Glen William Public School’s relay team ran their way through to the state athletics final.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The team made it through several rounds of competition to qualify for the Norm and Elizabeth Austen Trophy final.
Formerly known as the PP6 final, the Norm and Elizabeth Austen Trophy competition is for small schools with between one and 25 enrolled students.
The primary school’s four fastest 100 metre runners Charlie Boyton, Aaron Whelan (both year six), Kendall Boyton (year four) and Dannii Cassar (year three) were selected for the team earlier this year.
The four athletes then competed at the zone carnival at Port Stephens back in August.
They then qualified for the Hunter region carnival, which took place at Glendale in September.
The team finished third in their race, which wasn’t quite enough to qualify them for the state carnival.
But about a week after the regional carnival, a relay team from an Upper Hunter school who finished ahead of them pulled out.
This meant they were able to defend their state qualification, after last year’s athletics relay team also made it through to the NSW competition.
The entire school of 22 students traveled to Sydney Athletic Centre at Homebush for the New South Wales Primary Schools Sports Association (NSWPSSA) competition.
The students put in their best efforts and came off with a top four finish in their heat, which qualified them for the relay final.
Glen William Public School relieving principal Kristy Bultitude said the children were all very excited to attend the high-level event.
The team was also thrilled to meet the NSWPSSA president Barry McColl, who gave the students a detailed history of the athletics stadium.
Ms Bultitude said the performance of the students was exceptional and the achievement was well-deserved.
The students put a lot of hard work into their preparation for the state carnival.
After last year’s team dropped the baton in the state level race, the four athletes made sure they practiced their baton changes religiously.
They gave up their lunch times to do this, and organised their training all on their own without the assistance of a coach or teacher.
Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
