STAR STRUCK:  Ipswich athlete Rickson Aliva meets Olympic gold medallist Sally Pearson after competing in Brisbane.

THE Ipswich and District Athletic Club will be well represented at the Australian Junior Championships starting tomorrow.

Club athletes heading to Sydney are:

• Emily Beston (under 18 800m and 2000m steeple- chase),
• Rhys Carr (U/15 hammer),
• Kirra Csurhes (U/16 90m and 200m hurdles),
• Aeysha Granzien (U/17 2000m steeplechase),
• Tori Langton (U/18 discus),
• Daniel Parnell (U/18 400m and 800m),
• Miriam Peni (U/17 100m),
• Indira Rakuita (U/16 400m),
• Ryan Stewart (U/14 3000m walk and discus),
• Clare Sullivan (U/15 discus),
• Jack Treschman (U/16 high jump),
• Rochelle Vidler (U/15 discus and hammer, U17 discus and U20 hammer), and
• Jack Warner (U/20 3000m steeplechase).

The team is preparing for this week’s titles after a number of club athletes impressed at the Queensland Open Track and Field Championships and Brisbane Track Classic over the weekend.

Vidler, who turns 14 this month, competed against her idol Dani Samuels on Saturday night, winning a bronze as Queensland’s third placed discus finisher.  She threw 40.23m against athletes from Victoria and Malaysia.

Two nights earlier, Vidler threw 40.41m to finish sixth in the open hammer and seventh in the open discus (39.53m).

Clare Sullivan, 13, finished 11th in the discus preliminary round (35.92m).  She went to finish 12th in the final (33.79m).

A gritty Larissa Chambers competed in the 100m heats (12.25), semi-final (12.15) and final.  She finished seventh (12.46) as a much lactated athlete as it was only an hour after the 400m final.

Her efforts in the 400m heat (third in 56.94) before winning the B 400m final (56.23) were amazing.  She then competed in 200m heats (third in 25.24) and final to finish seventh (25.45).

Injury-hampered Darrin Norwood did well to toss the hammer 35.45m, finishing fourth.  He followed up with a 46.45m javelin throw to finish 14th.

The marathon man was hampered by injuries after contesting the Australian Masters Decathlon (35-39 years) the previous weekend.

John Purdon was 10th in the javelin (56.13m) at the state titles.

Scott Tuohy finished 46th overall (11.57) in the 100m heats.

Aaliyah Chambers ran 12th in the 400m hurdles final (76.39).

Liz Melrose contested the heats of the 400m in 1.04.07, finishing 26th overall.

Meeting an idol

RICKSON Aliva had a terrific experience at Saturday night’s Brisbane Track Classic.  Aged 11, the Ipswich youngster competed in the Boys Fastest kid event over 100m at the Brisbane Classic.

Children aged 10-13, from Little Athletic clubs, ran in heats and finals.  They got to sit next to Olympian champion Sally Pearson.

Rickson ran a personal best 14.03 in his heat and finished 8th in the final (14.23).  This was all done after a day of competition at his Ipswich Centre Championships.