Larissa Chambers

IPSWICH and District Athletic Club competitors had to contend with tough conditions as well as elite opponents at the Australian All Schools Track and Field Championships in Hobart.

Daisyspring Koop, Majella Cassidy and Larissa Chambers displayed their qualities by winning medals at an event attracting more than 840 of the country’s best young athletes.

Experienced Ipswich coach Vic Pascoe watched last weekend’s meet in Hobart and was proud of how all the club representatives performed.

“It was fabulous when every club athlete finished in the top 11 in Australia,” Pascoe said.

Despite the unsettling weather, medal-winning trio Koop, Cassidy and Chambers showed they are on target for more success at next year’s Australian Youth Championships.

“The conditions (in Hobart) were atrocious with winds so strong on Saturday that officials had to hold the hammer circle net from being blown over,” Pascoe said.

“The wind sock was blown off its stand and dust came across.  They even had to hold up some of the races until the gusts eased off a little bit.”

Pascoe said having Junior World Cup qualifiers competing at the meet added to the achievement of club athletes.

“I couldn’t believe some of the kids how they performed as well as they did,” he said.  “I thought it was amazing.”

New club member Koop showed she’s an athlete to watch after winning a silver medal with a personal best throw of 37.37m in the under-14 javelin.

Cassidy won a bronze at her first nationals after running the first leg of the Queensland under-14 4x100m relay team.

Powerhouse sprinter Chambers added another two medals to her collection despite a limited preparation.

She won a bronze running the opening leg of Queensland’s under-18 4x100m relay.  Chambers was also in the Swedish relay team that won silver.

Chambers ran the 100m leg in an event where other competitors completed the sequence with 200m, 300m and 400m efforts.

The Queensland team only missed gold by 0.5 second.

In other efforts by club athletes, Cassidy was fifth in the U14 80m hurdles (13.63s).

Tanika Marshall came 10th in the U16 high jump (1.60m).

Under-16 runner Madeline McGuire was eighth in the 800m (2.18.78) and ninth in the 400m (59.62).

In her individual events, Chambers came seventh in the U18 100m (12.23) and 11th in the 200m (25.45).

Luke McNamara was ninth in the U18 2000m steeplechase (6.33.66).

Pascoe said having to deal with such testing conditions in Hobart would give the Australian Youth Championship hopefuls valuable experience.

The Australian Youth Championships are in Perth from March 12-17.