Seventeen of Mudgee Little Athletics athletes not only competed at the State carnival on March 16 and 17 at Sydney Olympic Park, but also came away with 'unreal' improvements in their performances.
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According to Mudgee Little Athletics club president Kieren Bennetts once the little athletes received the news they've made it state, it's as if something had switched on.
"Once they get that ticket to go to state you just see something switch in them and they become very focused," Bennetts said.
Many of the squad walked away with personal best times, and also with significant improvements on what was achieved at the regional carnival.
You really can't ask for more than that.
- Kieren Bennetts
Nate Taylor managed to take two minutes off his under 10s 1100 metre walk, starting with a time of 9:00.86 at the regional carnival followed by 7:04.22 at state placing 12th.
Meanwhile, 13-year-old Ella Murnane was another Mudgee athlete who performed better at state with an almost minute faster time in her under 13s 3000 metre run, and a 25 second faster time in the under 13s 1500 metre run.
Beau Rohr also ran a faster time in the boys under 13s 3000 metre run, going from 11:20.36 at regionals to 10:37.64 at state, placing eighth.
For the kids to come away with that much improvement in their performance is just unreal.
"It's not an easy thing to do to make it to state, and for people to turn up to state where potentially a few thousand people are watching, it can be quite daunting."
A stand out performer on the day was 14-year-old Alesha Bennetts who placed first in the girls under 14s 400 metre sprint with a time of 58.43.
"It's really good, not only for Alesha but also the club," Kieren said.
Alesha is one of the older athletes who are apart of the Mudgee squad, and Kieren says there's many others who are likely to receive the same fate as her.
"There's a lot of other little boys and girls who could follow the same path quite easily," he said.
There's a few who are on the way to becoming quite successful.