Reece Piper displays the spoils of his success at this month’s State Track and Field Championships in Bendigo. Pictures: Stewart Chambers.By Marc McGowan and Sarah Pearson
THREE gold medals, two state records and a swag of new admirers was Narre Warren athletics prodigy Reece Piper’s impressive haul at this month’s State Track and Field Championships.
The weekend Bendigo meet was nine-year-old Reece’s first appearance at state level and one he is unlikely to forget.
The Cranbourne little athlete’s first record came in the 70-metre sprint, when he stopped the clock at 10.09 seconds – two-tenths of a second better than the previous mark.
Reece then slashed almost five-tenths of a second off the 100-metre record in running 13.98 in the heats before triumphing in the final in 14.15.
The top three competitors in the event, including third-placed Casey little athlete Christian Daly, went quicker than the previous best Victorian time of 14.44.
Christian also finished second in the 70-metres and pocketed bronze in the 60-metre hurdles.
Just for good measure, Reece smashed his personal best in the triple jump by 60 centimetres to complete his golden weekend with a leap of 8.62m.
The grade-three Kilberry Valley Primary School student’s father Steve was left stunned – and emotional – by his son’s performances.
“He knocked us all off our feet, to put it perfectly bluntly,” he said.
“When he was up on the dais and being photographed with three medals, I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.
“To hear that other parents had stayed back just to watch him blew us all off our feet because it was something we did not expect.”
And it seems Reece’s competitiveness has had a similar effect on Cranbourne Little Athletics Club committee member Kim Adamson.
Adamson described the youngster, who only turned nine on 10 December, as “the most determined young man I have seen for a long time in his age group”.
But Reece’s sporting talents do not end with athletics.
He is also a promising on-baller for Fountain Gate Football Club and has won the best-and-fairest for his side in each of his two seasons in the game.
Last year Reece was third overall in the under-10 Dandenong District Junior Football League best-and-fairest award and played for the competition at representative level.
“I coach him in football and I don’t vote when it comes to the best-and-fairest. I get the assistant coach or team manager to do that,” Steve said.
“I just stay out of the way a bit; I don’t want parents saying you favour him because he’s your son.”
So what makes Reece so good?
“He gets white line fever. When he’s not on the park, he’s a normal kid, but when he’s out there, he gives 120 per cent,” Steve said.
“As parents, we’re (he and wife Teresa) both very proud and hopefully he carries it forward with him.”
More record-breaking feats could be ahead, with Reece possibly looking to don the whites on the cricket field next season.
“He’s just one of these kids who is a natural at everything,” Steve said.
