Geraldton athletes bring home medals and PBs from State Track and Field Championships

Twenty of Geraldton’s top athletes travelled to Perth to compete in the 2024 WA State Track and Field Championships. The senior competitors were in Perth from February 22 to 25 while the juniors event was held from March 8 to 10. Local Riley Heinrich earned his first State medal in the U18 400m hurdles, pulling up in second place for the silver. After taking bronze last year, Lochie Hadley went up a notch to claim silver in the U14 1500m race walk. In the discus throw, Wynand Neethling won a bronze medal in the U18’s division despite having to deal with rain, while Reuben Chapman came home strong with a national qualifying time in the 200m hurdle in the U16’s. Taylah Dean also found success in the U18’s with a silver in the 100m hurdles. Despite not finishing on the podium, a number of other local athletes had a successful outing over the days of competition. U17’s Macey Hadley finished fourth in javelin and fifth in shot put, while also achieving a personal best in the 200m sprint of 27.82 seconds. The PBs didn’t stop there, as Bonny Dean in the U14s shaved one minute off her old record in the 1500m race walk. Meanwhile in the U15s, Paige Heinrich left with three new PBs in the 80m hurdles, 200m hurdles and 400m track. In the junior event, Blake Renwick had an impressive outing with a gold medal in the U9 high jump to go along with a silver in the turbo javelin, clocking in a distance of 23.7m. Geraldton Athletics Centre president Phill Hadley said the athletes should be proud of their accomplishments. “It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get to State level and our athletes really put their best foot forward,” he said. “They didn’t let the weather hold them back and should be very happy with their results.” The five qualifying athletes now have the opportunity to compete for WA in the Australian Athletics Championships held in Adelaide next month.