TARLI Black returned from the Australian PSSA Athletics Championships at Sydney with one gold and two bronze medals.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Hallidays Point Public School Year 4 student was third in the under 10 100 metres and 200 metres. Tarli then capped a successful campaign when she was a member of the record breaking NSW team in the 4 x 100 metre relay.
Tarli qualified for the national championships after success at the zone, regional and then State championships.
She was training up to six days a week with a group under the guidance of Kerith Duncanson before heading to Sydney. Here she concentrated on sprint work while also working on her technique for the jump events. Tarli also shows promise in the long jump and triple jump.
The finishes to the 100 and 200m were both close, with less than a metre separating first to third.
Her time for the 100 metres was 13.86, while she clocked a personal best 27.22 for the 200m.
However, she said the performance in the relay was the highlight of a busy meet.
"We only had about half an hour’s training the day before we ran,’’ Tarli explained.
The tyranny of distance made it impossible for the foursome to get together for any additional preparation.
However, that didn’t matter when it came to race. Tarli was the first runner.
By the time the the event was over NSW had smashed the national record, winning in 53.9 in a dominating performance, giving Tarli a gold medal to add to her two bronze.
Tarli has already made a strong start to the new athletic season. A member of the Forster Athletic Club, Tarli dominated her age group at the recent zone championships held at Port Macquarie.
She set three new records in the 100m, 200m and long jump and will now look for a strong performance at the regional titles to be held in Lismore early next year. From here she hopes to make it through to the State and Australian championships in what is shaping as a busy season for the young flyer.
Tarli said she has no real preference any particular event.
“I like them all,’’ she smiled.
Tarli has been competing in athletics with the Forster club since she was about six.
She started in a roundabout way, tagging along with her elder sister Jasmine. However, it didn’t take long for Tarli to start showing potential as her list of achievements started to mount up.
Tarli with now focus on the Little Athletics season, which began last month with the zone carnival.
She broke another three zone records.But, her ultimate goal is to complete at the Pan Pacific Games in Adelaide next year.
While athletics dominates her life, Tarli also finds the time to play netball with Hallidays Point as well as touch football at Forster, where her speed would be a great asset.