Gold
Rush
Air
Force athletes rank highly on the Arafura medal tally
By
Andrew Stackpool
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FSGT
Dave Gay shows the focus that helped him win five medals
in pistol shooting at the Arafura Games.
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Photo
by LAC Allan Cooper
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AIR
Force competitors have won seven gold medals across a range of
events at the Arafura Games in Darwin from May 14-21.
Flight Sergeant David Gay took home two gold medals, a silver
and a bronze in the service and centrefire pistol events, Flying
Officer Luke Poli won two gold medals for shot put and discus,
and ten pin bowling representatives Flight Sergeant Paul Logan,
Sergeant Mark Seagrave and Corporal Keiran Wyllie took gold and
silver in the graded trio and doubles competitions, to help the
ADF team place seventh on the medal tally at the international
event.
The overall Air Force tally was seven gold, eight silver and four
bronze medals. More Air Force members took gold and silver in
the men’s and women’s hockey, while playing with the
Australian Country team.
More than 300 ADF representatives competed at the games and walked
from the event with 54 medals – 21 gold, 16 silver and 17
bronze.
ADF shone in the athletics with a tally of eight gold, two silver
and three bronze. The team equalled New Zealand in gold but came
in second as New Zealand won more silver.
Part of that tally was contributed by Flying Officer Luke Poli
from RAAF Base Edinburgh, who took two gold in the shot put and
discus.
The men’s basketball team played outstanding games all week,
winning all six trials. They were favourites to take the gold
but went down in the semi by one point to the Northern Territory
side.
NT was beaten by the US in the Finals and the ADF team took the
bronze. In their ranks were Leading Aircraftman Adam Henry, Leading
Aircraftman Ben Hutchison and Leading Aircraftman Andrew Jaunutis.
Cycling
produced a mixed bag for the men, but Air Force pulled off a double
in the elite men’s time trials when Leading Aircraftman Matthew
Jeffery and Sergeant Doug Stewart took silver and bronze respectively,
while in the women’s Corporal Julia Morris-Finlay took the
silver.
On the Futsal court, the ADF team, captained by Corporal Andrew
King, powered through the opposition to stand up against Northern
Territory in the finals. But on the night Northern Territory proved
too strong and ADF had to settle for silver.
The ADF march continued in the lawn bowls as the men’s four
took gold and the men’s team came in for the bronze. Among
their number were Corporal Brenton Attwood, Sergeant John Hicking
and Squadron Leader Damien Kroek.
Flying Officer Georgia Willmore and Leading Aircraftwoman Rachael
Gorton, alongside their Army and Navy teammates, swept aside all
but the Northern Territory in the netball heats.
Again, both rivals faced off at the finals and a hard-fought game
took NT across the line 46-26, with ADF taking the silver.
Air Force competitors proved they were no slouch on the squash
courts, either, as Sergeant Madonna Doyle and her other Service
colleagues took the silver in the ladies teams, while the men’s
team, comprising Sergeants Darryl Ferguson and Daryl Bessell,
alongside Army Warrant Officer Class 1 Craig Simmich, played very
good squash to take the bronze.
On the beach volleyball courts, Squadron Leader Vicky Campbell
and Corporal Agnieszka Dajski took silver in the final against
Thailand. Coincidentally, the three games they played against
the Thais all carried the same results.
Between the punishing activities of the beach court, SQNLDR Campbell
and CPL Dajski represented the ADF in the indoor volleyball –
effectively four games in two hours.
In the men’s beach volleyball final, Warrant Officer Class
2 Ian Barker and Leading Aircraftman Dan Johnson went down to
Army Sergeant Clinton Field and Corporal Tony Birthisel, 2-0.
