University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and The University of Sydney (USYD) have confirmed their reputations as some of Australia’s most successful athletic universities at the UniSport Nationals Athletics championships over the past four days. UTS dominated the men’s competition (166 points) with USYD taking the honours in the women’s competition with a total of 115.5 points.
From 21-24 April, 240 students representing 33 universities across Australia took to Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre vying for both individual success and the overall champion university awards.
On Wednesday night, Queensland University of Technology’s Tim Vincent (Bachelor of Clinical Exercise Physiology) ran 29:30.31 in the men’s 10000m. This impressive effort shaved 3.49 seconds off the previous meet record, which had been standing for 48 years.
Meanwhile, a UTS contingent of Mark Fokas (Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Science), Rowena Craker (Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Management), Kate Wahby (Bachelor of Business) and Buddy Nohra (Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Laws) claimed the inaugural UniSport mixed 4x400m relay, setting the benchmark at 3:43.70 for future meets.
On Thursday, The University of Western Australia student and Australian UniRoo (2019), Declan Tingay (Bachelor of Sport Science, Exercise and Health) obliterated the UniSport men’s 5000m race walk record in a time of 19:04.60 as the sole competitor in the event.
Fellow UniRoo (2017), Stella Radford (Master of Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne (MELB)) dominated the women’s 3000m steeplechase, etching her name into the record book in a time of 9:51.75; some 26.53 seconds faster than the previous record set in 2019. Melbourne Uni teammate and Tokyo-bound Catriona Bisset (Master of Architecture) claimed gold in the women’s 400m final, setting a personal best of 53.64; narrowly missing out on Tamsyn Lewis’ meet record of 53.44 (1997).
The excitement continued on Thursday evening with 2016 Rio Olympian and UNSW Sydney star Jessica Thornton (Bachelor of Food Science and Nutrition) taking out the women’s 100m final in 11.96. UTS’s Christopher Ius (Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Science followed, clinching the men’s race in a time of 10.72.
It was a big night for USYD’s Mackenzie Little (Doctor of Medicine) on Friday, shattering the women’s javelin record with a throw of 59.65m, contributing valuable points to Sydney’s win in the women’s competition.
The competition wrapped up on Saturday with The University of Queensland claiming a double gold in the 5000m with Josephine Auer (Bachelor of Mathematics) and Callum Davies (Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science, (Honours)) both running strong races to secure the wins. Meanwhile RMIT University’s Todd Hodgetts OAM (Diploma of Myotherapy) not only claimed a multi-class (F20) victory with a shot put of 15.92m but also outshined his able-bodied counterparts in the same event.
Led by returning athletes Lillee Wakefield (Master of Teaching, University of South Australia), Madelene McNeil (Bachelor of Letters (Sports Performance Coaching), Flinders University) and Jarryd Clifford (Bachelor of Arts, MELB), the depth of para-athletes competing in UniSport Nationals continues to grow with 10 athletes competing throughout the championships.
Final results can be viewed here. UniSport wishes to congratulate all athletes that competed and thank Athletics NSW for their support in delivering the meet.
The UniSport Nationals continues next week with 33 teams descending on University of Canberra’s campus to contest the Nationals 3x3 Basketball championships from 29-30 April.
For more information, please contact:
Eloise Ayre
Sport & Operations Manager – Nationals Championships