The 2022/2023 season of Mount Gambier Little Athletics has officially commenced after rain cancelled the group’s first meet late October.

Athlete numbers have been fantastic from tiny tots under the guidance of experience coach Sally Taylor through to Under 17 athletes.

There are many returning athletes as well as many new faces register which has been great to see.

The club’s meet on Friday night saw athletes race in hurdles for the first time this season, with distances ranging from 60 metres to 100 metres for the older athletes.

The competition also recorded 11 PB’s from athletes last Friday night which indicates the club is going to be in for another great season from its athletes.

Two local athletes competed in the Coonawarra Running Festival held on November 5.

Joshua Cameron was the winner of the 12km race in 46:23 and Eva Povey finished 6th in the 6km event in a time of 31:28.

Six up and coming Mount Gambier and District Little Athletes, Emily Lynch, Jena Jagger, Les Jagger, Jacob Gordon, Josh Cameron and Lachlan Brierley headed to Adelaide to compete in this year’s 2022 VIVA SA All Schools Games with their coach Sally Taylor.

For three of the athletes, Jacob Gordon, Josh Cameron, and Lachlan Brierley, it was their first time competing at this level.

All enjoyed the experience, made new friends, and had some good results.

Lachlan is new to athletics, and this was his first major athletics event outside of SAPSASA.

Lachlan competed in quite a few events over the two days coming away with 2 bronze medals for the U15 discus and U15 shot put.

Jacob Gordon competed in the U14 javelin finishing 4th and the U14 discus taking out the bronze medal with a throw of 34.01m and a new PB.

Jena Jagger competed in the U16 100m finishing 10th, the U16 200m finishing 9th just outside of the final.

Jena made the final of the U16 400m finishing in 5th place, with a new PB against a very strong field.

Les Jagger has been working hard on his middle distance running and he finished 9th in the U14 1500m and then stepped up to the U15 3000m finishing with the bronze medal.

Josh Cameron, like Les, has been working hard on his middle distance running and had a great winter season winning a couple of events in Adelaide, with his hard work paying off.

Josh competed in the U14 800m finishing with a silver medal by the slimmest of margins, Louis Pietsch, 1st in 4:36.86 and Josh 2nd in 4:36.91.

Josh also competed in the U14 1500m finishing with a silver medal just behind Louis again.

Emily Lynch continued her great form from the last couple of seasons, competing in the U16 3000m walk and finished with the gold medal in a time of 16.16:48.

This was under the National Qualifier and Emily’s second U16 3000m walk SA All Schools title.

Emily then had a quick 30-minute turnaround to compete in the U16 2000m Steeplechase, finishing with the silver medal, which was a great result considering the time between events.

Emily also competed in the U17 5000m walk taking out the silver medal in a time of 28.05:46, which was also under the National Qualifier.

The 2022 Australian All Schools Championships will be held in Adelaide in December and both Emily Lynch and Josh Cameron have made the state team.

This is a huge honour for both Emily and Josh to wear the state colours and compete against the best young athletes in the country.

All of the athletes had a great time and would not be competing at this level if it was not for the commitment and guidance of Sally Taylor and their families’ support.

Coach Taylor was very proud of all the athletes that competed and the squad that trains with them.

“It is not always about the race, it’s about how they got there and the people that helped along the way,” she said.