MAAA awards night for the season of 2017
Although only on its second athletic season, Rush athletic club has already proven its strength amongst other athletic clubs in each and every athletic competition it has participated in. In the upcoming MAAA awards night for the season of 2017, which is tomorrow, Rush athletic club can proudly say that five of its athletes will be presented with an award for being outstanding athletes throughout the 2017 season. These athletes, namely Luca Martini, Kurt Zahra, Sarah Chouhal, Kayleigh Chetcuti and Kimahri Charles, are all under 18 years of age and have produced very strong performances despite this fact.
Starting with our oldest athlete of the bunch, Luca Martini is our u18 thrower. His main throwing event is hammer throw where he dominates with his superb performances. He also participates in the discus throw and shot put. During the 2017 season, he has broken his own u18 hammer national record numerous times, his best mark being 55.18m. One of Luca’s top performances of the season is when he competed in an international meet in Luxembourg, placing 3rd. It is also worth noting that he competed against very tough competitors, one of them being the world’s 2nd best junior hammer thrower at the time, Hristos Frantzeskakis. In last year’s national championships, Luca won the hammer throw in style with a new u18 national record and he also won the discus throw and shot put, despite the fact that they are not his preferred events.
Next up is our u16 sprint star Kurt Zahra. He competes in all sprinting events but his best are the 200m, 100m and 60m. One of his best performances of the 2017 season was in Brno, Czech Republic, at the European kids athletics games. He obtained personal bests in the 60m and 300m, winning gold and silver in them respectively. Kurt was also was part of the Maltese 4x60m relay team at those games, where they won bronze whilst also breaking a national record. In last year’s national championships, in his age group, Kurt managed to obtain two gold medals in the 200m and 100m with personal bests to accompany them.
Our oldest female of the bunch is our multi-eventer Sarah Chouhal, who competes in sprinting, throwing and jumping disciplines, though her preferred events are the 400m, hammer throw and long jump. Some of her best performances were in an international meet in Luxembourg, where she competed in an open category amongst much older women. Despite this fact, she placed third with a new u16 national record, with a mark of 43.71m. Now, her mark stands at 47.95m, not only being the u16 national record but now also the u18 national record. Other noteworthy performances from her came from the European kids athletics games in Brno, Czech Republic, where she placed 7th overall in the 60m final, 4th overall in the 300m final after winning her heat, just missing the podium and she was also part of the female 4x60m relay team who brought home silver. In last year’s national championships, in her age group, Sarah won golds in the hammer throw with an u16 national record, discus throw and 400m, silvers in the long jump and 100m and a bronze in the 200m, achieving her goal of medalling in all events she took part in and achieving personal bests in everything.
Next up is Kayleigh Chetcuti. Kayleigh is a sprinter and a jumper, her preferred events being the 200m, 150m and the long jump. One of Kayleigh’s best performances last year was at the European kids athletics games in Brno Czech Republic. She competed in the 60m and 150m, registering a personal best in the 150m finishing 9th overall. In last year’s national championships, Kayleigh took home gold in her age group’s 100m and long jump events and a gold with her relay team from her ex-club and a silver in the 300m.
Last but definitely not least, is our athlete Kimahri Charles. She is a multi-eventer as well, her preferred events being the 300m, shot put, long jump and high jump. She holds the shot put national record for u14 with a distance of 12.96m. In last year’s national championships, in her age group, Kimahri obtained three gold medals in the discus throw, 300m and shot put (equalling the national record, although now it is hers alone) and a silver in the 300m.
Rush athletic club is very proud of these athletes’ achievements and wishes them all the best for more success in the future. This is just the beginning!
15th February 2018