Launceston Christian School enjoyed a golden debut in statewide athletics.
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A regular at Northern Sports Association of Tasmanian Independent Schools carnivals, the Riverside school stepped up to the state titles with instant success.
The team of just three was clearly built on quality rather than quantity with Toby Kamphuis claiming a state title from his first race, the under-14 boys' 200 metres.
"Pretty good," was the modest winner's response to how it felt to claim a state title.
"It's good to be taking part. It's a lot bigger than NSATIS. It was a bit daunting but not too bad.
It's a really good opportunity for these athletes to compete at this level
- Launceston Christian School teacher Ryan Bosker
"I do athletics outside school with Newstead and that helped me to relax and take it as it comes."
Teacher Ryan Bosker said LCS was delighted to join SATIS regulars Scotch Oakburn College, Launceston Church Grammar School and St Patrick's College as the city hosted the state titles at St Leonards athletics centre.
"It's a really good opportunity for these athletes to compete at this level," he said.
"We send a full team to NSATIS but this was optional. These guys did really well at NSATIS and Toby broke a record there and is very good for his age so we wanted to give them a chance here."
NSATIS admin officer Barb McBride said about 1000 Year 7 to 12 competitors from 20 schools were competing after 600 had taken part at the Northern event earlier this month.
This included the four from Launceston and two from the North-West with the remainder making the trip up from Hobart.
An experienced eye was overseeing the Scotch team with Stawell Gift winner Andrew Robinson enjoying the transition from competing to coaching.
After completing his teaching prac at Riverside, Robinson has been at Scotch since 2016 and was loving it so much he had officially retired from running at the tender age of 26.
"I needed to get a better work balance so that's why I decided to hang up the spikes and I'm really enjoying coaching," said Robinson, who won at Stawell in 2013.
"It actually gets the competitive juices going more than running myself. It's funny how it comes in swings and roundabouts.
"I think the kids appreciate the advice. Sometimes they are a bit nervous before races and I feel that's where I've got good experience to help them and I enjoy doing that.
"It's been going really well. We're happy with our results and it's always good to see how the kids go in relation to the rest of the state."
Rain forced a premature end to the carnival.
Rob Shaw
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
