Dubbo Athletics Club coach Mark Penman said he was "blown away" by the performance of the hosts at the weekend's Little Athletics Region 3 Championships.
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Hundreds of athletes from Cobar right through to the Blue Mountains converged on Barden Park for what was the first major meeting at the facility since the start of the COVID pandemic.
Despite a lack of meetings in recent times, Dubbo athletes have been hard at work in training and it showed on the weekend as a swag of medals were collected and a number of records were broken.
"I can't remember this many records being taken in a single carnival," Penman said.
"And the weather conditions weren't fantastic. It was quite windy.
"The temperatures were pretty mild but the wind was there and it was a head-wind on the straight, so some of those track times were really good and would have been better if the wind wasn't around."
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Six Dubbo Athletics Club competitors broke records at the carnival.
Ella Penman continued her fine form on the track by setting new records in the both under 17 girls' 800m and 1500m while she also won the 400m to complete a memorable weekend.
Marli Pay was another standout as she did the sprint double, winning the under 12 girls' 100m and 200m, while she also broke the record in the latter.
Emily Lousick (under 11 girls' long jump), Grace Peters (under 14 girls' discus), Nash Wynne (under 12 boys' 80m hurdles), and Max McAneney (under 15 boys' 200m) also broke records at Barden Park on the weekend.
McAneney was one of the real stars of the meeting as he won the 100m, 200m, and 400m treble while he also took gold in the long jump for his age group.
Peters, Penman, and Lucy Turner all finished the weekend with three gold medals to their name while Pay, Wynne and Jarvis Penman all won two golds each.
In total, there was 26 gold medals won by the Dubbo club.
"It was a pretty good weekend," Penman said.
"Some of those records have been held for a little bit of time by some really top-level athletes who have gone on to do other things so for these guys to do that, they've got a bright future ahead of them."
A host of the Dubbo athletes will now compete at the Little Athletics State Track and Field Championships on March 19 and 20.
Prior to that, Dubbo will also be well-represented at the Athletics NSW 2022 NSW Junior Championships from February 25-27.
Both of those carnivals will be held at Sydney Olympic Park, and Penman is hopeful more memorable moments can be created there.
"There's a bright future," Penman said.
"It's an exciting couple of months coming up with a couple of high-level carnivals."
While delighted for all the Dubbo athletes who took part on the weekend, Penman said the success was justified given the amount of work the youngsters had put in.
"There's lessons there," he said.
"They're rewards they're getting for hard work and that's good to see. Chipping away and trying to improve is something, but then getting the reward is an enormous life skill.
"I think it's great and if they continue to follow that path, who knows where they can be by the time they're senior athletes."
Region 3 Championships
DUBBO GOLD MEDALLISTS
Max McAneney: Under 15 boys 100m, 200m (new record), 400m, long jump.
Ella Penman: Under 17 girls 400m, 800m (new record), 1500m (new record).
Grace Peters: Under 14 girls discus (new record), javelin, shot put.
Lucy Turner: Under 11 girls javelin, discus, shot put.
Marli Pay: Under 12 girls 100m, 200m (new record).
Nash Wynne: Under 12 boys 80m hurdles (new record), high jump.
Jarvis Penman: Under 11 boys 800m, 1500m.
Emily Lousick: Under 11 girls high jump (new record).
Evangeline Ellis: Under 12 girls high jump (tie for gold).
Andrew Hammond: Under 9 boys long jump.
Josie Wood: Under 8 girls 60m hurdles.
Amity Penman: Under 8 girls 400m.
Mia Gamble: Under 9 girl long jump.
Hudson Green: Under 7 boys 200m.
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