Doncaster Athletics Club recorded one of its highest participation rates in a major championship in recent history with the junior athletes featuring in just under 70 different events at the Victorian Junior State Championships. While participation was high; performances were higher, with 21 state medals being collected by the young Doncaster athletes – 12 of which were gold. Double trouble was the theme with the girls, as all of the place getters were able to pick up multiple medals.
Distance stars, Abbey Caldwell (U/15) and Charlotte Bassett (U/18) both entered the 1500m and 3000m for their respective age groups and found themselves on the podium. Abbey was untouchable, achieving double gold medal performances in both events. Nicole Reynolds (U/17) was the queen on the hurdles after she matched Abbey’s feat of achieving double gold in both the 100m and 400m Hurdle events. Stephanie Ratcliffe (U/16) almost achieved the ultimate trio after winning the girls Shot Put and Discus events easily, before finishing agonisingly close to winning in the Hammer Throw event.
While distance sensation; Chow Lui (U/17) followed the winning ways of Abbey, collecting first place in the same events, it was the boys in the field events that excelled the highest. Zachary Nunis (U/17) leaped his way into first place in both the Long Jump and Triple Jump while James Joycey (U/17) collected a medal of each colour in the Hammer (1st), Discus (2nd) and Shot Put (3rd). Sebastian Reyneke (U/15) sore into a gold medal position in the Pole Vault before backing up for 3rd place in the Javelin. Declan Carman (U/15) rounded out the boys dominance in the field finishing in 2nd position. Fraser Robertson (U/17) and Damon Zethoven (U/20) both achieved bronze medal performances in the 110m Hurdle events, rounding out the outstanding performances and confirmations of athletes eligible to compete in the Junior National Championships in Sydney on March 11, 2015.