Ipswich and District Athletic Club medal-winners Erin and Hayley Wright with mother Victoria.

NATIONAL under-17 heptathlon champion Erin Wright has added motivation to continue her blossoming athletics progress.

Apart from having older sister Hayley to challenge herself against, Erin is focused on a career in nutrition or sports science.

The St Mary’s College year 11 student and Ipswich and District Athletic Club achiever won her first multi-event national title earlier this year.

She set personal bests in high jump (1.51m), long jump (4.95m), javelin (30.56m) and 800m (2.34.14) on her way to a new highest tally of 4391 points at the Australian Combined Events Championships in Brisbane.

“It was just working hard, being consistent with my training,” Erin said, when asked the reason why she won a national title.

She rated her latest success across seven events most satisfying, along with collecting her first national title in the 200m hurdles in Sydney two years ago.

But as an Ipswich teenager driven to succeed, she’s not resting on her laurels.

Ipswich and District Athletic Club under-17 national heptathlon champion Erin Wright.

Erin, 16, has been busy completing her first term St Mary’s College commitments while taking a short break from daily athletics training.

It’s on the family’s acreage at Walloon where she works regularly with 19-year-old sister Hayley and their dad David ― their main coach.

Erin said she enjoyed chasing Hayley’s performance standards while benefiting from David’s dedication.

“He’s just really supportive of everything and he’s always there for us,” she said.

“He’s always wanting to make us better.”

When it comes to Hayley:  “We’re always training very competitive”.

That regular sisterly competition has changed little from when they came through Ipswich Little Athletics together.

They still compare each other’s times and distances.

The state under-17 100m hurdles titleholder was particularly pleased with her recent national titles personal bests in high jump and javelin.

Having a family training base is particularly valuable during the current coronavirus restrictions.

“We’ve got the whole set-up here,” she said.  “It’s good so we don’t have to drive anywhere.

“It’s just really handy to have your own stuff here to train with.

“It’s mostly just grass but it does the job.”

At school, Erin is studying subjects like biology and PE as she works toward a post-school goal of working in the sports medical area.

She was keen to maintain her school work with so much going on.

While the life of a student in their senior years is challenging, Erin was well equipped to tackle it head-on ― like she does in all her athletic events.