Matt De Bruin, right, won three championships at the Victorian Junior Track and Field Championships, including the 200m sprint, 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles. Picture: Supplied
By Jarrod Potter
MATT De Bruin shrugged off the sweltering conditions on the weekend to win three state athletics titles in Victorian Junior Track and Field Championships at Albert Park.
De Bruin, 16, from Pakenham, smashed the field in his specialities – the 110m and 400m hurdles – but also secured an unexpected championship – the 200m – picked up only on a whim to help warm up for the hurdles.
To cap off a successful championship, De Bruin also won silver in the 100m sprint, once again, as a warm up for a hurdles event.
“The championships went pretty well,” De Bruin said.
“I started off with the 100m heat which I entered for a heat before the 400 hurdles.
“Wasn’t expecting much, but qualified third fastest in my heat.
“In the 400m hurdles final I won – it wasn’t a very good time, but very happy with it.”
De Bruin had to quickly cool down after taking the 400m hurdles victory and get ready for the 100m final, which was immediately afterwards.
“Straight after that, I had to go to the cool room and head to the 100m marshalling for the final,” De Bruin said.
“I’ve never done 100m at state level before and wanted to do it as a warm up.
“Did a few warm ups on the track and got second in the end and was stoked with that.”
For Sunday’s competitions, De Bruin took another warm-up race in the 200m and ended up, winning the event.
“Next day, got to the track a bit earlier to relax and had the 200m heat,” De Bruin said.
“I wasn’t expecting much in that either, ran it for a warm up and ran that through, got the fastest qualifier surprisingly.
“A couple of hours later, I had the 110m hurdles final and ran pretty well in that to get a personal best.
“A little while after that I had the 200m final.
“I ended up winning that too and was pretty happy with the win.”
De Bruin now turns his attention to the Australian Junior Championships, in Sydney from 14-18 March as well as getting ready to play for the Gippsland Power in their under-16s team.
Other Casey Cardinia Athletics Club athletes to win at the championships were Rachel Guy, who won gold in the under 14 women’s 3000m race walk, Cara Moody, gold in the under 18 women’s high jump, Karlee Bailey, silver in the under 16 women’s 100m and bronze in 200m, Jason Bailey, silver in the under 18 400m hurdles and Blake Bailey, bronze in the 200m hurdles.
