Murringo Upsets Larger Schools at NSW PSSA Athletics
Murringo Public School students Sienna Wheeler, Jacob Mckinnon, Jack Dowling and Toby Dowling meet Australian track legend Melinda Gainsford-Taylor at the NSW State PSSA Athletics Championships in Sydney on November 6.
Murringo has been well and truly placed on the NSW map, with the school achieving its best ever result at the state PSSA Athletics Championships.
The school took out the bronze medal in the 4x100 metre relay at the event on November 6, courtesy of students Sienna Wheeler, Jacob McKinnon, and Jack and Toby Dowling.
Their 3rd place finish came after they finished as runners-up at the regional championships earlier this year.
It didn’t prove to be an easy task, with the students having to get through three races in total in 34-degree heat.
They had the dream start to the day, convincingly winning their heat with a personal best time of under one minute, before progressing to the semi-final where they ran a little slower but still finished second.
It was then on to the moment they had been dreaming about- the grand final. Sienna took off from her starting mark with force, taking a commanding position in the front and over taking the other runners and graciously passed to second in charge Jack.
He took command of the second leg, storming the straight and battling through some heel pain, before turning the baton over to Jacob, who swiftly whipped around the final bend, gathering ground where they sat around 4th - 5th.
But that wasn’t good enough for Toby, so as last runner, he charged down the competition and brought it home in a blistering fast 59.15- a Murringo Public School record.
Nicole Wheeler of Murringo Public School said the students were “superstars”.
“The four students were on school camp at the remote Broken Bay sports camp until the Wednesday afternoon before they raced, and we had to organise a special ferry ride for them to be delivered to principal Kaelene Neville at Brooklyn. She then met us at Homebush athletic centre where the kids finally got a rest before their busy day of competition on the Thursday,” she said.
“We arrived at the event to a packed house where the kids swiftly realised they were stacked in a field of over 30 teams across 4 heats. They took it in their stride, they warmed up, stretched and waited. When it was their time they lined up and took off, literally!!”
“The heat was turned up in theory and in reality at around scorching 2pm sitting around 34 degrees when they contested the first of the semi-finals.”
“The kids were cool as cucumbers before the final, and what a result it was. What champions! They also met some superstars whilst they were there and got some good luck from Melinda Gainsford-taylor herself. Once in a lifetime! These moments are tomorrow’s memories!”
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