BY ALEX TIGANI
To truly understand how the Singleton Track and Field Club won last year’s NSW Little Athletics Regional Centre of the Year award, you only have to see the vast improvement of its athletes against the state’s best when competing at this year’s state championships.
Last weekend, Singleton’s five participating athletes returned home with a combined eight medals.
This was more than the combined six the club had collected over the previous three years.
“We have a pool of talented athletes and even the kids that didn’t medal proved they are talented,” Singleton Track and Field Club coach Hilary Kennedy explained.
“To make it to state is such a big thing for these kids.”
Teenager Ethan Williams collected two gold medals before impressed state team selectors to add to his bronze from the previous year.
Williams reached the finish line of the 300m hurdles with a time of 41.45 seconds on Saturday to hold off St George’s Bailey-Dean Latanis (42.58) and Manly Warringah’s Leo Brown (43.03).
He then shot to the finish line of the 100m hurdles the following day with a time of 14.12 seconds to defeat Cowra’s Brody Fiene (14.38).
Holroyd’s Rashid Kabba cruised to the finish line of the 17 Boys 110 hurdles with a time of 13.31 seconds.
Yet Singleton’s Jordie Brown kept with the talent for most of his sprint to claim the silver medal with a time of 14.48.
And then there was Seren Hall. Five medals. Five state records. Could she represent Australia at the 2024 Paris Paralympics? “She also broke her foot last year playing AFL with the Singleton Roosters.
“So to see her achieve all this given the past 12 months has been pretty inspiring.”
Regional medallists Ella Northey and Xavier Hicks also continued to put Singleton on the map.
Northey finished seventh in the Girls under-14 200m hurdles with a time of 31.46 (Manly Warringah’s Grace Townsend captured the win with 28.77) and eighth in the 400m while Hicks finished 14th in the Boys under-11 Triple Jump and 17th in the 80m hurdles.
Saxon Lorenz also competed in the Boys under-17 300m hurdles finishing eighth with a time of 40.97 seconds.
