And after getting a taste of national glory with her NSW under 16s relay team at the 2019 Australian National Athletics Championships, it made Percival hungrier than ever to reach the top as an individual athlete.

That dream came true at the recent national titles at Sydney Olympic Park, where the Ulladulla High School student claimed gold in the under 18 girls 200 metres.

"Winning an individual gold medal at a national event is amazing - I am so happy with my achievement," Percival said.

"I have had highs and lows over the years and at times have doubted myself, am I good enough?

"But winning has proved to myself that I can do it and I am good enough to continue and reach my goals.

"I also wanted this for my coach Steve King and family - they put a lot of time and effort into helping me and I was happy that I could do this for them as well."

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As the 17-year-old alluded to, seasons of hard work with the Milton-Ulladulla Athletics Club, Nowra Athletics Club and Illawarra Blue Stars has allowed her to continue to improve.

"Bree Masters, Liz Clay and Abbie Taddeo - who are all hurdlers and sprinters - have all be big influences on my career," she said.

"I have watched them over the years and am inspired by what they are achieving in running for Australia.

"My coach is a big influence as well - he has been coaching me for the last six years.

"He is always supportive and puts a great deal of time and effort into coaching me.

"As we live on the South Coast, there is a lot of travelling involved as the events are usually in Sydney or Canberra.

"Steve always comes to my events and always knows the right thing to say to me even when things may not go to plan."

Percival's first success on the track came in 2016, when she claimed gold in the 100 metres and silver in the 200 metres under 12s division of the NSW All Schools carnival.

Two years later, she placed second in the All Schools under 14s 200 metres, as well as claiming second and third respectively in the 100-metre and 200-metre under 15s events at the NSW Junior Championships.

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The following year, she secured the silver and the bronze in the same two events - just at an under 16s level, before 2020 saw her win silver medals at both sprint distances at the NSW All Schools.

These excellent results put Percival in a strong position heading into the 2021 season.

"The athletics season starts in September, so I have been training all year in the lead up to events," she said.

"Unfortunately, this year there were no school carnivals (due to COVID-19), so I didn't have many races in the lead up which was quite frustrating.

"I had the NSW All Schools in December 2020, and NSW juniors in March which were the two big lead up events to nationals.

"I also had a run in Canberra and Wollongong in January and February respectively.

"I train four days a week with my coach Steve King at the grass track, as we don't have a synthetic track at Ulladulla.

"On the days I don't train with him, I do some gym work and exercises while ensuring I eat enough food and get enough sleep."

So when the national titles rolled around, from April 12-19, the year 12 student was ready to hit the ground running - seeing her qualify for the 200 metres final with the third-fastest time.

"I wouldn't say I was confident [heading into the final], I was happy to just have made it," she said.

"Two days before, in the 100 metres, I missed out on the final, which was disappointing, as knew I could run a faster time in that race.

"To not make it was very disappointing after all the training that I had put in.

"In the 200-metre heat, I was nervous as I didn't want to miss out on a final as I knew I had the times in previous races to make it.

"After winning my heat I felt relieved.

"Heading into the final, I just really wanted to medal and run a solid time - both which I knew I was capable of."

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Thankfully for Percival, she exceeded those expectations by running a 24.81, to pip Victorian pair Jess Calvert (24.92) and Ella Tobin (24.99) for the gold medal.

"Going into the race, I knew it was going to being very close," she said.

"I had raced against some of these girls before and I knew they were fast.

"I had to get a fast start, hold that and bring it home.

"I got a quick start to catch up to the girl in front of me.

"Coming off the bend I wasn't winning but I was coming through the middle and with 80 metres to go, I was in the lead.

"Another girl started coming up on the inside and draw equal with me coming towards the end of the race.

"I didn't panic and just ran my race until the finish line.

"It was very close and to be honest when I finished, I didn't know if I had won - all I know was that I had run as fast as I could.

"I didn't realise I had won until I looked over to mum and she said I won.

"I was shocked, to say the least - I couldn't actually believe that I had won a national championship."

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As impressive as all of Percival's previous results are, she admits this one is easily the most satisfying.

"This is the highest achievement to date," she said.

"I train very hard and put a lot of time and effort into my running, so it's always nice to come away with something like this.

"I set out to achieve my goal and I did it.

"Many years of coming second and third in races is great but to win is even better.

"Winning this race has made me realise I'm good enough and I do deserve to be a sprinter.

"It gives me that bit of confidence that I lack at times and now I want to see how far I can go and what else I can achieve."

Percival will continue to train hard in the coming months ahead of her school, state and NSW All Schools carnival (in September), which she hopes can springboard her to getting one step closer to achieving her dream of representing Australia at the Olympics in the future.