Different athletes. Different events. One ACT team.
The next stop is Perth.
Sixteen FAST Running athletes have been selected to represent the ACT at the 2026 Australian All Schools Championships, bringing together athletes from across our sprint, long sprint and horizontal jump programs for one of the biggest competitions on the Australian junior athletics calendar.
For FAST, it is a result worth celebrating.
The athletes range from U14 through to U18. Some will travel to Perth as ACT champions. Some have already competed at national level. For others, this will be another important step into higher-level competition.
They will compete across the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, hurdles, race walk, long jump and triple jump.
Different athletes. Different events. Different stages of development.
One ACT team.
Sixteen FAST athletes heading west
The FAST athletes selected for Team ACT are:
Chris Ward, Isabelle Jeffs, Clare Rice, Mikeire Hei Hei, Emily Gaykema, Seth Samarakoon, Afsa Chowdhury, Lewin Ainsworth, Ryan Bhaskar, Annabelle Renda, Ewan McElhinney, Shiloh Reid, Cecilia Ador, Sam Blood, Daniel Nwaobi and Brooklyn Montana.
Their selected events stretch across a surprisingly broad part of the athletics program.
Isabelle will contest the 100m, 200m and 400m, while Mikeire has qualified across both sprinting and jumping with the 100m, 200m, long jump and triple jump.
Emily heads to Perth for the 100m and 200m, while Seth combines the 100m and triple jump.
Afsa has been selected across all three horizontal and vertical jump disciplines listed for her — triple jump, high jump and long jump — while Lewin will take on the 100m, 200m and 400m.
Ryan has qualified for the long jump. Chris in the 800m.
In the U17 age group, Annabelle will contest the 100m, 200m and long jump, Ewan the 100m, and Shiloh the long jump.
Our U18 contingent includes Cecilia in the 100m and 200m, Sam and Daniel in both the 100m and 200m, and Brooklyn across the 110m hurdles, long jump and triple jump.
Clare’s selection includes the 3000m race walk, long jump and triple jump.
Together, it is a group that represents much of what FAST has been building.
More than a sprint squad
FAST is probably still most readily associated with sprinting.
There is good reason for that.
The ACT Championships again demonstrated considerable depth across our 100m and 200m squad, from Mikeire and Emily in the younger age groups through to Annabelle, Ewan, Cecilia, Sam and Daniel among our older athletes.
But the Perth team also tells another part of the FAST story.
Our horizontal jump program is growing.
Clare, Mikeire, Seth, Afsa, Ryan, Annabelle, Shiloh and Brooklyn have all been selected in either long jump or triple jump.
That gives FAST eight athletes selected across the horizontal jumps.
For a program whose identity has traditionally been closely connected to speed, that development makes sense.
Acceleration, speed, elastic qualities, rhythm, coordination and the ability to apply force effectively are important qualities across sprinting and horizontal jumping. Increasingly, our coaching environment is allowing athletes to develop and express those qualities in more than one event.
Mikeire is perhaps the clearest example in this team: selected in the 100m and 200m as well as long jump and triple jump.
Annabelle combines both sprints with long jump. Seth combines the 100m with triple jump. Brooklyn combines hurdles with both horizontal jumps.
We aren’t trying to turn every sprinter into a jumper or every jumper into a sprinter.
We are trying to develop athletes.
From Canberra to Perth
Selection for an Australian All Schools Championships is something to celebrate.
It is also important to keep it in perspective.
Junior national championships provide athletes with an opportunity to experience stronger competition, different environments and the demands that come with representing their state or territory.
They can discover what they already do well.
They can also discover what needs to get better.
Neither a national selection nor a result in Perth will tell us where any of these athletes will ultimately finish.
That is particularly important within FAST’s approach to junior development.
We want our athletes to be ambitious. We want them to compete. We want them to enjoy performing well and to recognise what they have achieved.
But we don’t want a young athlete’s identity or future potential defined by a result beside their name at 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 years of age.
Performance tells us something about where a young athlete is today. It does not tell us where they will finish.
Representing something bigger
When these athletes compete in Perth, they won’t be competing for FAST.
They will be wearing ACT colours and representing Team ACT alongside athletes and coaches from across Canberra’s athletics community.
We are proud to be one part of that.
Congratulations to every athlete selected for the 2026 ACT team and to the coaches, clubs, schools, families and communities that have helped them reach this opportunity.
And, of course, we are particularly proud of the sixteen FAST athletes who will make the journey west.
For some, Perth will be another national championship.
For others, it will be something new.
For all of them, it is another opportunity to learn, compete and keep developing.
Different athletes. Different events. One ACT team.
Canberra → Perth. 🇦🇺
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