Armidale Athletics History

11/01/2022

🏃🏻‍♂️- Bailey Pattison - 13yrs 1500/3000m
🏆- 2016 NSW All Schools Championships
📆 - October 13-16th 2016
🌍 - SOPAC, Homebush NSW
☀️ - Mild with high winds 💨

📝- Bailey Pattison competed at the NSW All Schools Championships for the first and only time in 2016, and ran a pair of personal best times.

Pattison placed 13th in NSW in his 13yrs 1500m event, with his time of 5:04.25 a big personal best for his first ever race on a synthetic track.

Pattison followed it up with a PB of 11:10.16 in the 3000m, placing him 28th in NSW.

📸 - Catch all the photos of Pattison from this meet here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=ArmidaleAthleticsHistory&set=a.137735888661821

11/01/2022

15/12/2021

🏃🏻‍♂️- Levi Mace - u9yrs 200m
🏆- 2017 Armidale Gala Day
📆 - February 12th 2017
🌍 - Harris Park, Armidale NSW
☀️ - Scorching heat 🥵

📝- The 2017 Armidale Gala Day was held in temperatures approaching 40 degrees, and the conditions were monitored throughout the day for athlete safety.

Levi Mace, competing in the u9 boys, ran a time of 37.76 seconds over 200m, which at the time was a personal best for him.

Mace went on to win 2nd place in the u9 pointscore at Gala Day.

📸 - Catch all the images from the Mace Family from the 2017 Gala Day here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=ArmidaleAthleticsHistory&set=a.131961475905929

01/12/2021

🏃🏻‍♀️ - Siarrah Cruickshank - Discus
🏆- 2015-16 New England Mutual Super Series 6
📆 - March 2nd 2016
🌏 - Harris Park, Armidale
☀️ - Warm and sunny

📝- During the final round of the 2015-16 New England Mutual Super Series, Siarrah Cruickshank was in a close four-way battle for the Throws category.

Cruickshank had previously won the Throws category during the 2013-14 season, and was battling 2014-15 category winner Katie Austin, as well as Nathan Mace and Nathan Smith in the age/gender graded pointscore.

Smith came into the final round with the lead, but was unable to improve on his seasons best, leaving the door slightly ajar to be passed.

Austin threw a seasons best of 29.35 to come close to Smith, moving into second.

Cruickshank managed a seasons best of 28.03m to push ahead of Mace for third place, but it wasn’t quite far enough to catch Austin or Smith, with less than 2% separating the top three athletes in the pointscore.

📸 - Catch all the photos from this round of the Super Series (most have never been posted before) here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.128729472895796

21/10/2021

🏃🏻‍♂️- Hayden Strong - 13yrs long jump, 100m & 200m
🏆 - 2005 NSW All Schools Championships
📆 - September 22-25th 2005
🌍 - SOPAC, Homebush, New South Wales
☀️ - Fine and Sunny ☀️

📝 - Back in 2005, Caroline and Steve Chapman organised to take a bus full of indigenous youths down to compete at the 2005 NSW All Schools Championships.

For many, it was their first organised athletics competition, and for some it would be the only time they ever had the opportunity to compete on a synthetic running track.

For Hayden Strong, it was just the beginning, as he placed in the top 20 in NSW in the 13yrs long jump (4.23m), 200m (27.34) and broke 13 seconds for the first time over 100m (12.97).

It planted the competitive seed for Haydon, who came home and worked hard over the following years, before on 2008 becoming one of only a handful of athletes to have broken 11 seconds over 100m at Harris Park (10.89 on December 3rd, 2008).

📸 - All of Haydon’s images from these Championships are available here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=ArmidaleAthleticsHistory&set=a.119044970530913

19/10/2021

🏃🏻‍♂️-Lawson Fittler - U20 4x400m
🏆 - 2019 Australian Athletics Championships
📆 - April 1-7th 2019
🌍 - SOPAC, Homebush, New South Wales
☀️ - Driving rain 🌧 🌧 🌧

📝 - At the 2019 Australian Athletics Championships, Lawson Fittler won his first Australian Title, as he led off the NSW u20 Mens 4x400m relay team in utterly terrible conditions.

Victoria’s first runner Fraser Symons cramped up in the cold, wet conditions, adding some drama to the race whilst leaving Fittler to battle with QLD’s Riley Higgins on the opening leg.

A strong second half and a push into the baton change to teammate Jordan Doris helped NSW take the lead as they broke from lanes.

Josh Baulch and Damien Mizzi brought the NSW team home for the gold, clocking a time of 3:20.97 despite the driving rain.

📸 - All of Fittler’s images from this meet, including his individual races are available here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=ArmidaleAthleticsHistory&set=a.118574147244662

18/10/2021

🏃🏻‍♀️ - Grace Cassidy - 13yrs 800m/400m
🏆- 2015 NSW All Schools Championships
📆 - October 8-11th 2015
🌍 - SOPAC, Homebush NSW
☀️ - Warm and sunny

📝- Grace Cassidy competed at the NSW All Schools Championships for the first time in 2015, and had a fantastic meet.

Cassidy won her 800m heat comfortably in a new personal best time, and then bettered her time again the next day to take the bronze medal 🥉, clocking 2:22.92.

Cassidy also won her 400m heat in a new PB time (61.89) and was initially disqualified before evidence contained in the photos linked below proved she had stayed in her lane and she was reinstated for the final.

Four races in three days on the old red track proved too much however, with Cassidy suffering a calf strain during the 400m final, limping across the finishline in 9th place.

📸 - Catch all the photos of Cassidy from this meet here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=ArmidaleAthleticsHistory&set=a.114889850946425