Duo up to the heavy burden
EMELIA Surch and Bella Iselin will carry some of the heaviest workloads at the district and regional athletics championships but you won’t hear either girl complaining.
The talented duo, who both started their careers at Little Athletics, are heptathletes used to taking on a smorgasbord of events at every carnival.
From sprints and jumps to throws, Surch and Iselin will be in action at every opportunity as they bid to make the South Coast team to compete at the state all schools titles in Brisbane in October.
Iselin has already qualified for the regional titles after competing in seven events at the district championships on Wednesday and progressing in all of them.
The Helensvale State High student and Helensvale Little Athletics member is following in the footsteps of her school’s most famous graduate, Olympic gold medallist Sally Pearson, who also started her career in Little Athletics before graduating through the ranks.
Unlike Pearson though, Iselin is maintaining her training for several events as she looks to specialise in the heptathlon. “I was a sprinter and then I moved into jumps and then I liked throws and then I got into hurdles, so they thought it would be a pretty good thing to do,” she said.
Surch, 15, is also a heptathlete and sticking with Little Athletics while many her age leave the organisation.
“I’m going to continue. Little As does every event, so the value of continuing helps me in every event, not just specific ones,” she said.
Surch represented Queensland at the Australian Little Athletics championships last season – a feat Iselin is hoping to replicate.
This year though, Surch is hoping to qualify for the state titles in several individual events. “For school, they don’t do heptathlons, so I had to do my specific events,” she said.
Surch and Iselin have an outstanding heptathlon mentor in coach Glynis Nunn, the 1984 Olympic champion.