Daisy nationals bound
Horsham athlete Daisy Sudholz will fly to Perth in December to compete at the Australian All Schools athletics championships after winning a state title in the 1500 metres.
The St Brigid’s College student will take plenty of confidence into the national event after blitzing the field in the under-14 girls 1500-metre final at the Victorian All Schools championships in Melbourne.
Sudholz, with a time of 4:56.97, was more than 10 seconds in front of her nearest competitor – Padua College’s Reece Fischer.
Sudholz also competed in the 800-metre final at the championships after posting the top qualifying time but ran eighth in a field of 10 finalists.
Earlier in October she won a School Sport Victoria 1500-metre final and finished second in the 800 metres.
She also won a School Sport Victoria cross country final and finished ninth in the Australian All Schools cross country competition this year.
Horsham athletics coach
Ricky Price said Sudholz has what it takes to compete with the best junior athletes in the nation in December.
“Daisy has won her past two races fairly easily,” he said.
“Her time of under five minutes at the Victorian All Schools was very good, but the past couple of times she’s run it has been windy.
“With a headwind and then a tailwind it’s hard to know exactly how she’s going.
“She hasn’t had a lot of opposition to run against, and it’s hard to know how she’ll respond when she’s running against other girls there who will definitely be running that sort of time or faster.
“It’s not unusual to see someone win that with a time in the 4.40s, so it’s just about on the day whether Daisy is able to push through and respond.”
Price said Sudholz was constantly improving her 1500-metre time and would need to continue to do so.
He said her recent results showed she was capable of great things.
“A couple of when she was years ago in primary school she got pipped at the post in the Victorian All Schools, and this was her first go in the under-14 age group,” he said.
“To win at the Victorian All Schools is a very good achievement – it’s a standard above School Sport Victoria.
“That’s an achievement by itself, but to also make the Australian All Schools cross country championships and win the School Sport Victoria cross country is great. She’s improving all the time and she works very hard.
“She likes to get out and lead from the front which is a hard thing to do in the 1500.
“She’s been able to run home and put the tempo up in the last couple of laps, which means she’s finishing the races really well.”