It has been a big month for the Limestone Coast Regional Sporting Academy with so many of its stars shining brightly in their respective disciplines.

Numerous Limestone Coast talents have made a big splash, but none more so than Leila Croker, who won Gold at the 2022 Australian Combined Event Championships at Sydney Olympic Park recently.

LCRSA coordinator Tony Elletson said the versatile athlete has always been a bright prospect and was proud to see her stand on the top step of the podium.

“We were stoked to see her do well,” he said.

“We have been working with Leila for three and a bit years and at the start she made the decision to become a Heptathlete.

“We were able to secure her a coach through our partnership through Athletics SA, so see the latest achievement unfold was tremendous because that is what the program is all about.

“But the program can only take you so far and Leila’s ability and work ethic is as good as anyone and she always takes in advice from her coaches, plus her sports psychologist.

“Her attention to detail on the track and in the gym is first rate and she is a star.”

The gold medal is the latest achievement in Croker’s career which also includes being named the LCRSA athlete of the year.

The latest holder of that title is another speedy runner Hayden Crowe, who enjoyed more success last weekend.

Running in the State Championships at the SA Athletics Stadium in Adelaide, Crowe took all the applauds scoring double Gold.

The success started in the thrilling 100m dash where he set a new PB with a lightening time of 10.85 seconds which also fell under the Under 20 National qualifier benchmark.

Following the victory Crowe hunted more medals in the 400m race and could not be beaten finishing half a second ahead of his nearest rival to cross the line in just 48.85 seconds and complete a dream campaign.

There is also about to be plenty happening on the velodrome as the region sends off some riders to the national championships next month.

Mount Gambier Cycling Club talent Niel van Niekerk was picked in the State side to compete in the 2022 AusCycling Junior Track National Championships to be held in Brisbane next month.

Van Niekerk will not be the only Limestone Coast track stars pumping pedals with Sarah Dally and Kai Arbery also set to represent in the Under 19 and 17 state teams respectively.

Elletson said its beautiful to see the hard work put into the track cycling program paying off.

“We partnered with SASI to do some testing, identify riders and start a program and now our riders are on the track and in the gym twice a week,” he said.

“Niel was already a cyclist and is a super talent being the second best in the state, but we were able to identify both Sarah and Kai at the school tests after they had not done any track cycling before.

“Sarah only started a couple of years ago and now she is considered to be one of the best riders in the state for pure ability, so do that in such a short space of time is a credit to everyone.

“Kai has only been doing cycling for just over 12 months and is a sprinter.

“He is a speed machine and his first ever competitive track competition was the state titles.

“They are probably going to advance even quicker in the next six to eight months.”

The LCRSA knows no bounds tapping into the world of dancing which has brought more good news.

Mount Gambier youngster Holly Allison is part of the Australian Ballet School and has used the Academy to her strength, conditioning, focus and performance on stage.

The hard work paid off when she won the Senior Classical Championship after performing a classical solo and demi character solo, plus the Classical Solo in the 12 years and Under category, while fourth place was also achieved in two other categories at the Pendulum Dance Competition in Adelaide.

Elletson he has always been interested in incorporating dancing into the program.

“We sort of had an eye on Holly because she was part of the Australian Ballet School, so for someone at such a young age to be at that level requires a lot of talent,” he said.

“We think there are a lot of similarities between being a full time athlete and dancer because you have to be strong in the core and be perform on the big stage.

“She is an extremely talented dancer and a great, hard-working athlete.”