Sam Lindsay, Chanel Charles reflect on winning All-Schools medals

The 14-year-old said he was clipped from behind in the first 50 metres of his under-15 3000m race and suddenly his shoe was half-off.

It was a busy field with about 16 competitors in the combined under-15 and under-16 race.

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In 35-degree heat, he managed to fix his shoe at the 300m mark before putting together the race of his life.

The St Patrick's College student claimed silver in 13.46 which was a two-second personal best.

It was the first time his shoe had come off during a race. "When you get your shoe clipped first of all, you're not really thinking anything," he said.

"You panic at the start and just try to stay calm. And then you try and find a safe spot to stop and put on your shoe."

"It half came off. So my ankle was on top of the back of the shoe. So half was on and half was off. You just have to stop and put it back on."

Lindsay, a Newstead Athletics competitor coached by James Anderson and Rosemary Coleman, explained how he got himself back in the race.

"I wasn't really thinking about anything else so I think that helped. Just the adrenaline of it all helped make it a good pb," he said.

While he was disappointed after the race, he said he was proud of the way he fought back.

Meanwhile, Launceston Church Grammar grade seven student Chanel Charles won silver with her 58.41-second dash in the under-14 girls' 400m at the titles.

It wasn't until she got back to Tassie that she realised she had broken an 11-year-old state record previously held by Claudia Nicklason (58.67).

Charles, 13, wiped nearly one second off her personal best.

"It's a big deal for me to have got my first national medal and it was a great experience," she said.

Charles, who started little athletics when she was five, moved from Sydney to Launceston a year ago.

She's part of South Launceston Little Athletics and Newstead is her senior club.

"I enjoy the 400 because anything can happen. There's a lot of different ways to run the race," she said.

"It's one of the most interesting races to also watch people compete in because someone could be coming near the back for the first 300 metres. But on that back straight, they could just come through and win the race."

The 400m is widely regarded as the toughest track event because of its prolonged sprint.

Charles, who is coached by Liz Gray, has embraced that challenge.

"I definitely think it's the hardest event. But I also think it's really fun because you get to work on a lot of different things," she said.

"Through 400s, I get to do 800ms and 200ms because I'm in the middle. So it means I get to do some sprints as well as long distance."

Charles also achieved a pb in the 200m in which she ran 27.29. Launceston's Will Bottle won the under-18 5000m race walk at All-Schools.

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