TWO Tamworth flyers swooped on the NSW Primary All Schools Athletics Championships recently, bringing home a gold and two silvers.
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Adam Williams and Lief Dietrich were sent to Homebush at the top of their game after trainer Wally Warner prepared them perfectly for the event.
Williams has had a good run of success recently, including a fourth at the Cross Country Nationals, although Warner believes that this gold medal in the 800m is the best race he has ever seen him run.
The win will also qualify the Tamworth Public star for another Nationals berth, and he will likely get a spot in the NSW relay team as well after impressing with a huge last run to snare silver for the team.
Following impressive runs from Tamworth Public team- mates Malachi Bailey, Jackson Swalwell and Max Watters, Williams took the baton in fifth place on the back straight and powered through to take the silver.
Dietrich also just missed out on taking the gold, and is another name Warner believes we will be hearing lots more of in the future.
The eight-year-old St Edward’s student was beaten by just one five hundredth of a second in the 100m final, although his coach believes it is only a matter of time before he wins again.
“This young athlete (Dietrich) has a very bright future ahead of him,” Warner said.
The two youngsters have something to aim for at training, with McCarthy sprinter Sam Ellicott also in a purple patch this season.
Ellicott is currently preparing for his own tilt at the Nationals after qualifying at NSW All Schools with a bronze in the 400m.
Ellicott will try to earn a qualification in the 100m and 200m in a Newcastle meet next month although after picking up 14 representative medals in the past year, there is not much room left in his locker.
“Over the past 12 months Sam has equipped himself to be one of the better runners over these distances in the country,” Warner said.
“He will be very tough to beat over the next few years.”
Ellicott has been with Warner since he was five years old and, with the tireless trainer retiring this season, Ellicott wants to send him off with gold at the Nationals and then at the NSW Country Championships in January and the NSW Juniors in March.
Other local medal winners included Narrabri’s Georgia Stuart, Glen Innes’s Georgie Webster and National Cross Country champion Lacie Quigley from Quirindi who all claimed silvers in their respective events, while Armidale City’s Oliver Freeman took a bronze.