Tahlia Blight, Emma Downward and Harry Sly of Echuca Moama Athletics all represented Victoria at the Australian Championships in Perth. Photos: Supplied.
The Australian junior, Open and Under-20 Athletics Championships were held in the past several weeks in Perth and Echuca Moama Athletics was well represented on the country’s highest domestic stage.
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Four EMA athletes competed at the championships, held from April 4-8 for the juniors and April 10-13 for the seniors and under-20s; Hannah Downward in high jump, Harry Sly in hurdles and Tahlia Blight in track in the juniors and Scarlett Southern in track in the under-20s.
All four athletes performed well and the meet was highlighted by two medal performances, Downward scoring silver in the under-16 girls high jump and Southern picking up silver in the under-20 4x400m relay.
“Australian athletics is in a really good space at the moment and to have four of our juniors and, newly into under-20s for Scarlett, competing there was exceptional and to have the results we had was exceptional,” EMA president Kate Downward said.
Scarlett Southern added to her trophy case at the Australian Championships, bringing home a silver medal in the 4x400m relay.
Southern competed as a bottom age prospect in the under-20s, having last year competed and medalled in the relay at the Oceania championships in Fiji.
Hannah Downward’s clearance of 1.65m marked a PB, and clearing the height on the first attempt would eventually earn her the silver medal after placings 2-4 all failed to clear the 1.68m height.
Under-17 Sly destroyed his personal best times throughout the 400m hurdles event, improving from 58.08 seconds going in to record 56.77 in the heat and then beating the mark again in the final, clocking 55.52 in his fourth-place finish.
He also shaved a third of a second off his 110m hurdles PB in the heat, missing the final by 0.03 seconds.
Under-16 sprinter Blight competed in the 400m, where she placed 12th in the country, while at her less favoured 200m distance, she managed 23rd.
“Certainly, they all earned their spot at the national championships to wear the blue and white (of Victoria),” Kate Downward said.
“To get a medal for Hannah and to almost get a medal for Harry and fourth, which is often the hardest position to come, his PBs were just out of this world in his first year of senior competition and only his second year of athletics.
“He's a real talent and, of course, Tahlia and Scarlet have been around for a lot longer doing this sort of thing and performed admirably for our club over there.”
The championships mark the end of the 2024-25 season in athletics, with EMA to move into its cross-country program on Saturday mornings, beginning in May.
