NSW Junior Championships: 5 emerging athletes to watch

Published Thu 06 Mar 2025

6 March 2025

NSW Junior Championships: 5 emerging athletes to watch

Next week a record 2200 NSW teenagers will compete in the 4-day State Junior Championships. Many of our established junior stars, like Mason McGroder, Delta Amidzovski, Izzi Louison-Roe, Daniel Williams, Mitchell Hatfield, Fleur Cooper and Chelsy Wayne will be in action, but who are some of the next in line set to impress? Let’s meet five emerging athletes ready to shine this year.

Grace Townsend (UTS Norths) – U18 400m hurdles PB 60.86

Since she first competed at the NSW Junior Championships as a 12-year-old, Grace has won medals in sprint events, hurdles and jumps. But she seems to have arrived at the perfect combination of those events – the 400m hurdles. Coached by Katie Edwards and Mel Gainsford-Taylor, in December 2023 at the Australian All Schools she placed third in the 400m hurdles in 65.98 seconds. In November 2024 she slashed that time to 63.00 seconds, then in December at the Australian All Schools she ran the stunning time of 60.86 seconds in the U17 race. In comparison, the 2024 World U20 Championships qualifying standard was 61.00 seconds and just two Aussies qualified.

Jozef Cluff (Trinity) – U18 Shot PB 17.56m and Discus PB 56.41m

Coached by two of the best David Bruce (for shot) and Rhys Stein (for discus), Jozef has been a weapon for Trinity Grammar at their annual Combined Associated School championships, earning points in sprints, hurdles, jumps and throws. Outside of school duties, he now just throws, and just in the shot and discus events. He has even given away the javelin, an event he won an Australian title in. A bronze medallist in the shot (U16s) at the December 2023 Australian All Schools, he cemented that ranking with another bronze in March 2024 at the Australian junior titles (U17), but by December, at the Australian All Schools, he rose to gold with a 1.45m superior distance. Also in December he was third in the discus with a throw five metres below his PB, so he would seem to have unfinished business in that event.

Maiya Hewitt (Athletics Wollongong) – U17 400m hurdles PB 60.31

Another incredible 400m hurdles talent is Wollongong’s Maiya Hewitt. A year younger than Grace Townsend, Maiya defeated her last December 60.50 to 60.86 at the Australian All Schools. Maiya also won the U16 long jump with a PB 5.78m leap.

Maiya has since trimmed her hurdles best to 60.31 at the 2025 ACT Championships. She has been a quality hurdler for a few years, clocking 62.80 back in 2023. Hurdling is not unfamiliar in the family with her dad and coach, Joshua Hewitt, a former NSW champion who in 1998 won the State U20 400m hurdles title, then the open title in 2002.

Max McAneney (Dubbo) – U20 400m PB 46.55

Lost behind the excitement at the recent Australian All Schools in Brisbane, where Terrell Thorne broke the National U18 400m record previously held by NSW’s Paul Greene, was the outstanding performance of Dubbo’s Max McAneney who clocked 46.55.

Max has over the last few years been re-emerging following a two-year break.

“I had run in school competitions in primary, but then stopped during COVID. I didn’t train during that time and it was not a priority,” Max said.

Under coach Mark Penman, he really started to progress in 2022 clocking a time of 49.43 (aged 15y). Then in 2023 he was down to 47.67 (aged 16y), before his 46.55 in 2024.

Cadel Holmes (Northern Suburbs LAs) – U18 High Jump PB 2.10m

Since placing fifth in the U14 high jump at the 2021 Australian All Schools, Cadel Holmes has been on the rise. Two years later in 2023 he cleared 2.00 metres to win the U16 National All Schools high jump. But this summer he has been in extraordinary form. In December he cleared 2.10m on his first attempt, then in 2025 he has recorded clearances of 2.06m and 2.10m in January and 2.05m last month. His 2.10m clearance last year, put him in the top-5 U17s in the world.

Cadel is amongst a good crop of junior high jumpers at the NSW Junior Championships including Toby Calder in his event and in the under-20 event the Keegan Whitten, NSW Country champion Mackay Jones and World U20 Championships finalist Mitchell Hatfield.