North’s athletes set pace
TOWNSVILLE will be chasing a record medal haul at next month’s Australian All Schools Athletics Championships in Adelaide with six athletes set to compete against the country’s best.
Sprinters Jake Doran, Isabella Starr, and Samuel Warner, middle distance runner Lauren Nugent, thrower Ashley Thomas, and long jumper Kajsa Souter have all qualified for the Queensland team.
The Townsville six led a fantastic performance for the Northern region at last month’s Queensland Secondary Schools Championships, with the team bringing home 23 medals between them including five gold.
Local coach Lisa Nugent said it showed the strength of athletics in Townsville to have such a strong group of young athletes qualify for the national titles.
“You don’t really get that many make it, especially from Townsville,” Nugent said.
“To compete against the kids in Brisbane and to make a final is impressive in itself, but to beat them shows we’re going great guns.
“It’s improving considering where we’ve come from. We were lucky to get two or three in the team, but now we can get these numbers from the region.
“For these kids to have that success, their coaches are obviously doing the right thing.”
A few of the Townsville athletes medalled at last year’s titles in Canberra and Nugent believed they were in with a strong chance to be crowned national champions.
“It’s always good to bring the bling home to North Queensland,” she said.