From Paralympian Telaya Blacksmith to hammer thrower Connor Hopgood and middle-distance talents Kieran Shepherd and Eliza Lawton, the opening night of action at the 2025 Chemist Warehouse Australian Athletics All Schools Championships promises to kick-start a historic 50th edition of the championships.
The first gold medal of the championships will go up for auction in the Under 18 Boys Hammer Throw, where Connor Hopgood (QLD) looms as the favourite in bidding with his personal best of 74.79m, entering as the reigning Australian Under 18 and 20 champion in the discipline.
Arielle Cannell (TAS) will join the hammer throwing party as she looks to round out her decorated school athletics career, having never lost an underage hammer throw competition. The Tasmanian owns a 63.24m career-best with the 3kg implement to hold the number one seed by over five metres.
Paralympian Telaya Blacksmith (NSW, T20) will continue her busy year which has included the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, with the Under 20 Girls Para Long Jump kicking off her program where has a 5.21m leap to her name, while her 14-year-old Australian teammates Lexie Brown (NSW, T47) and Makayla Elcoate (QLD, T44) gear up for the Under 15 Girls Para Long Jump.
Australia’s emerging race walkers will also hit the track led by Under 16 national record holder Ela Uzun (VIC) who will contest the Under 17 Girls 5000m Race Walk with a slick best of 22:42.45, with the combined Under 17 and Under 18 event allowing the local to go up against Angelina Legrand (SA), while Samuel Lindsay (TAS) is the top seed for the men at 20:32.63.
A sweep of middle-distance finals will close the curtains on the opening night at Lakeside Stadium, as Australian underage champions Kieran Shepherd (ACT), Hannah Tourneur (SA) and Eliza Lawton (NSW) do battle in their respective 3000m showdowns.
Competing in the Under 17 ranks, Shepherd is a proven force with both speed and strength, while Tourneur (Under 18) and Lawton (Under 16) are capable of running their respective fields into the ground – Lawton holding a career-best of 9:21.90 set at the age of 14.
The 2025 Chemist Warehouse Australian Athletics All Schools Championships are being held at Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium from December 4-7, with tickets available for purchase HERE.
For entry lists, timetable and live results – CLICK HERE.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 4/12/2025
