The stars of tomorrow shone brightly on Day Four of the 2025 Australian Athletics Championships, with 16-year-old Lucas Chis continuing his meteoric rise while a host of emerging talents delivered statements on the nation’s premier stage.
Chis (VIC) continued his rise with a new championship record of 3:46.27 over 1500, torching the Under 18 Boys field which included valiant runs from Matthew McLachlan (NSW, 3:49.98) and Bart Leeton (VIC, 3:50.89) for silver and bronze.
Taking off just 300m into proceedings, Chis secured the Australian title in the most dominant way possible, front-running his rivals into the ground when delivering an emphatic performance to round out his Australian Junior Athletics Championships.
World Under 20 bronze medallist Mason McGroder (NSW) was on song early in the Under 18 Boys Long Jump, leaping to 7.54m (-0.1) in the second round to establish an unassailable lead before ramping up the aggression in his final two jumps – resulting in two fouls as he chased uncharted territory.
The fastest Under 18 quarter milers in the land were crowned in fine fashion as Queensland duo Seth Kennedy and Rose Acklin put the foot down in the 400m events, striding away from their rivals in times of 47.30 and and 54.19 respectively. While Acklin won by daylight, Kennedy was pushed all the way to gold by Joshua Smith (NSW, 47.65) and Fred Hamblin (NSW, 47.71).
The versatile Sophie Williams (WA) secured her sixth medal of a blockbuster schedule at her home track, taking out the Under 17 Girls Long Jump with a 5.85m (+1.0) leap in the final round. The win added to her collection of medals including triple jump (gold), heptathlon (silver), high jump (silver), 4x100m relay (silver) and 100m hurdles (bronze) – rounding out 14 appearances across the first four days of the 2025 Australian Junior Athletics Championships.
Middle-distance talent Emma Fryga (QLD) continued her golden championships when adding the Under 17 Girls 1500m title to her growing resume, doubling down with a championship record and personal best of 4:22.01 to stretch away from the field. Also securing her second championship record was Eliza Lawton (NSW) when clocking 9:21.90 in the Under 16 Girls 3000m.
The middle distance magic rolled on in the para events, with Zoe Schultz (VIC, T38) recording a new personal best over 1500m in the Under 17 event with 6:12.99, while T44 athlete Lucy Gilmour claimed silver in 6:08.08. On the Paralympic pathway as a T20 athlete, Eleanor Downey (VIC) impressed with line honours and bronze in 5:26.73 for a new personal best and a score of 80.60 on the BASELINE system.
Moments later, youngster Xavier Wilson (NSW) ran a new lifetime best of 5:12.04 in the Under 15 Boys 1500m to score 70.93 on the BASELINE system; presented his medal by world champion in the event, Jaryd Clifford.
Emerging thrower Riley-Jay Henry-Purcell (QLD) squared the ledger with Western Australia’s Lauren Kelly (WA) in the Under 18 Girls Discus Throw, launching to 48.10m to take down Kelly who threw 47.81m – reversing the medals from the Under 18 Girls Shot Put earlier in the championships. Meanwhile in the Under 17 ranks, Kaiah Wong (NSW) produced a 44.84m personal best in the second round to defeat Palace Koia (WA).
A thrilling competition in the Under 18 Girls Pole Vault brought out the best in the nation’s rising talent as Western Australia’s Daisy Brayshaw soared to a new personal best of 3.82m to defeat Jamison Harding (VIC) on countback, with Harding jumping up an age group to challenge the best.
Alikana Malish (QLD) and Stanley Moore (VIC) could also only be separated on countback at 1.91m in the Under 15 Boys High Jump, while Karla Boras (VIC) leapt to a career-best 5.90m (+1.6) to take out the Under 18 Girls Long Jump and back up her triple jump gold.
The fifth and final day of Australian Junior (U13-U18) Athletics Championships action will take place tomorrow, where national Under 16 record holder Emilia Reed (WA) will chase the sprint double over 200m, while the Under 18 Boys and Girls 100m battles will be run and won.
The Australian Athletics Championships are part of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series and are supported by the Western Australian Government through Tourism WA.
By Lachlan Moorhouse and Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics
Posted 7/4/2025
