Athletes take school state wins

THE state’s top student athletes went head-to-head earlier this month as part of the Victorian All Schools Track and Field Championships, with Ballarat-based competitors scoring multiple top spots.

The event ran across two weekends, the first in late October, and the second in early November, at the Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne, and was open to secondary aged students between under 14s and under 20s categories.

Ballarat club members walked away from the first weekend with 17 medals seven of which were gold, while the second weekend saw a further five gold medals out of a total of 12 accolades.

Ballarat Clarendon College student and Ballarat Harriers Athletic Club member Molly Fraser competed across both weekends, taking home the gold in both the female under 18s long jump and triple jump

Having taken part in the event last year as well as pre-COVID, she said it’s always interesting to see how Victoria’s top school-based athletes compare.

“There’s so many different athletes across Victoria, just seeing how many of us come together to compete in the one sport is fascinating to me,” she said.

“The whole school communities you see at this competition coming to support their athletes, you don’t necessarily see that with Athletics Victoria state competitions.

“I’ve been competing in long and triple jump for about three, four years but I’ve been involved in athletics since about under 6s.”

Nearly 50 athletes from Ballarat clubs registered to take part in the championships with Ballarat Clarendon College, Ballarat Grammar, Damascus College, St Patrick’s College, Ballarat High School, Loreto College, and Mount Rowan Secondary College represented.

Ballarat Regional Athletics Centre manager Ashley Anderson said local athletes excelled in the competition.

“They were exceptional,” he said. “The amount of medals, but also close results, personal bests, and the range of things they’ve achieved over the two weekends, it’s really exciting.

“It’s a really exciting space in general at the moment for our junior athletes in Ballarat. As a region, it’s growing and growing, and per capita, one of the best results for a regional town in Victoria.”