By Grace Frost
In his first ever decathlon, Plenty Valley Christian College student Asher Andrews achieved fourth place in the under 17 division of the Australian Junior Track and Field Championships late last month.
Andrews, 15, competed in 10 events across April 13 and 14 in Brisbane, battling it out in the 100-metre sprint, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 metres, 110-metre hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500 metres.
Neck-and-neck with his competition to the final run, Andrews finished with a total 6069 points, just 50 points from a bronze medal and 80 from a silver.
But it wasn’t all easy running for the athlete, who suffered a sudden bout of sickness while recovering from an ongoing back issue just days out from competition, leaving him reliant on his training, adrenaline and ‘a few prayers’.
Andrews’ mother Kathy said there was a ‘ginormous jump’ from his previous division structure that also proved an adjustment.
“You go from seven events – a heptathlon – to the decathlon, but it’s more than just adding three events,” she said.
“The shotput weight goes up from four to five kilograms, the discus goes up from one to 1.5 kilograms, which is a significant increase, the hurdles go up in height.”
The competition was fierce, with seven athletes achieving better scores than the silver medal in the same division last year.
But Andrews didn’t back down, walking away not only with fourth place in the national competition, but also smashing four of his own personal bests, PBs, including the 100-metre sprint (11.31 seconds), 400 metres (53.63 seconds), javelin (53.81 metres) and pole vault (3.00 metres).
Andrews additionally equaled his previous high jump personal best at 1.72m, and set a benchmark for himself in the 110-metre hurdles – 16.75 seconds – after competing in the event for the first time.
“The guy who beat me had done 10 PBs [in the competition]. He was a good kid, and I don’t mind being beaten by a good kid. I also knew I’d been sick and had a bad back, and that might’ve changed my results,” Andrews said.
“Second, third and fourth were so close, so [fourth] doesn’t feel too bad.”
Andrews’ score of 6069 points will qualify him for the Target Talent Program for the Decathlon, which will see Andrews receive high level coaching, technical and talent development over a winter program.
Ms Andrews said the Diamond Valley Athletic Club had been ‘a village’ for her son, providing incredible support, with some members even giving him free hurdles to train with and new shoes.
In the lead up to the national competition, Andrews trained five days a week under the guidance of Matt Hall, Chris Boyne, Paul Schofield and Bill Georgantis.
“The coaches are amazing, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get to Brisbane without them,” Andrews said.
Andrews now has his heart set on the Victorian State Championships and Under 18 decathlon set for next year, which he would begin training for after a six-week break.
