U/16 Australian record holder inspired by great Stawell winners

Date: 6th March 2021

With several state and National titles already under his belt, 16-year-old Jack Boulton from Wangaratta has his sights set on the Powercor Stawell Gift 120m following his back to back wins at the Parkdale Gift.

Jack remembers visits to Stawell with his pro-running father Jason, who coached John Adams into the final of the 2014 Gift. Young Jack would warm up with John, watch him run and listen closely to the debriefs with his dad on how to improve.

“I’ve been to Stawell as a kid multiple times, so being able to win it would be a great achievement.  Knowing that athletes such as Capa (Dean Capobianco), Brima (Steve Brimacombe), Dinan (John Dinan) and Perry (Chris Perry) who won the Gift all went on to represent Australia inspires me as that is what am striving to do.”

Jack says winning again at Parkdale was a shock. “This year was only my third race of the season and I wasn’t sure what form I was in. “Going through the finish line and knowing that I won and knowing that not many people win races back to back was a great feeling.”

“Other highlights of my athletics career would be the Australian 400m record in 2019 which stood for 31 years coming off the back of a tough National Championships which made me the first U/16 athlete in Australian history to break 48 seconds in the 400m. And also my five national titles.”

Jack backed up his U/16 100m and 200m titles in 2018 with the 100m, 200m and 400m for 2019.

“My hopes/goals for the future would be mainly to make a National team and represent Australia.”

 

Photo by Neil Jameson of Jamesons Photography shows Jack crossing the line at the Parkdale Gift in February 2021.

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