Allstars qualify and line up against the best in Aus

Ballina Allstars in April had 7 athletes represent Ballina at the national championships held in Perth, WA.

The Field:

Beginning with our amazing Aaliyah Garang-Hall who qualified in the Womens U15 Discus against a very strong field of female throwers.
Aaliyah had her best throw early straight out of the nets securing 36.76m to take pole position in round 1.
It did not take long before the competition ramped up, and with 45% of the throws being foul throws, so to did the pressure.
It came down to the final 8, 4th round throw for Aaliyah to eventually slip to 3rd place and bring home the bronze medal and an incredible achievement for her first time at this national event. Aaliyah is looking forward to representing her community at upcomming All Schools championships and has her eye on the top podium place.

Through the wind and rain the sand in the long jump pit was getting a work out in the U17 PA womens event by our 14 year old Ayla Kowalczyyk. Competing against her older peer Ayla did not hold back securing the second furthest jump of the competition. The wind was not helping early in the competition making run ups difficult to measure but in round 3 the weather allowed a wind legal jump for Ayla to secure a jump of 4.18m and the Australia Record for the Womens U15 T38. Baseline scoring (para classification measurement system for places) secured Ayla the silver medal with her fellow Region 1 friend from Tamworth Mackenzie Wilson securing the gold medal.

The mens U17 high jump competition was set to be a tight contest between some very good QLD performers and our local Ballina boy Connor Legzdins. With the jumps starting at 1.70m, Connor did not attempt his first jump until 1.84m as the competitors were trying to get comfortable with the different mondo surface in the Perth stadium. The first 4 jumps for Connor felt great clearing on first attempts with excellent consistency and setting up for a tight 2 way competition at 1.97m. QLQ's Ethan Gration who has been jumping very well this year managed to clear on his final attempt for the gold and Connor secured the silver medal.

Connor earlier in the championships also competed in the Mens U17 Long Jump where on the new surface he records a first round foul. Some cool heads prevailed and a drastic change up with Coach Zenon Kowalczyk put Connor in 6th position on his second jump with 6.46m and a spot in the final 8. On Connor's final jump he secure a new PB of 6.56m and temporarily sat in 3rd spot in a hot competition before some terrific last round jumps from the group. Connor finished in 5th and was very proud of the result given the lead up to the championships washed out the majority of his training opportunities.

The Track:

The Perth track is known to be fast and the racers did not hold back in these championships with several Australian records and upsets witnessed over two weekends.

Alexandra Dogan pulled out one of the gutsiest performances of the competition in the Womens U15 2000m Steeplchase and pushed through to secure the gold medal and become Australian Champion for her event. It is no surprise as many Ballina locals have witnessed Alexandra training lap and running around the shire in preparation for Perth. But the water courses and hurdles were no obstacle for Alexandra who is well versed at dodging barriers and hazards on our local cross country tracks and road network. Well done Alexandra, a well deserved effort and proud moment for local athletics.

Ayla Kowalczyk kicked off her track campaign in the Womens U15PA 100m where the local girls was aiming for a new PB after putting in some fantastic training in the lead up to this event. Ayla shot out of the blocks and burst through the finish line in 14.43 (+1.0) smashing the pervious record by 0.8 seconds and securing the Australian Womens U15 T38 100m record. Ayla was obviously ecstatic with the result and took that confidence into the 200m just a few days later.

Ayla lined up on the bend for the 200m and whilst not getting the best of starts ensured some great top end speed on the home straight busting through the finish line in 29.88. This was not a PB although a great sprint effort and unfortunately the wind did not cooperate so this attempt did not count as a new Australian Record which still remains at 30.30.

Ayla secured the silver medal on BASELINE scoring for both events and is earger to make an attempt at the Aus records again later in the year.

Another boy from Ballina took to the track in the Mens U14 400m and 200m with Oscar Levack preparing to once again eargerly awaiting one of the most mispronouced surnames with the simplest of spelling read out over the loud speakers as he lined up against some of Australia best sprinters. Oscar secured a new PB in the 400m heats with a time of 56.81 which qualified him for a fast final 8. This is a great result for a local sprinter to be able to make the finals, however Oscar could not improve his position against hot competition in the final and is keen to get back into training to experience this level of competition again. An amazing effort from a local lad and his time of 26.19 in the 200m was proof of the training paying off.

One of the newest members of the Allstars family took part the following weekend and the was vying for a qualifying time for the Para World Championships in New Delhi later in the year. Lexie Brown, just 13 years of age, trains with Coach Zenon Kowalczyk and was attempting the 200m and 100m in the Open Womens PA division against some of the best in the world with gold medalists Rhiannon Clarke and Anna Grimaldi (NZ) lining up next to her in both races. Lexie unfortunately fell agonisingly short with just 0.04 of a second in the 200m blocking a second qualifying time for this event. This means Lexie is now preparing for some compeitions in May and June to secure her spot in the 200m with no page being left unturned from her coaching team which will soon uncover her and training partner Ayla Kowalczyk receiving guidance from some of the best international coaches in Aus (watch this space).

Another athlete to impress with a superlative performance in the Womens U17 2000m Steeplechase was Skye Dogan finishing with a time of 7:28.34 setting a new PB and in fifth place in a very competitive field of competitors. Skye showed reall Ballina spirit and did not let her NSW camp down as she ensured no obstacles could hold her back in this grueling event. Well done Skye!