Thompson Estate Athletes Shine at Nationals
Scanned from the South East Advertiser 15 March 2011. Original article by Alex Strachan.
THOMPSON Estate Athletics Club trio Michael Criticos (coached by Eddie Fabian.), Vandy Kanneh and Ewerton Almeida have taken gold at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in Sydney last Week. Criticos took the men’s under 18 javelin event while Kanneh won the men’s under 14 100m crown. The explosive sprinter then joined forces with Almeida to help Queensland win the 4x100m relay. The trio were part of the Thompson Estate’s 13-person team which attended the titles.
In addition to the athletes listed above, Thompson Estate's Hannah Schlecht competed at the National Championships in the 200m U14G and 400m U14G.
Club coach Tui Edwards said the large team was testament to the hard work and sacrifice everyone involved with the club had made.
Despite the outstanding results, she said the club was in desperate need of more funding. “These athletes have had to overcome fleeing from wartorn countries, running on a ‘humpy’ track and having minimal facilities available,” she said. “We need a tartan track. We’ve been very restricted and their success is a credit to them.”
