Bronze for Violini, as YCW athletes take on the best

A THIRD national medal for Aria Violini highlighted Ballarat YCW Harriers Athletics Club’s representation at last month’s Australian Athletics Under Age National Championships in Brisbane last month.

The 15-year-old, one of seven Ballarat YCW athletes competing at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, snared a bronze medal in the under-17 girls 1500m.

Her medal-winning performance capped a stellar last 12 months for Violini, who won 1500m gold at the recent state championships and was crowned Victoria’s champion under-16 cross-country athlete last year, underpinned by several XCR series round wins.

She also finished fourth in the 3000m at the state championships.

Her coach Bernard Blood believes her newly won national bronze is just the tip of the iceberg for what’s to come for Violini in the years to come.

He said by her own standards, Violini had not performed as well as she would have liked a few days earlier in the 3000m final, when she finished 12th, but had bounced back strongly in the 1500m.

After dictating the early pace, she was overtaken by a batch of athletes on the bell, before mounting a strong comeback to overtake several of them on her way into third place.

“It was an amazing effort … and she has a lot more to come,” Blood said.

“Because of her slight frame – she’s only started to grow in the last 12 months – we’ve taken it pretty easy with her. We haven’t overloaded her with training yet.

“We’ve been looking at the 2028 world under-20s, so at the moment we’ve been taking it nice and steady.

“She’ll do the cross country season again this year and use it for endurance building, but her main focus will be track and a big 2026-27 track season.”

Violini previously won 3km gold and 1500m silver at last year’s state championships.

Held across six days, the national under-age championships are the pinnacle of the junior athletics season, with athletes having competed at local, regional and state events since October 2025 to achieve selection in the Victorian state team.

Ballarat YCW president Ash Rogers said it was a great achievement for the club to have a number of athletes compete across various disciplines of athletics, including, throws, distance running, sprint running and steeple chase.

“This variety is representative of the growth in membership of Ballarat YCW over the athletics season and depth in abilities and disciplines,” he said.

“The seven athletes who competed ranged in age groups from under-14 through to under-20s, being Ava MacGowan, Archer Spackman, Jett Hill, Paige Tuddenham, Aria Violini, Rose Ashman and Rebecca Brodie (individual results appear below).

“Notably of achievements over the championships was a third national medal for Aria Violini in the under-17 1500m.

“In the heat of the Brisbane morning, Aria ran a strong race in the front pack to finish third.”

A proud occasion for Blood, he coaches four of the athletes who went to nationals, including Tuddenham, Ashman and MacGowan.

He said he was ‘extremely happy’ with all four girls performances, with Tuddenham reaching two finals (under-16 girls 1500m and 3000m) and MacGowan one (under-14 girls 1500m).

Blood said he expected MacGowan to come into her own when permitted to run in the 3000m next season at under-15 level.

“The club has a great group of kids coming through, including a few of the boys,” he said.

“Running nis an individual sport, but they encourage each other so much and want to see each other do well.

“The camaraderie among all of them, from national level down, is amazing.”

Alongside the athletes, Ballarat YCW also had Marita Rieniets and Helen Rieniets officiating at both the open and junior championships in April.

The Rieniets are well known on the athletics scene for their dedication to the officiating role.

Elsewhere, Ballarat YCW recently celebrated success in the Athletics Victoria Shield League (AVSL) by winning the division 3 title over a range of regional and metropolitan clubs and will now commence the 2026 athletics AVSL season in division two.

While the track and field season has come to an end, Ballarat YCW is well underway with its winter cross country season.

The cross country program is for all abilities and ages, ranging from distance events for under-six through to open age athletes.

Those interested in cross country running over winter are urged to contact YCW via [email protected] or find more information at www.ballaratycw.com.au.

Australian Athletics Junior National Championships results:

Ava Macgowan (under-14 girls): 800m heat (6th, 2:25.02); 1500m final (6th, 4:46.54).

Archer Spackman (under-15 boys): 2000m steeplechase final (6th, 6:48.31); 800m heat (21st, 2:08.43).

Jett Hill (under-15 boys): 800m heat (37th, 2:13.93).

Paige Tuddenham (under-16 girls): 1500m final (ninth, 4:41.11); 3000m final (8th, 10:11.33)

Aria Violini (under-17 girls): 3000m final (12th, 10:41.15); 1500m final (3rd, 4:40.37).

Rose Ashman (under-20 girls): 1500m heat (39th, 5:10.74).

Rebecca Brodie (under-20 girls): 4kg hammer throw final (18th, 33.23m).