sport
Central Coast High’s Relay Team Blazes to State Title, Fuels Championship Hopes
The Panthers’ 4x400 squad wins gold at the NSW All Schools Championships, sparking talk of a deep run at nationals.
How we reported this
A quartet of teenagers from Central Coast High School has delivered the region its first state track-and-field title in a decade, crossing the line first in the boys 4x400-metre relay at the NSW All Schools Championships on Saturday. The performance-clocked at 3 minutes 18.42 seconds-punched the team’s ticket to the Australian All Schools Championships in December and instantly elevated the Panthers from solid contenders to genuine title threats.
How they got there
The relay squad-Year 11 athletes Liam Chen, Oscar Tui, Marcus Dwyer and anchor Jake Morrison-won by nearly two seconds over Sydney’s Knox Grammar, according to meet officials. Chen told reporters the group “had been working toward this all season” and credited a mid-season training camp at the Central Coast Regional Athletics Centre in Tuggerah for sharpening their handoffs. The win is the first state relay gold for the school since 2016, when a girls team took the 4x200.
The result matters because it signals a broader resurgence for Central Coast athletics. For years the region’s secondary schools have struggled to match the depth of Sydney’s private powerhouses. Saturday’s victory suggests that a focused, cohort-based approach-the Panthers ran the same four athletes together in every meet this year-can close that gap. School athletic director Karen Leach described the win as “a program-defining moment” in a brief statement released Sunday.
What the numbers say
Chen, the leadoff leg, posted a 400-metre split of 49.1 seconds in the final, the fastest opening leg of any team in the boys race. Morrison’s anchor split of 48.7 seconds was the quickest of the entire field. While no official team records are kept at state level, the time would have placed the Panthers inside the top five at last year’s national championships-a benchmark that coaches believe puts them in medal contention in December. The Australian All Schools Championships will be held at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in Brisbane from December 10-13.
The win also caps a strong season for Central Coast High’s broader athletics program. The school finished sixth in the overall points standings at the state championships, its highest placing since 2019. Eight individual Panthers qualified for nationals across various events, including long jumper Emily Tran and discus thrower James Hawkins.
What comes next
The relay team will now train through the spring break with an eye on lowering their time below 3 minutes 15 seconds-the unofficial qualifying standard for selection to the Australian junior team. Coaches plan to run the same quartet at the Sydney Track Classic in October as a final tune-up. For the Panthers, the state gold is not the finish line; it’s a launching pad.