It has been 4 years since an Athletics Carnival at Newington has had to be adjusted due to the weather and the early predictions had us set up for another brilliant warm, sun-drenched day to savour……how things can change! But, despite the near arctic temperatures felt around the vast stadium at Homebush, the fire burning inside the heats of the Newington competitors was sure to cure the winter blues.

First up, as per usual, the 800m events and it was time to see if there was a new breed of junior distance runners to rival the brilliant Bili Robertson from years past. And a young man by the name of Matthew Torrible showed us just that, leaving all behind him in running a super time of 2 min 47 sec. Second was Henry Isherwood, with Thomas Blanken close behind in third.

A hush came over the crowd as the next runners took to the line.  A record was on the cards as young Robertson took centre stage once more in his premier event. A lightning fast start saw Bili well clear by the 200m point, but the blustery conditions meant he had to work for every step. James McGregor had sewn up second place by the end of the first lap and it was a tight run for third. A powerful last 100m saw Bili storm home in 2min 30.34 Seconds, breaking the previous record by just 0.43 of a second….but a record nonetheless in less than ideal conditions. Second was the multi-talented McGregor and third was new kid on the block Dimitri Vallas.

In the 12 years Philip Blanken and Gaelen Dorigo battled it out for the top billing, with Blanken just having enough over the final third of the race to push clear and win a time of 2min 41 seconds. Dorigo was second with National swimming sensation Chris Mina in third.

A sea of colour on a now bleak day greeted us as the final athletes entered the arena for the first of four rotations. The most youthful of these athletes (8/9 years) took to the track for the heats of the 100m and 200m events. Of all the events on the day, the track events were the most densely populated, with all boys taking part in at least one of the premier events.

In the field, strength, power, speed, poise and grace were the special ingredients required to achieve greatness in the shot put, discus and long jump events. One such athlete of greatness was young Joel Zipeure, who managed to through an incredible 18.54m in the 8/9 years Discus and take out the event. Such was the impressiveness of the throw from this young 8 year old that he actually qualified for IPSHA in the junior event which features mainly 10 year-olds! Other great performing Discus throwers were Eric Carney in the 10 year age group, Jacob Awada taking out the 11 years age group with a throw of 18.28m and Oliver Kleppich rounded things out for the 12 years with an impressive throw of 20.77m.

In the Shot Put events, a stellar field this time in the 10 years saw a battle between speed and power. Speedster Alec Peterson and powerhouse Lipina Ata went throw for throw before Ata pushed ahead with an impressive winning throw of 8.81m. Let the games begin again when the Invitationals come around. Elsewhere it was Quinn Mersal taking out the 8/9 years age group with a throw of 5.90m. Tom Stone then took out the 11 years with a throw of 8.93m, just ahead of Reuben Palmer. Finally in the 12 years it was Angus Ole with a winning throw of 8.78m.

The long jump was next and this battle was between three supremely talented athletes in Aiden Mostofi, Tom Stone and Bili Robertson. The multi-talented Robertson would have to take a back seat to the duel between two Lindfield heavyweights. Mostofi threw the gauntlet out early with a 4.13m jump, to which Stone responded with a 4.11m jump. Despite both putting in massive jumps to finish, they could not push towards the record jump of 4.39m of some 30 years previous and instead settled for 1st and 2nd place in the event. In the other long jump events it was Toby Torrible taking out the 8/9 years event, before Henry Isherwood took out the 10 years event. Finally Vincent De Souza rounded out the long jump with a jump of 3.88m to take out the 2015 competition.

So this left the sprints finals and the relays, and with so many heats to accumulate, there was some delay for the older age groups, and a hush fell over the large crowd, as the start of the Colour House cheers began. Howe and Coates were in full voice as Rydal tried in vain to counter. The men in green and gold were in fine song, taking out the House cheer for 2015. By this stage, the first of the finals was ready to be run!

In the 8 years it was a race to remember as Sam Chittendon held off wonder kid Joel Zipeure while the mass of bodies followed. Third place went to Hadi Beydoun. In the 9 years it was new kid on the block Will Fisher with a beautiful strong action as he powered to victory ahead of Cameron Davey-Webb in second and Richard Hunt in third. The 10 years saw a great battle between 2014 State finalist Alec Peterson and a rejuvenated Mitchell Cope who was only a shade behind Peterson as they crossed the line. Third in this race was Matthew Torrible.

The battle of the heavyweights resumed in the 11 years as Aiden Mostofi battled it out with Bili Robertson amidst a stellar field in the 100m final. Mostofi’s blinding acceleration off the start was enough to see him clearly ahead at the halfway point. And once there he never relinquished it, winning in a time of 14.43 sec ahead of Robertson and third placed James McGregor. The 12 years saw Vincent De Souza show his class as he streaked ahead of Jean-Paul Gonios in second and Sam Sullivan in third.

The 200m finals saw Chittendon pipped at the post by Zipeure in the 8 years event, with Hadi Beydoun again finishing third. Will Fisher then completed the sprint double as he took out the 9 years 200m, ahead of Vasili Filippatos and Richard Hunt in third. The 10 years saw a reverse of the 100m result as Mitchell Cope showed his class over the longer distance, finishing ahead of Alec Peterson, with Matthew Torrible in third. Aiden Mostofi continued his excellent form when he again accelerated with consummate ease around the bend to hold on to take out the 11 years 200m event ahead of Bili Robertson and James McGregor. Finally in the 12 years it was Philip Blanken ahead of Sam Sullivan and Willem Rumi in third.

Although run before the 11 years and 12 years 200m events, the relays were still the much-anticipated events of the day, and featured the best of the best on show for each House. In the Junior event it was Howe who had all the answers in each of the changes, winning comfortably ahead of Coates and Williams in third. In the senior event it was the crafty Coates team that stormed home to victory, thanks to a stellar leg from comeback king Stefano Ottavio and a clever last leg from Bili Robertson. Taking the baton right on the edge of the start of the change over point, Robertson gave himself the furthest distance to power home ahead of his rivals. Aiden Mostofi ensured that Kingswood would be second in this event with Williams again coming through in third.

So after these memorable triumphs and once everyone was rugged up, out of the wind and safely back at each campus, we finally found ourselves a winner. And the winner was Coates!!! And few would argue that they didn’t deserve it after so many stellar performances. Second was a very impressive Howe with Rydal third. For the Wyvern houses, this was redemption for 8 years of utter dominance from their counterparts at Lindfield. This is shaping up to be a rivalry etched in Newington folklore, but until next year, this is Mr Caulfield signing off!

ATHLETICS RESULTS 2015

Mark Caulfield – Sports Master