THE Mount Isa athletics Club had better than expected numbers turn out for last Saturday’s Club meet with 88 athletes attending the show day afternoon.

All were in hot pursuit of the elusive five from five personal bests from the day.

The two athletes able to run, jump and throw their way to success were Blake Lillis, 9, and 14-year-old Nikki Dickson.

Hot on their heels with four PB’s were Blake’s sister, Chelsea Lillis, Shanara Body (backing up her 4 from the previous week), Martin O’Brien and David Scott.

The five-year boys set a blistering pace in their 100m sprint pushing Denzil Perkins to the line in a record time of 20.1s, beating the time set by local sprint star Mason Holm back in 1997.

Master athlete David Scott’s steady run of PB’s saw him set new marks for the 35-39 years 200m (26.1s), 800m (2:45.8s) and discus (25.03m).

The continued improvement of athletes has seen another 14 club members pass the required level to receive Legend certificates.

They are William Barwick, Tremaine Body, Denzil Perkins, Jake Russell, Justin Crick, Levi Collier, Jackson Donovan, Brendan Kelly, Shanara Body, Sabrina Cahill, Chelsea Lillis, Adam Farlow and Bradley Watt.

Five Mount Isa athletes will be heading off to Townsville on the July 5 to attend the five-day Athletics North Queensland OzSquad live-in Camp.

The athletes, Adam Farlow, Mars Larsen, James Sweeney, Nikki Dickson and Holly Johnstone, were invited to attend the camp as a result of their outstanding performances in the 2008-09 season.

The camp will be hosted by five nationally recognised Level 5 athletic coaches together with a number of experts covering topics such as nutrition and psychology.

The next regular club day will be held on Saturday, July 18.

Prior to this, athletes, registered or not, have the opportunity to compete for medals at the Western Games on July 4 at Sunset Oval.

FIVE of Mount Isa’s best athletes recently returned from the Athletics North Queensland hosted Ozsquad camp in Townsville.

Adam Farlow, Holly Johnstone, Nikki Dickson, Mars Larsen and James Sweeney were invited to attend the five day live-in camp as a result of their excellent performances in the 2008-09 athletics season.

Top level training sessions were presented by five of Australia’s best Level 5 athletics coaches, all of whom have coached athletes to Commonwealth and Olympic Games standard.

All athletes said they had learnt many new techniques and training drills.

Mount Isa Athletics Club coach Ken Dickson observed the athletes while at the camp and said that his athletes were standouts even amongst such an elite group.

Since returning from the camp, all the athletes have improved on their personal bests and have been setting new club records on the way.

Whilst at the camp, 14-year-old sprinter Holly Johnstone was encouraged not to discount her ability at the longer events such as the 800m and was told “this may be the race for you” due to the speed and endurance she already possesses.

Upon returning to Mount Isa, Johnstone took a massive 23 seconds off her 800m time to set a new record of 2:36.0.

Larsen also improved his 15 year high jump record to 1.68m.

Sweeney smashed the 15 years boys’ javelin record at the recent district schools championships with a throw of 46.22m.

Farlow also broke the 800m record at the district championships and Dickson is now within a metre of the clubs 14 years women’s discus record.

All five athletes have been selected to represent Mount Isa at the upcoming North West Regional Schools Championships to be held in Longreach on August 22 and 23.

MOUNT Isa is set to invade Longreach with about 50 athletes currently on the road to compete at the Outback Sunset Track and Field carnival which incorporates the North West Regional Schools athletics.

All of the athletes who have been chosen to represent the Mount Isa schools will be vying for a place in the North West Squad to attend the All Schools State Championships on the October 20-25 in Brisbane.

Mount Isa Athletics Club athletes attending the carnival are aged between four and 62 years and many of the club’s school-aged competitors will be representing both the district schools and club over the weekend.

A small team of four athletes represented Mount Isa at a recent track and field carnival in Cairns and managed to amass a tidy sum of 19 placings from 25 events.

As well, master athlete Sharon Dickson threw near her best to set a new carnival record in the 40-44 years women’s hammerthrow with a throw of 23.91m.

With only three more club days left it is becoming increasingly difficult for athletes to achieve the elusive five from five personal bests in a single club day.

In the last four competitions no athlete has been able to achieve the feat however 11 athletes have acquired a hard fought four from five.

These athletes were Keili Eggmolesse, Jayne Metekingi, Emma Johnstone, Dwight Daley, Samuel Pattison, Alyssa Smith, Cody Donn, Garth Metekingi, Daniel Watt, Andrew Butler and with Shane Teaukura achieving this twice.

The new points system which the club has adopted for some of the end of year trophies is proving itself successful with a number of athletes in nearly all of the age groups still in contention.

With each event attempted worth one point and each PB achieved earning two points the remaining weeks will be hotly contested.

The clubs’ track star, Holly Johnstone, put in a blistering 400m time at the most recent club meet with a time of 1m 03.0s which is under the 14-year Women’s state qualifying time and also qualified her for Athletics North Queensland’s development squad for the 2010 season and of course set a new club record at the same time.

A flurry of club records have been set recently with athletes of all ages setting new marks in their favoured events.

New records were set by Bradley Watt, Shannon Sweeney, Paul Harkin, Sharon Dickson, Phoebe Ryder, Mars Larsen, James Sweeney, Luke Cooper, Tony Sweeney, Holly Johnstone, David Scott, Kayla Horne, Ben Burke and Dean Saunders.

After Longreach this weekend the last major carnival for the club season will be the ANQ North Queensland Championships which will be held on October 2-4 on the Townsville Sports Reserves’ synthetic track.

IT WOULD seem that many of the athletes from the Mount Isa Athletics Club were saving their best for the last day of the season with an unprecedented three competitors achieving the five from five personal best milestone last Sunday morning.

Nine-year-old Daniel Butler’s 100 per cent attendance and consistent improvement throughout the season paid off with impressive personal bests in all of his events.

Thirteen-year-olds Cassidy Givney and Rhys Munns were challenging each other all morning and resulted in each having four personal bests with an 800m race to come.

The pace at the start seemed unusually slow until the crowd spurred them on with cheers of encouragement.

With both girls racing the clock to beat their own times it was all or nothing.

In a spirited finish, Givney came home in 0.7 seconds under her previous best and Munns finished with seconds to spare.

Three others were “ever so close” to achieving the perfect score.

Eight-year-old Courtney Boshoff was superb in four of her events but finished with an equal height in the high jump.

It must have been even more frustrating for Reece Ryan, 8, who had personal bests in three events and jumped an equal height in his high jump as well as matching his previous 200m time.

Jakara Carney, 9, also managed four from five on her return from the Northern Regions Little Athletics Zone Championships where she qualified to compete at the State Championships in Townsville next March.

Tremaine Body, 5, managed to match fellow athlete Denzil Perkins’ new 100m record but ran second to Perkins who set a new mark of 19.9 seconds.

Ben Burke, 14, found his rhythm in the hammer throw with a six metre personal best which pushed his record out to 24.42m.

Holly Johnstone was pleased to see her times for the 200m steadily dropping when she lowered the record to 27.4 seconds and Mars Larsen and James Sweeney were both making it increasingly difficult for future 15-year-olds when they set new marks for the long jump and shot puts with distances of 5.51m and 11.22m, respectively.

Once again there was no shortage of athletes to acquire Legend Award levels with Brendan Kelly, Otto Tweedie, Jakara Carney, Jemma Russell, Emma Johnstone, Adam Farlow, Bradley Watt and Ben Burke all taking honours.

Jade Scott also took home the award in her season debut, achieving legendary status in high jump and training javelin.

All awards and certificates will be presented along with end of season trophies and personal best certificates at the upcoming season break-up at Tony White Oval on Sunday, November 1, starting at 3pm.

TWO Mount Isa Athletics Club members recently had the rare opportunity to try their hand at one of athletics’ most exciting events, the pole vault.

In recent years pole vault has been on the rise in North Queensland since Level 2 coach Paul Hallett, originally from England, put together the North’s first vault squad at the Sarina Athletic Club near Mackay in 2005. In the past two years athletes from Bowen, Cairns and Townsville have also started trying their hand at the event.

Having two of the club’s coaches originating from the Sarina Club it was not difficult to organise a training session for 15-year-old pair James Sweeney and Mars Larsen at the close of Saturday’s competition at the North Queensland Championships in Townsville.

Hallett took the two boys through the basics in a two hour crash course. Both athletes, while exhausted and excited, had managed to grasp the concepts and techniques required to enter the pole vaulting competition on Sunday morning.

James Sweeney was the first of the Mount Isa boys to attempt the opening height.

He put aside any nerves he may have had from the previous day and in front of nearly 100 spectators cleared the bar with room to spare.

He then went on to clear a height of two metres before fouling out.

Teammate, Mars Larsen, took to the event like a duck to water, clearing his opening height with ease and was heard to utter the words “how fun is this?” during the competition.

Larsen finished the event with a final height of 2.40m, 10cm higher than the 2.30m state qualifying standard which was a very commendable performance for his first vaulting competition.

Coach Hallett said both athletes showed great potential and were quick learners and was very pleased with their efforts, especially with the added pressure of competing in a new event for the first time in front of so many people.

SHEROME Sailor is only 13 years old, but he already has the 2012 London Olympic Games in his sight.

The former Cloncurry youngster now lives in Townsville and is regarded as one of North Queensland’s finest sprinters over the 100 and 200-metre distances.

While his best times are a long way off matching world champion Usain Bolt, Sailor’s mother Linda, herself a champion sprinter as a youngster, said her son had what it takes to become one of Australia’s best.

“At the moment he is relying on natural talent alone and he’s already beating most of the kids his age in the state,” she said.

“Now he has made it into the Queensland team he has started to receive proper coaching and he has improved significantly.”

Also a highly talented rugby league player, Sailor will compete for his state at the National Championships in Hobart in December.

A popular student at the famous Kirwan High School, known for producing some of North Queensland’s finest sporting stars, Mrs Sailor said her son’s body was still developing.

“He’s still growing and the taller and stronger he gets the faster he’ll run,” she said.

“Sherome’s the third oldest of seven children and we moved to Townsville to give the kids a better opportunity.

“At the moment he’s really taking off.”

After the nationals, Mrs Sailor said Sherome would join an athletics club and receive expert coaching.

“It’s a big dream but he’ll be 16 when the next Olympics come around so it’s something worth aiming for,” she said.

“Even if he doesn’t make it, it’s better to have a go.”

THE only event left on the agenda for the Mount Isa Athletics Clubs’ 2009 season is the annual break-up and trophy presentation day.

With total registrations for the year reaching 168, large numbers are expected to attend the gathering at Tony White Oval this Sunday.

All registered athletes who competed throughout the year will receive a personal best certificate highlighting their best performances for the 2009 season.

These athletes will also be in contention for a plethora of trophies and medals such as club champions and runner-ups, points champions, gold, silver and bronze personal best medallions, coach’s awards, record breakers and 100 per cent attendance.

The “big three” trophies will also be handed out for most outstanding performance, best and fairest and club ambassador.

Fun and games will be the order of the day with club president, David Scott, racking his brain to come up with some new and unusual activities to test the athletes throughout the day.

All the favourites such as the Gauntlet, a Jumping Castle and the ever popular Lolly Men will return for the afternoon.

Entry to Sunday’s event is $5 per person or $15 per family which includes a meal.

All attending are asked to bring their own chair. In the week following the break-up the club will be holding its AGM on November 8 at the Irish Club starting at 10am.

With all positions becoming vacant it is hoped that new faces will join the ranks to offer some fresh ideas to make the club even better.

NIKKI Dickson is one Mount Isa athlete with a bright future ahead of her.

At just 14 years of age, the Good Shepherd Catholic College student has already been involved in athletics for seven years.

Her favoured events are the hammer throw and discus, both of which she has set herself ambitious goals in.

"One of my greatest achievements was getting an invite to the ANQ Oz-Squad for the last two years," Dickson said.

"I also qualified to represent Mount Isa at the North West Championships and the ANQ Championships. I got my first 20-metre hammer throw at the ANQ Championships so now my goals is to reach 25-metres in both hammer and discus throws."

Dickson also hopes to qualify for the school state championships and ANQ Development squad and receive an invite back to the Oz-squad camp.

She already has numerous school age champion awards under her belt and is an acomplished basketball and netball player having made the Isa Netball development squad. To add to this list of achievements, Dickson set a new discus record at the Isa District Schools Athletic Championships this year.

"I like going away to carnivals, training, competing and being with my friends," Dickson said of her love for the sport.

"My dad is my biggest influence in my sports. When I grow up I'd like to be a primary school teacher and an athletics coach."

Before moving to Mount Isa two years ago Dickson was living in Sarina, just south of Mackay. She is now a member of the Mount Isa Athletics Club and has attended four carnivals this year.

She lists athletics and basketball among her favourite things to do and said How I Met Your Mother and Destroyed in Seconds were the TV shows she most enjoyed to watch.

Dickson has one dog, two cats and 10 fish and said athletics and basketball were "the best two sports ever invented".