Gracie Martin and Mikielee Snow have stepped up their training in preparation for the Oceania Athletics Area Championships in Suva, Fiji.
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The Glen Innes pair were both selected in the regional Australia team for the event, alongside three of their Armidale Athletics Club teammates.
Martin withdrew from the Oceania Melanesian Regional Championships in Fiji last year but is fit and firing to line up at the starting blocks for the Oceania Championships, which run from June 28 to July 1.
She will complete in the 200 metres and 400m.
“My training is going very well. It has probably been the best lead up I have had to a competition in a while,” she said. “My off season training started off with longer slower-paced runs to help build my base fitness. Now as it gets closer to competition, we are sharpening up with some shorter-speed sessions.”
Snow also competed in the Melanesian event last year and finished with bronze medals from the 4x100m and the medley relay teams. She also made the finals in her individual races, a feat she hopes to repeat at the Oceania Championships.
While she is a year older in the under-18 age group, she expects to come up against even speedier runners at this year’s meet.
“The competition is definitely going to be tougher this year as there are way more countries than last year,” she said. “I have around 25 in both my 100m and 200m, and most of these athletes are older then me.”
“I am expecting some high-level competition at this meet, and [it is] a great chance to see how my training has been going and where I am at.
“I am hoping to achieve a new personal best in either the 100m or the 200m, or even both would be great. I would also like to make it to the finals in both the 100m and 200m.”
The girls’ daily schedules are packed in the lead-up to the meet, fitting in schoolwork and training for an international competition.
“This year’s preparation has been going very well. I have had no injuries which is great,” Snow said. “I have been doing a lot of track sessions and also gym and core sessions as well.
“I also have been doing a lot of mobility work over the months of preparation.”
Snow said the Oceania Championships is a highlight on her athletics calendar and she was excited to be travelling to Fiji with her clubmates.
“I am looking forward to both the amazing experience to compete with athletes from different places and to be going over [there] with my Armidale teammates and other athletes that I have become friends with over my athletics career,” she said.
The athletes leave for Fiji on Monday, before the opening ceremony on Wednesday. The girls start their events on Thursday.