By JARROD POTTER
CRANBOURNE’S jumping for joy on the back of little athletics success for Keenan O’Hanlon.
The Meteorites’ marvel has been part of the club for many years, but his biggest impact has come recently as he made the decision to focus on his field events.
With his eye set on triple jump and long jump success, O’Hanlon, 13, from Cranbourne, has been in in the midst of a golden summer after multiple wins at the Little Athletics Victoria State Track and Field Championships last week.
He flew through the air on his home track at Casey Fields to claim the Under 13 boys triple jump before a nail-biting showdown in the long jump saw him take a one centimetre triumph.
“I just felt pretty good anyway to win a gold medal but it’s pretty awesome to travel 10 minutes and get this so it’s pretty cool,” O’Hanlon said. “In the triple jump it was pretty close – I won by one centimetre, I got 11.76 and the other guy got 11.75.
“In long jump I was coming second the whole way and on the last jump the wind picked up and I just went with it and got me into first.”
It comes on the back of his state title win at the Athletics Victoria Junior Track and Field Championships in February, defeating a few older and stronger opponents to earn his first gold of the summer and a ticket to Perth for the nationals.
“I won state there and went to Perth for nationals and finished fifth in under-15s so I was pretty happy with that,” O’Hanlon said. “It wasn’t an age group above (for state) but I was one of the youngest there – so to do alright there was pretty good.”
He’s off to Adelaide for the Little Athletics Australia championships soon and believes he’s a chance to add another medal to the ever-burgeoning trophy cabinet.
It comes down to focus and discipline for the young athlete who has finally devoted his training attention to his best events, with the results of that hard work evident for all to see.
“I’ve been doing them for a long time, but I haven’t really trained on them,” O’Hanlon said. “But now I’ve started training on them and it’s good to be getting up to these levels.”
He wanted to thank his parents and the centre for their support.
