Walking it in

By Bridget Cook
TWO Lyndhurst Secondary College students competed at state level on Tuesday for school athletics, both having a successful day.
Year 12 student Rhys Evans competed in the 1500-metre walk and Year 7 student Tara Cheyne competed in the discus and shotput events.
Rhys came fifth overall and Tara finished third in discus and sixth in shotput.
Tara has experienced plenty of success before. She trains at Ballam Park three times and week, and attends gym on other days.
Her specialty is discus, which she has now been training for four years.
She has competed at state level before, at primary school events and outside school athletic competitions.
Last year, she was ranked second in Australia in discus for her age group.
And while she had plenty of experience, Tara said she was nervous in the lead-up to Tuesday.
“I was a little bit nervous, but was confident because I’ve been training really hard,” she said,
“I just want to say thankyou to my coach, John Eden. He has been a big part of my life, and I really look up to him. He has helped me enormously.”
Rhys on the other hand had no training in the lead-up to the event.
Each year since he has been at school, Rhys has competed at state level and usually finishes within the top 10.
“I’m pretty proud I can say I’ve got that far each year, without training really hard for it,” he said.
“But the event is tough. It’s a lot harder than people think a walk would be.”