus throw gold, 200m hurdles gold), Yarnell Fischer (100m gold), Fraser Thompson (high jump gold) and Kieran Storch (3000m green).

A full list of results from today's Schools Knockout competition can be found here.

The action at Melbourne Olympic Park tonight turns to the Zatopek:10, where some of the best distance runners in the country will vie for national honours and selection to next year’s Commonwealth Games in the men’s and women’s 10,000m events. Headlined by 10,000m national record-holder Collis Birmingham and distance stalwart Benita Willis, the stage is set for one of the most hotly-contested Zatopek:10 battles in recent history.