Dubbo Athletics Club to be well-represented at two national championships

That's how things stand for some of Dubbo Athletics Club's best and brightest young competitors.

A number of Dubbo athletes are preparing for different national competitions after a host of impressive performances at recent state meets.

Two of those up-and-comers are Ella Penman and Max McAneney, who both won gold at the NSW All Schools Athletics Championships and will now go to the national titles at Adelaide in December.

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Penman has long been one of the most exciting track stars at Dubbo and did the 400m and 800m double at the state championships while McAneney was first in the 15 years 400m and second in the 200m.

"Ella is there in the mix (for national gold) and when you look at Max's time he'll be there or thereabouts too so they're both in good stead," Dubbo Athletics Club coach Mark Penman said.

"Nationals are the short-term and a bit longer term, we're seeing where they're at but they're both not far off the world under 20 (championships) qualifying times.

"Consistently working for the next few years and that's a bit of a longer term goal. There could be some international competition."

Marli Pay, Emily Lousick and Lucy Turner aren't quite at that stage of their development yet but that trio is also aiming for national glory after performing well at the NSW Primary School Sports Association (PSSA) Championships at Homebush last month.

Turner won gold in the 11 year girls discus while Lousick claimed silver in the 11 years girls high jump and Pay collected a silver and a bronze in the 12 years girls 100m and senior girls 200m respectively.

"Seeing the guys work towards a goal and achieve that goal is very rewarding for me as well," Penman said of the nationals-bound athletes.

"It's a fair commitment to make it to that level in any sport and particularly in the track side of things, it's a really high achievement.

"They're all head down at the moment in preparation to try and give their best performances at nationals."

As pleasing as it is to be selected for the national competition, there's also a financial commitment needed from families.

The PSSA nationals are in Brisbane later this month while the All Schools titles are at Adelaide in December and there's plenty of costs involved in getting young athletes to those locations and paying for accommodation and other expenses.

A number of fundraisers are being held to help out the athletes while they also received a helping hand from Phillip Biles and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).

Biles donated a didgeridoo he painted with traditional artwork himself and the ARTC purchased it for $1500, with that money to be split among the athletes heading to nationals.

Penman said instances like that meant a huge amount while ARTC's manager for Central and North West, Sara Conway, said they were more than happy to help out.

"We are honoured to receive this beautiful piece of First Nations artwork, painted by local artist Phil Biles, which will be displayed at ARTC's Dubbo Provisioning Centre," Conway said.

"Earlier this year, ARTC staff gathered on Wonnarua country to celebrate the launch of our Reconciliation Action Plan. We are committed to positively engaging and impacting First Nations peoples within our business, and within the communities that we live, work, and visit.

"We are delighted that the funds raised will be going towards supporting young athletes from Dubbo competing in the national athletics titles and we wish them all the best of luck."

As well as the five athletes heading to nationals, Dubbo was also well-represented at the state All Schools titles by Grace Peters and Beau Wynne.

Both those athletes won bronze medals, Wynne in the 12 years boys high jump and Peters in the 14 years girls shotput.

On top of that, 60 Dubbo Little Athletics competitors are also set to head to this weekend's Western Plains Zone Carnival.

The best performers at that carnival will advance to the Regional Championships at Dubbo's Barden Park on February 4 and 5 next year.

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