A wet start nearly spelled disaster for the Western Riverina Zone Little Athletics Championships earlier this month.
After a torrential downpour the night prior, Finley’s Little Athletics coach Pat Kelly spent the morning of Saturday, January 16 at the water pumps.
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After much effort, the track and facilities had been dried enough to host the 91 little athletes who would soon attend the event.
Clubs from Griffith, Deniliquin, Leeton, Corowa, Narrandera and Finley competed in the championships.
Twenty of the 22 Finley athletes to compete on the day qualified for the Region 4 championships, which will be held in Wollongong on February 5 and 6.
‘‘After a delayed start to the season due to COVID it was great to see the kids perform so well to progress to Region 4, where they will aim to qualify for the State Championships,’’ Kelly said.
‘‘The ground looked great despite needing some water pumped off before we could start after 42mm of rain, and our new long jump run-ups were used for the first time in competition.
‘‘Thank you to Judith Peel for her organisation and our special guests from Little Athletics NSW, Rebecca Newton and Daniel Warren.’’
Just some of the achievements on the day include Flynn Rourke winning all four events he competed in, Olivia Thompson coming first in five of six events and placing second in the U14 long jump, and Jasmine Burke winning three of five events, and placing second in the other two.
