BERRY athlete Jade Mustapic has enjoyed a busy season of athletics, but has just topped it off with her NSW team named national champions.
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Jade has just returned from the Asics Australian Little Athletics Championships in Melbourne, where she competed as a part of the NSW team against other Australian states.
This was Jade’s third national competition this season after competing at the Primary All Schools Championships and Athletics Australia National Junior Championships.
Selection into the NSW team was an achievement in itself, with NSW represented by just 11 u13 girls to cover 26 track and field events.
The National Championships is a team based event where athletes compete for points to win the coveted Trevor Billingham Trophy for the most successful state.
Jade was selected for strength in the 400 and 800 metre events, having placed third in both at the NSW State Championships in March.
Jade increased her training upon selection into the team to assist with a gruelling program of three races in three hours on the day of competition.
Jade qualified for the 400 metre final in fourth place.
Running from lane eight in the final, Jade placed fourth behind her NSW teammate in first, with Victoria and Western Australia taking second and third respectively.
In the 800 metre event Jade sat comfortably in third place for the majority of the race but had to endure a sprint finish from a determined Queenslander to be relegated to fourth, missing the bronze medal by four one hundredths of a second.
At the end of proceedings NSW were named national champions ahead of Victoria.
The Bomaderry High School student was looking forward to representing her school, Nowra Athletics Club and Shoalhaven Little Athletics over the coming season.
“I appreciate all the support given to me by the local community, in particular my training group, my coach John Atterton, and sponsors Zelinda Turk Chiropractor, Abico Insurance Brokers and Gerringong Physiotherapy,” she said.