HORSHAM triathlete Ella Walsgott kicked off her season at the Australian Junior Triathlon Series last week on the Gold Coast.
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In the first of three races in the national series, the 15-year-old endurance athlete competed across four days.
Ella said the competition was strong but she was happy with her performances.
“It was pretty good, the first day I had a 1500m run, the second day I had a triathlon and an aquathlon, the third day I had mixed team relays and the fourth day I had my final triathlon event,” Ella said.
The competition ran from Thursday through to Sunday and Ella’s mother Katie said her performances were strong against a quality field.
“She coped really well and it was a very big weekend but she was very happy with her performance,” she said.
“There were also some New Zealand athletes too and the rest were from around Australia. The Queensland competitors are always very strong so it was a good competition to match up against the rest of them. She is one of the top in her age group in Victoria so it’s good to see how the others are going.”
Ella made it into the C final for the youth females and out of 19 competitors finished 14th. In her strongest leg, the run, she notched the fourth fastest time in the final.
“She was really happy with the run and that is her strongest section,” Katie Walsgott said.
“She is getting better with the other legs. The bike has been er weakest but she is feeling a lot happier with that.”
Ella is part of the Victoria Development Program with Triathlon Victoria and will have a program to follow across the Christmas period.
She will then compete in national series events in Canberra in January and Tasmania in March, as well as regular competitions in the Victorian series.
“She has a coach and follows a program and she will just continued through that now,” Katie said.
“They have a break over Christmas and then after that she will get stuck into competing again.”