Off and racing at Gunnedah Little A’s (from left) Sophie Perkins, Kurt Rennick, Chloe Perkins and Eliza Perkins.
GUNNEDAH Little A’s have kicked off the new season and registrations have topped the 140 mark.
There are many new faces in the ranks and, according to organisers, the level of enthusiasm is at an all-time high at Wolseley Park on Wednesday afternoons.
Each week, club members are taught a new skill before branching off into their respective age divisions.
The 2012-13 season couldn’t have started on a better note, with four records broken in the first three weeks.
Lucy Jaeger set a new record in the under 17s in both the 100 metres (14.60 seconds) and long jump (4.11 metres) events.
Emma Kennedy recorded a great 100 metres sprint time of 13.57 seconds, taking 0.1 of a second off Peta Kidd’s 1991 record.
Sophie Perkins ran a 6.02 minutes in the under 14 girls’ 1500 metres, breaking Melissa Robinson’s 1999 record in this event.
Both Kennedy and Perkins recently attended an Athletics Australia National Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in the October school holidays.
Twenty-five athletes were invited from each state to attend the three- day athletics development camp at the AIS where they received coaching from some of Australia’s top coaching staff and attended lectures on all aspects of athleticism.
Gunnedah was the only club outside of Sydney to have two members invited to attend the clinic.
The club also had four athletes represent Gunnedah at the PSSA All-Schools last week at SOPAC.
Ben Duffy and Eliza Perkins both performed well in the under 11s high jump, Sarah Storey competed in the under 12 girls’ long jump and Jarred Heinrich was the first runner for the senior boys’ relay team, which made it to the final.
The focus of Gunnedah Little A’s is on each individual improving their own performances.
Having a go at all events is strongly encouraged and the Teens Group is always on hand to help the younger athletes at the club learn new skills.