TWO of Tamworth's brightest junior athletics stars have their sights firmly set on next month's Australian Junior Athletics Championships after starring at the recent NSW titles.
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Emma Klasen and Liam Gordon not only qualified for the nationals, but collectively took home three medals from the state championships.
Gordon won a silver medal in the 400 metre final, as well as qualifying for the 200 metre event, while Klasen claimed bronze in the 100 metre event and silver in the 200 metre event.
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"For me, achieving a personal-best time and qualifying was always my goal, to win a silver medal was an added bonus," Gordon told the Leader.
"That new best time was in the heats, which automatically qualified me for nationals, so I was really pleased with that."
Klasen said stepping up into the under-20 age group provided her with a brand-new set of challenges.
"I was really happy with the result, I wanted to make a final in either event and was able to do it in both, which is awesome," Klasen said.
"It was a step up in age group, but you have to be in the under-20 competition to go on to the world championships, which is my goal.
"Most my age group was in the under-20 age group, so it wasn't too unfamiliar."
The 17-year-old Klasen and 13-year-old Gordon will now turn their attentions to preparing for the national titles in Sydney from March 26 to March 29.
"It's practically like a home-track advantage for us," Klasen said.
"The 100 is so close between all of the athletes, making the final would be incredible and I'm praying I can medal in the 200, but if I run a good time I'll be happy."
As for Gordon, he has loftier goals in mind.
"I would love to come first, but I think my main goal is to run it in under 52 seconds," he said.
"That's the aim for now and I would love to be under 50 seconds by the end of the year.
"I'm also doing the 200 at nationals, I qualified in the heats before injuring my hip and pulling out of the final.
"Hopefully I can lay a good platform for myself to improve on going forward."
Both of the junior stars believe they have a lot of work to do to prepare to take on some of Australia's best junior athletes.
"The big thing I will be working on is my fitness," Gordon said.
"Lately, I've been struggling to finish off the last 100 metres of a race because of the build up of lactic acid.
"So I'm hoping if I get a bit fitter, I should be able to finish a bit stronger."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
