TAMWORTH’s Little Athletics team is bound for Taree this weekend to compete in the regional athletics championships.
After competing in the North West zone carnival in Gunnedah last month, 51 of the club’s athletes made it to the next level.
They’ll compete against Mid and Far North Coast athletes to decide which two finalists from each event will make it the state finals at Homebush in March.
A mix of seasoned and new athletes will take to the field on Saturday and Sunday, a first for the 9s group who haven’t competed at, or qualified for, the regional level before.
Publicity officer Kerrie Fensbo said four relay teams of senior and junior boys and girls would also be competing.
She said a fair few of the Tamworth athletes had made it to the regional level and beyond in the past.
“It’s the biggest team for a while,” Fensbo said.
A few of the athletes are pretty seasoned when it comes to the competition, including Douglas Pianta, who’ll compete in the triple, long and high jumps as well as hurdles, and his sister Kate, who’ll compete in the long and high jumps and two sprint events.
Emma Klasen (high jump, long jump and sprints) and Abby Schmiedel (sprints) have also been successful at the regional level.