Athletics
State Athletics Championships - Cairns
Last weekend we had four students representing Met North for Athletics in Cairns -Georgia Blake (Year 7), Giselle Shaw (Year 8), Jemma Keefe (Year 9), and Breanne Shepherd (Year 10). Our girls gave it their all as always and we are very proud.
Jemma Keefe continued her stunning year with two state titles - one in Discus with a new personal best and also in the Javelin event. Shwe has had an excellent season, breaking multiple school, CaSSSA, and Met North records, and we are excited for her future in sport.
Breanne Shepherd jumped a personal best at State Champs in the Triple Jump off the back of an injury sustained just three days out at Touch Football - great resilience shown.
Our two younger team members valued the experience and will be stronger from this.
Well done, girls.
Georgia Blake 13 years: Discus 19th
Giselle Shaw 13 Years: Long Jump 19th, Hurdles 12th
Jemma Keefe 14 Years: Discus 1st place, Javelin 1st Place, Shotput 10th, Hurdles 11th , 4 x 100m Relay 4th.
Breanne Shepherd 15 Years: Long Jump 10th, Triple Jump 6th, 9th Hurdles
Reflection on AIS
These holidays I was privileged to be selected into the Australian Little Athletics Team and be invited to attend a live-in camp at the Australian Institute of Sport for four days. I decided to focus on improving my javelin technique and trained with Commonwealth Games athlete and Level 5 coach, Peter Lawler.
| I went to the AIS along with thirteen other athletes from Queensland. We learnt more about our individual events, as well as attending sessions around injury prevention, stretching, self-massage, leadership, social media, and strength and conditioning. I couldn’t pick my favourite thing about the camp because it was a such a great experience, but socialising with so many talented athletes from around the country and the volleyball, basketball, and rugby players was for sure a highlight. My least favourite part of the camp was taking an ice bath. I happened to be one of the only Queenslanders in my group, so everyone from Tasmania, ACT, and Victoria thought it was so funny that I was nearly crying from being in the cold bath for what seemed so long! |
Peter told me when I was finding it hard to add an impulse step into my javelin run up; “There is no right way to do something. Whether you throw a javelin with a bent arm or straight arm, you can still throw the same distance. If you throw with a locked knee or a bent knee, you will throw the same distance.” This piece of advice was one of the main things I took away from the camp, as I realised that this message applies to many different aspects of my life, not just javelin. There is no right way to achieve your goal, as long as you do it. Attending the 2019 LAA Camp was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and something I will never forget. It has motivated me in my training and made me extremely excited to compete at the Queensland School Sport State Championships (see report above) and hopefully Nationals which is later this year in Perth.
Jemma Keefe
