2022 Little Athletics State Championships
The 2022 Little Athletics State Championships took place on March 4th, 5th and 6th, at the WA Athletics Stadium in Floreat. The Championships was set to feature the best U9 to U17 athletes from across the State across 3 days of competition.
4 Days out from the Championships, the WA Government announced new restrictions for WA commencing March 3rd due to the continually evolving COVID-19 situation. There were fears of De Ja Vu from 2020 where the championships were cancelled just hours from beginning due to the initial arrival and impact of COVID-19. Luckily for all involved, Athletics West, Venues West and all the relevant Government Agencies confirmed on March 1st that the Little Athletics State Championships COULD proceed with some additional Health and Safety requirements implemented across the weekend.
These late changes did not impact the overall running of the championships; however, COVID-19 did impact on Ridgewood LAC and its representation at the Championships.
97 athletes were scheduled to compete in over 250 events across the weekend with strong representation and plenty of medal contenders heading into the weekend. COVID-19 had other ideas, and sadly caused 17 of our athletes to completely miss the championships due to isolation requirements and several other athletes impacted over the weekend due to other close contacts impacts.
In the end, 80 athletes competed in 200 finals and managed to secure the biggest haul of medals ever seen for Ridgewood LAC at any championships in recent memory. 62 Medals were won by 33 athletes, with 19 of those athletes winning more than 1 medal. 22 Gold, 16 Silver and 24 Bronze medals proves that the power of the North was clearly on display at the 2022 State Championships.
Day 1 – Friday
Friday Night was hot and humid and that was just the weather, 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze blitzed our medal tally from Day 1 in 2021 where Ridgewood LAC secured just 2 Gold and 1 Silver.
One of the first events of the championships saw Ridgewood LAC score the first two medals of the championships with Sophie Williams (U13 F) and Peytton Wentholt (U13 F) secured Silver and Bronze respectively in the Javelin event. Olivia Williams (U15 F) continued the throwing events success with Silver in the Javelin and Tyson Phillips (U16 M) secured Bronze in the Shot Put to wrap up the throws medals. Witahana Pakau (U11 M) commenced the weekend strong with a bronze medal in the Triple Jump.
The track program commenced with the Walks on Friday night and produced its fair share of medals with Isabelle Curtis (U13 F) and Kennan Munro (U12 M) both secured Gold in the 1500m Walk, whilst Alisha Moore (U11 F) wrapped up the medal haul with a Silver Medal in the 1100m Walk.
Day 2 – Saturday
Saturday Morning commenced with plenty of Field action, but it was a Golden Track for Ridgewood LAC with 3 Gold and 2 Silver medals in the 1500m. Mia Conroy (U17 F), Jamie Deane (U15 M), and Mia Shelley (U12 F) all secured Gold, whilst Barnaby Lancaster-Simper (U14 M) and Travis Deane (U11 M) both brought home Silver medals.
Declan Morrison (U17 M) [300m Hurdles], Brayden Phillips (U14 M) [Discus] and Sophie Williams (U13 F) [Triple Jump] all secured Gold medals in a very short space of time. Sienna Kehoe (U10 F) took home Bronze in the Turbo Javelin event, whilst Jesse West (U16 M) claimed the bronze on a Count Back in the High Jump. Bryson Wentholt (U11 M) claimed Silver in the Discus to conclude the morning Field events.
The 100m Heats were blistering in the morning sun and were even hotter as the finals came around just before lunch on Day 2. Sophie Williams (U13 F) continued her fantastic championships with Gold in the 100m, whilst Thomas Smith (U14 M) claimed a silver, just 0.04secs behind the winner.
The lunch break provided an opportunity for everyone to catch their collective breath as the afternoon brought the 400m Heats and Finals along with some Hurdle Finals and plenty more field action.
It didn’t take long for Ridgewood LAC athletes to be back on the podium with Hunter Etchells (U10 M) claiming Bronze in the Long Jump and Peytton Wentholt (U13 F) securing silver in the Shot Put. Josh Reeve (U16 M Para) and Mia Conroy (U17 F) both claimed Gold in the 400m finals that were conducted early in the afternoon due to a reduced number of athletes in each group. Tyson Phillips (U16 M) claimed the bronze medal in the Discus as the track turned to the Hurdles on Day 2.
Ivy Warburton (U9 F) took home Gold in the 60m Hurdles, Tyleaa Ward (U14 F) secured Silver in the 200m Hurdles and Tykeria Slater (U17 F) brought home Bronze in the 300m Hurdles event.
The 400m finals kicked off right on time at 5.30pm and when all was said and done another 7 medals was added to the Ridgewood LAC haul. Jamie Deane (U15 M) took home Gold, Mia Shelley (U12 F) secured Silver amd Ameleah Ford (U11 F), Travis Deane (U11 M), Te ariki Tichborne (U9 M) and Declan Morrison (U17 M) all added Bronze medals to the tally, but it was the blistering time of 1:11.33 produced by Amelia Barnes (U9 F) who not only claimed Gold in the 400m but also took out the State Record by 0.24sec off the previous record held by former Ridgewood LAC athlete Indiana King (U9 F-2021).
A massive Day 2 with 12 Gold Medals, 7 Silver and 9 Bronze wrapping up the day to leave Ridgewood LAC with 14 Gold, 10 Silver and 12 Bronze so far throughout the championships.
Day 3 – Sunday
Middle distance running is going from strength to strength at Ridgewood LAC with Day 3 seeing the 800m contested and a grand total of 10 medals coming from just these races in the space of just 2 hours, plus more action in the field and sprint track hurdle heats all adding to the excitement of the start of day 3.
Golden Girls Mia Conroy (U17 F), Mia Shelley (U12 F) and Amelia Barnes (U9 F) all added Gold to their own tallies with the 800m wins. Jamie Deane (U15 M) added a third Gold to his personal tally, whilst Bailey Taig (U16 M) and Dominic Moore (U9 M) were both just beaten to claim a silver medal each. Te ariki Tichborne (U9 M), Kamika Pitout (U9 F), Barnaby Lancaster-Simper (U14 M) and Declan Morrison (U17 M) all produced great results to claim bronze medals and make the 800m the most successful discipline for Ridgewood LAC at the State Championships. By adding these ten 800m medals to the card, Ridgewood LAC had already surpassed the total number of medals won at the 2021 LA State Championships so the question on the hill was just how many medals were Ridgewood LAC going to win in 2022?
The field continued to produce medals with Brayden Phillips (U14 M) [Javelin] and Sophie Williams (U13 F) [Long Jump] both winning Gold in their respective events, alongside Bryson Wentholt (U11 M) taking home Silver in the Shot Put. Olivia Williams (U15 F) [Triple Jump], Angus Shelley (U10 M) [Turbo Javelin] and Ivy Warburton (U9 F) [Long Jump] all took home bronze medals just in the morning session of field events.
The morning session on the track continued with the 70m for the U9 and U10 and the Sprint Hurdles for the U11-U17’s. Ivy Warburton (U9 F) added a Silver medal to her collection from the 70m Final, whilst Tyleaa Ward (U14 F) and Travarn Ackerman (U12 M) both added bronze medals to their collections from the 80m Hurdles.
The final session kicked off with more gold for Josh Reeve (U16 M Para), this time in the 200m. Travarn Ackerman (U12 M) kept getting on the podium, this time with a silver in the Triple Jump, whilst Tyson Phillips (U16 M) concluded the field medal collection with a bronze in the final Javelin event of the weekend.
The 200m sprint heats produced some quick times and athletes were warmed up and raring to go for the finals in the last part of the championships. 4 medals came from the 200m, with Hayley Mann (U15 F) and Amelia Barnes (U9 F) both claiming bronze. Sophie Williams (U13 F) claimed her 5th medal of the championships with a Silver in the 200m, taking out the top position for most medals by a female Ridgewood LAC athlete with 3 Gold and 2 Silver from the championships. Thomas Smith (U14 M) closed out his 2021/22 LA State Championships with a golden run, to take the final Gold for Ridgewood LAC for the championships.
Day 3 produced another fantastic result with 8 Gold, 6 Silver and another 12 Bronze medals added to the Ridgewood LAC Tally.
The most successful State Championships ever with 62 medals, a State Record and 3 athletes later confirmed for the U13 Australian Little Athletics Championships (National Championships) scheduled to take place in April. An amazing result to conclude an amazing championship.
As always, a huge thank you to all the Ridgewood LAC parents who volunteered throughout the weekend. To Paul and Nienke as the Team Managers, the athletes thank you for making sure everything was correct with their results and being prompt in making enquiries as required. To the team of Ridgewood LAC Officials that once again made the competition run smoothly throughout the weekend, the Ridgewood LAC Board and Athletics West thank you for your contributions.
It’s been a busy weekend, but now its time to relax as we head into the end of the summer season and gear up for the National Championships for our Senior Athletes in Sydney and ALAC team in Melbourne.
Matthew Vine
RLAC Championships and Special Events Director
4 Days out from the Championships, the WA Government announced new restrictions for WA commencing March 3rd due to the continually evolving COVID-19 situation. There were fears of De Ja Vu from 2020 where the championships were cancelled just hours from beginning due to the initial arrival and impact of COVID-19. Luckily for all involved, Athletics West, Venues West and all the relevant Government Agencies confirmed on March 1st that the Little Athletics State Championships COULD proceed with some additional Health and Safety requirements implemented across the weekend.
These late changes did not impact the overall running of the championships; however, COVID-19 did impact on Ridgewood LAC and its representation at the Championships.
97 athletes were scheduled to compete in over 250 events across the weekend with strong representation and plenty of medal contenders heading into the weekend. COVID-19 had other ideas, and sadly caused 17 of our athletes to completely miss the championships due to isolation requirements and several other athletes impacted over the weekend due to other close contacts impacts.
In the end, 80 athletes competed in 200 finals and managed to secure the biggest haul of medals ever seen for Ridgewood LAC at any championships in recent memory. 62 Medals were won by 33 athletes, with 19 of those athletes winning more than 1 medal. 22 Gold, 16 Silver and 24 Bronze medals proves that the power of the North was clearly on display at the 2022 State Championships.
Day 1 – Friday
Friday Night was hot and humid and that was just the weather, 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze blitzed our medal tally from Day 1 in 2021 where Ridgewood LAC secured just 2 Gold and 1 Silver.
One of the first events of the championships saw Ridgewood LAC score the first two medals of the championships with Sophie Williams (U13 F) and Peytton Wentholt (U13 F) secured Silver and Bronze respectively in the Javelin event. Olivia Williams (U15 F) continued the throwing events success with Silver in the Javelin and Tyson Phillips (U16 M) secured Bronze in the Shot Put to wrap up the throws medals. Witahana Pakau (U11 M) commenced the weekend strong with a bronze medal in the Triple Jump.
The track program commenced with the Walks on Friday night and produced its fair share of medals with Isabelle Curtis (U13 F) and Kennan Munro (U12 M) both secured Gold in the 1500m Walk, whilst Alisha Moore (U11 F) wrapped up the medal haul with a Silver Medal in the 1100m Walk.
Day 2 – Saturday
Saturday Morning commenced with plenty of Field action, but it was a Golden Track for Ridgewood LAC with 3 Gold and 2 Silver medals in the 1500m. Mia Conroy (U17 F), Jamie Deane (U15 M), and Mia Shelley (U12 F) all secured Gold, whilst Barnaby Lancaster-Simper (U14 M) and Travis Deane (U11 M) both brought home Silver medals.
Declan Morrison (U17 M) [300m Hurdles], Brayden Phillips (U14 M) [Discus] and Sophie Williams (U13 F) [Triple Jump] all secured Gold medals in a very short space of time. Sienna Kehoe (U10 F) took home Bronze in the Turbo Javelin event, whilst Jesse West (U16 M) claimed the bronze on a Count Back in the High Jump. Bryson Wentholt (U11 M) claimed Silver in the Discus to conclude the morning Field events.
The 100m Heats were blistering in the morning sun and were even hotter as the finals came around just before lunch on Day 2. Sophie Williams (U13 F) continued her fantastic championships with Gold in the 100m, whilst Thomas Smith (U14 M) claimed a silver, just 0.04secs behind the winner.
The lunch break provided an opportunity for everyone to catch their collective breath as the afternoon brought the 400m Heats and Finals along with some Hurdle Finals and plenty more field action.
It didn’t take long for Ridgewood LAC athletes to be back on the podium with Hunter Etchells (U10 M) claiming Bronze in the Long Jump and Peytton Wentholt (U13 F) securing silver in the Shot Put. Josh Reeve (U16 M Para) and Mia Conroy (U17 F) both claimed Gold in the 400m finals that were conducted early in the afternoon due to a reduced number of athletes in each group. Tyson Phillips (U16 M) claimed the bronze medal in the Discus as the track turned to the Hurdles on Day 2.
Ivy Warburton (U9 F) took home Gold in the 60m Hurdles, Tyleaa Ward (U14 F) secured Silver in the 200m Hurdles and Tykeria Slater (U17 F) brought home Bronze in the 300m Hurdles event.
The 400m finals kicked off right on time at 5.30pm and when all was said and done another 7 medals was added to the Ridgewood LAC haul. Jamie Deane (U15 M) took home Gold, Mia Shelley (U12 F) secured Silver amd Ameleah Ford (U11 F), Travis Deane (U11 M), Te ariki Tichborne (U9 M) and Declan Morrison (U17 M) all added Bronze medals to the tally, but it was the blistering time of 1:11.33 produced by Amelia Barnes (U9 F) who not only claimed Gold in the 400m but also took out the State Record by 0.24sec off the previous record held by former Ridgewood LAC athlete Indiana King (U9 F-2021).
A massive Day 2 with 12 Gold Medals, 7 Silver and 9 Bronze wrapping up the day to leave Ridgewood LAC with 14 Gold, 10 Silver and 12 Bronze so far throughout the championships.
Day 3 – Sunday
Middle distance running is going from strength to strength at Ridgewood LAC with Day 3 seeing the 800m contested and a grand total of 10 medals coming from just these races in the space of just 2 hours, plus more action in the field and sprint track hurdle heats all adding to the excitement of the start of day 3.
Golden Girls Mia Conroy (U17 F), Mia Shelley (U12 F) and Amelia Barnes (U9 F) all added Gold to their own tallies with the 800m wins. Jamie Deane (U15 M) added a third Gold to his personal tally, whilst Bailey Taig (U16 M) and Dominic Moore (U9 M) were both just beaten to claim a silver medal each. Te ariki Tichborne (U9 M), Kamika Pitout (U9 F), Barnaby Lancaster-Simper (U14 M) and Declan Morrison (U17 M) all produced great results to claim bronze medals and make the 800m the most successful discipline for Ridgewood LAC at the State Championships. By adding these ten 800m medals to the card, Ridgewood LAC had already surpassed the total number of medals won at the 2021 LA State Championships so the question on the hill was just how many medals were Ridgewood LAC going to win in 2022?
The field continued to produce medals with Brayden Phillips (U14 M) [Javelin] and Sophie Williams (U13 F) [Long Jump] both winning Gold in their respective events, alongside Bryson Wentholt (U11 M) taking home Silver in the Shot Put. Olivia Williams (U15 F) [Triple Jump], Angus Shelley (U10 M) [Turbo Javelin] and Ivy Warburton (U9 F) [Long Jump] all took home bronze medals just in the morning session of field events.
The morning session on the track continued with the 70m for the U9 and U10 and the Sprint Hurdles for the U11-U17’s. Ivy Warburton (U9 F) added a Silver medal to her collection from the 70m Final, whilst Tyleaa Ward (U14 F) and Travarn Ackerman (U12 M) both added bronze medals to their collections from the 80m Hurdles.
The final session kicked off with more gold for Josh Reeve (U16 M Para), this time in the 200m. Travarn Ackerman (U12 M) kept getting on the podium, this time with a silver in the Triple Jump, whilst Tyson Phillips (U16 M) concluded the field medal collection with a bronze in the final Javelin event of the weekend.
The 200m sprint heats produced some quick times and athletes were warmed up and raring to go for the finals in the last part of the championships. 4 medals came from the 200m, with Hayley Mann (U15 F) and Amelia Barnes (U9 F) both claiming bronze. Sophie Williams (U13 F) claimed her 5th medal of the championships with a Silver in the 200m, taking out the top position for most medals by a female Ridgewood LAC athlete with 3 Gold and 2 Silver from the championships. Thomas Smith (U14 M) closed out his 2021/22 LA State Championships with a golden run, to take the final Gold for Ridgewood LAC for the championships.
Day 3 produced another fantastic result with 8 Gold, 6 Silver and another 12 Bronze medals added to the Ridgewood LAC Tally.
The most successful State Championships ever with 62 medals, a State Record and 3 athletes later confirmed for the U13 Australian Little Athletics Championships (National Championships) scheduled to take place in April. An amazing result to conclude an amazing championship.
As always, a huge thank you to all the Ridgewood LAC parents who volunteered throughout the weekend. To Paul and Nienke as the Team Managers, the athletes thank you for making sure everything was correct with their results and being prompt in making enquiries as required. To the team of Ridgewood LAC Officials that once again made the competition run smoothly throughout the weekend, the Ridgewood LAC Board and Athletics West thank you for your contributions.
It’s been a busy weekend, but now its time to relax as we head into the end of the summer season and gear up for the National Championships for our Senior Athletes in Sydney and ALAC team in Melbourne.
Matthew Vine
RLAC Championships and Special Events Director
