Six dedicated athletes from UTS Athletics Club recently competed at the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Florida, USA, with impressive performances against the world's best masters athletes.
Leading the charge was Christine De Vries in the W60-64 age category, who claimed two silver medals and set new Australian records in both the 60m sprint (8.74s) and 200m dash (29.68s), cementing her status as one of Australia's premier masters sprinters.
Maryann Hearn (W55-59) delivered a series of outstanding performances, narrowly missing the podium with three 4th place finishes. Her time of 9.94s in the 60m Hurdles set a new UTS Norths club record, while her 8.41s in the 60m semi-final established a new NSW Masters Athletics record.
Helena Smith competed admirably across five throwing events in the W35-39 category, with her best result coming in the Weight Throw where she secured 4th place with a distance of 10.22m. She also placed 5th in both Hammer Throw (31.92m) and Discus (26.00m).
Maria Cimino (W50-54) demonstrated her versatility in both track and field events, highlighted by a 7th place finish in the Weight Throw (13.32m) and 9th in the Hammer Throw (39.10m). Her time of 9.53s in the 60m Dash preliminaries equalled the UTS Norths club record.
Jenny Schell made her mark in the W60-64 division, setting new UTS Norths records in both the 200m (34.25s, 11th place) and 60m Dash (10.18s, 17th place), while also competing strongly in the throwing events.
David Neill represented the club in the M45-49 sprints, with his best performance coming in the 400m where he placed 14th with a time of 60.0s. Neill also set a UTS Norths record in the 60m and 200m.
The indoors closed out with 200m relays and the club did ever so well having negotiated their way through the 8 day competition. De Vries and Schell contributed to the W60 4×200m relay team's silver medal setting a new Australia record in the process. Hearn and Cimino also contributed to the W50 4×200m relay team's 4th place finish.
Club President Joanna Davis commented, "We're incredibly proud of our athletes' performances on the world stage. Christine's triple silver medal performance was exceptional, while Maryann's near-podium finishes and record-breaking runs show the depth of talent in our club. All six competitors represented UTS Norths and Australia with distinction."
The athletes now turn their focus to the upcoming domestic season, with the Australian Masters Championships taking place in Adelaide from 18 to 21 April.
