Corney in pole position

EMERGING pole vault star Raphaela Corney will be looking to soar to new heights when she takes on the country’s best at this week’s Australian Junior Athletics Championships.

The UTAS Athletics Club athlete won the under-17 national title last year by a huge 35cm, and is a strong chance to maintain her stranglehold on the event in her agegroup on a national level.

Corney will contest both the under-18 and under-20 events, and having recently cleared her personal best mark of 3.70m in training and pushed the mark in competition is full of confidence leading in to the five-day meet, which starts tomorrow.

“Doing so well last year was really good. It is just another step going again this year and I’m hoping to do well but really not feeling that much pressure,” said Corney, who turned 17 last Saturday.

“I have been jumping over PB heights in training and getting almost PBs in comp. It’s been pretty good.”

Corney will be joined in the under-18 field by fellow Tasmanian Lily Holloway, who claimed silver 12 months ago with a new personal best jump of 3.15m.

The pair are part of a team of 50 that will hit Sydney’s Olympic Park to test their skills against more than 2000 of the country’s next generation athletes.

Distance duo Ebony Webb and Ruby Smee will be looking to back up their performances on the national stage, entering the championships as some of the more experienced members of the Athletics Tasmania team.

Webb finished fourth and Smee fifth in the under-18 3000m last year, with Webb claiming a silver medal in the steeplechase and Smee placing fourth in the 1500m.

Launceston’s Sam Clifford, having already tasted success over 3000m previously, enters this year as the Australian cross country champion for his age and will line up in 1500m and 3000m in the under-17 age group.

Tasmania has a strong history at the event, with the likes of Huw and Hamish Peacock, Jack Hale, Josh Harris and Kaitlin Morgan all medallists in past years and progressing to international competition.