“In what was the best quality 1500m Australian Championship field ever assembled, the club had two members on the podium, with Bankstown’s Rorey Hunter taking out the bronze medal and putting himself firmly in Tokyo Olympic selection discussion,” Whitbread said.
The open performances were also supported by a raft of para and junior results, with para-athlete Cormac Ryan winning gold, silver and bronze medals in the wheelchair events, Cheyenne Murray, 13, taking the national title in the 800m and Manaia Coulter, 14, winning the shot put.
“However the stand-out junior of the championships was Youth Olympic silver-medallist Jaylah Hancock-Cameron, who earned herself automatic selection for the World Junior Championships by winning the Australian 1500m Championship,” Whitbread said.
Jessica Hull, now in the USA preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, also earned honours for the club by being named the Marjorie Jackson Award Winner as the 2020 Female Athlete of the Year at an Athletics Australia gala.