Two Port Stephens girls are off to the Pacific School Games in December to compete at the national level for athletics.
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Lilly Mullane and Shari Hurdman, both 10, will compete at the Games in Adelaide after winning medals at the NSW PSSA state athletics carnival held at Sydney Olympic Park on October 18-19.
Lily, who attends Fern Bay Public School, won silver in the under-11 discus while Shari, a Shoal Bay Public School student, came first in the under-10 200 metre sprint.
The girls are members of Port Stephens Little Athletics, based at Tomaree Sports Complex.
Lily said discus was the first athletics discipline she was introduced to.
“I also do shot put and I just started javelin,” she said. “But discus is my event.”
Shari, who also plays netball, and is involved with nippers and gymnastics, sticks to the 100m and 200m sprints.
She said she did not expect to win gold at the state championship but was happy with her result.
Lily and Shari are not the only Port Stephens Little Athletics members to have won medals at state championships.
At the 2017 NSW All Schools Championships in Sydney Cooper Luff, 14, came third in high jump and fourth in the 400m sprint. Ben Esquilant, 14, also did well. He came fourth in the 100m and 200m sprint events.
In September, at the NSW Combined High Schools State Championship, Luff came first in the under-14 400m sprint. Esquilant placed second in the under-14 100m and 200m sprints.
Aidan Moulder, 14, also from Port Stephens Little Athletics, placed second in the under-14 400m sprint at CHS championship.
Cooper and Ben attend Tomaree High School. Aidan attends Merewether High School.
Additionally, in the NSW Combined Independent Schools Secondary Athletics Championships in Sydney on October 20 Grace Hewitt, a member of Port Stephens Little Athletics, came first in the 200m sprint, first in long jump and second in the 100m sprint.
Athletics coach Alison Baillache said the results were “outstanding”.
“To have seven state medals from our local kids is an amazing achievement,” she said.
“The work we are putting in to the club is really helping these kids to perform to their best.”