Echuca Moama athletes headed to junior national championships are Harry Sly, Harper Shiels, Phoenix Wise, Hannah Downward and Georgina Farrell.
Echuca-Moama is punching well above its weight on the national athletics stage, preparing to send six athletes to the Australian Athletics Junior Under Age Championships this week.
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The championships will be held in Brisbane from Wednesday, April 15 to Monday, April 20, and see the top under-20 track and field stars looking to stake their claim as the best in the country.
Echuca Moama Athletics president Kate Downward said her club’s efforts in the seniors, a category separate from Little Athletics, but also including junior athletes, were impressive.
“A small club only in our second year at seniors in the Athletics Victoria fold have six athletes (attending) and even better had another three that qualified that can't go for various reasons,” she said.
“That would be nine out of our 20 athletes that we have registered as seniors (qualified).”
All athletes qualified either by achieving a specific qualifying time or height in their chosen discipline, or by picking up a medal at the state championship event.
Three of the Echuca Moama athletes are returning to the championships after competing last year, Hannah Downward, Harry Sly and Scarlett Southern.
Downward put in a top performance in 2025, scoring silver in the under-16 girls high jump, and is back for another crack in the under-17s.
Clearing 1.65m saw her medal last time around and she has recently posted a new personal best of 1.69m as she looks to go one better.
Scarlett Southern will seek glory in the under-20 400m.
Southern, who now lives in Geelong but still flies Echuca Moama colours in competition, earned silver in the 4x400 under-20 relay last year as a bottom ager will line up in the 400m individual event this year.
Sly narrowly missed the podium in 2025, finishing fourth in the 400m hurdles and will compete in under-18 and up a grade in the under-20 event this year.
Also representing the club will be state champion Harper Sheales in the under-17 400m hurdles, although she is currently nursing an injury.
The group of six will be rounded out by Georgina Farrell, who will tackle the gruelling seven stage under-17 heptathlon, and sprinter Phoenix Wise who within the last fortnight clocked a blistering 11.81 in the under-16 100m.
Wise will also be competing in the under-16 high jump.
Tahlia Blight, Benji Carfoot and Sophie Jardine also qualified for the championships, but are unable to attend either through injury or availability.
“This is a really dedicated group of juniors who are committed to their sport, juggle their studies and other sports too,” Downward said.
“Of course our squads are bigger than just these high-performance athletes and as a club, we strive to bring through those younger athletes into the squad and demonstrate with these older athletes what's possible because you can't be what you can't see.
“We've got a great crop of little athletes coming through who will join our senior club, and we've also got a great crop of parents who are joining seniors and doing masters as well.
“It is a sport for all ages and all abilities, but it's great to celebrate these high-performance athletes as we come into junior nationals next week.”
Downward paid credit to trainers Laurie Edmondstone and Anula Costais, who, along with herself, work with some of the qualifying athletes.
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