Albany Little Athletics Club finish third in standings at WA Country Championships in Kalgoorlie

Albany Little Athletics Club returned from a brilliant Little Athletics WA Country Championships held in Kalgoorlie, finishing third last month.

Thirty athletes from 21 families represented Albany on January 15-16, with the event attracting more than 330 competitors, aged five to 16 from 12 centres.

Albany came home with 38 gold medals, 39 silver and 25 bronze as a team to finish with 102 medals overall across the two days.

This effort helped them finish behind the winning club Eastern Goldfields (235 medals) and Bunbury (216).

This tally was recalculated on a handicap basis to take into account centres with fewer athletes and Albany finished third behind Hedland and Collie River Valley.

Most Albany athletes got at least one medal with a handful of Albany representatives winning medals in all six chosen events.

Albany Little Athletics president Naomi Cooper said the club and parents were absolutely thrilled with the results.

“It’s a great event where the Albany athletes cheered each other on, trained together, shared photos on a group chat and met for dinner in Kalgoorlie,” she said.

“We have a variety of athletic talents, with sprinters, long distance runners, high jumpers, hurdlers and throwers.

“Not as many athletes as in the past made the long journey to Kalgoorlie but we still had fantastic results.

“The weather was also very hot, not what our Albany athletes are used to.

“This is the seventh country championship event I have been too and my kids love to meet their friends from other country towns that they see each year.”

Logan Lionetti, ALAC’s oldest athlete had his last country championships in the under-17 group and finished with a medal in each event.

Their youngest athlete at the event, Lucy Middleton, came home with a medal in each event in the under-6 group.

Athletes that won gold or silver in individual events can now qualify for the Little Athletics WA State Championships, where children from country centres compete against the best athletes from Perth.

The WA Championships will be held on March 4-6 at the WA Athletics Stadium.