Kayla on the blocks Montagner ready to run against the best

CAIRNS athlete Kayla Montagner knows exactly what she has to do to upstage her highprofile rivals.

Montagner is in Townsville this week for the Oceania Athletics Championships, one of a slew of Cairns Athletics Club members to represent the Regional Australian team.

The 21-year-old will compete in the 100m and 200m sprints, with her hope of a spot in the relay team yet to be confirmed.

It won’t be an easy run for Montagner, who will line up alongside Australian sprint sensations Riley Day and Maddison Coates at the titles.

“A lot of the Australian juniors like Riley Day and Maddie Coates, and a lot of those other big names are there,” she said.

“Maddie was at the Stawell Gift (earlier this year) but luckily she was starting way back. There’s quite a few big names but I’ve raced them a couple of times so I know what I have to try to get to try to beat them.”

Montagner is no stranger to high-level competition, having competed against and alongside some of the country’s best sprinters for years.

“There’s a lot of speed and endurance for this type of the competition because I’m running the 200 as well, and as it gets closer it turns towards more speed, track work and technique,” Montagner said.

“It depends on the session. If it includes the blocks, it’s a lot of short work with a focus on technique. Other times it’s a 100m sprint, walk back to the start and keep going.”

Montagner competed against Coates at the Stawell Gift, but there’s not much she can take out of her run at one of Australia’s most well-known foot races and apply to her Oceania title campaign.

“There’s a lot of difference between the grass and track, the grass it’s a little harder to get traction,” she said. “Track tends to be a bit faster, there’s less dips and movement.”

Montagner’s goal is identical to that of other Far North Queensland athletes: race with a smile and set some new personal best times.

“Mine are very old and I need new ones,” Montagner said of her PBs.

“For the 100m it’s 12.29 … and the 200m I’m trying to get below 25 seconds.”

Montagner ran in the 100m heats last night, and will line up for the 200m on Friday.