KEILOR Little Athletics Centre achieved its best ever result at the recent state track and field championships.
A number of Keilor records were broken at the meet, the pinnacle of the Little Athletics calendar, held in the searing heat of Bendigo on 4 and 5 March.
Keilor’s largest assembled team of 62 athletes qualified for the championships, with the centre racking up 33 medals to rank fourth out of 67 centres, one medal behind Diamond Valley in third.
The final medal tally of nine gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze smashed last year’s effort of 23 medals (six gold, seven silver and nine bronze) – the previous best for the centre. Between them Keilor’s athletes made the finals in 68 events, 15 more than last year.
The stars of the show were brilliant all-rounders Johnny Rayner and Alanah Hayes, who were each crowned state champions in two separate events.
Rayner continued his sublime season in the under 15s on the track and in the field, winning the 800m and the triple jump within 20 minutes of each other, while Hayes led all the way in the under 11 800m and 1500m events. Other impressive performances saw Bethany Rayner pick up three silver medals, Stephanie Marinelli and Taleisha Ianzano win two silvers each and Megan Burnside come through for a gold and a silver.
After the championships, Rayner and Dean Ellis were selected in the 2006 Victorian squad to compete in the Australian Little Athletics Championships on 22 April in Canberra.
Keilor Little Athletics held its final day of normal competition on the weekend, and will hold its centre championships on 25 March.
