By Yarin Barrett
HINTERLAND athletes Estah Muller and Izaac Kwarcianyi struck gold at the Queensland School Sport Track and Field State Championships in Townsville last week.
Glasshouse Christian College student Estah claimed gold in the girls’ 14-year javelin and silver in the discus, landing personal bests in both events.
Beerwah State High’s Izaac delivered one of the standout performances of the meet, finishing with five medals: gold in the 100m and 200m hurdles, silver in the long and triple jumps, and bronze in the high jump.
Estah said she thrived on the uncertainty and adrenaline of competition.
“That is one part of the sport, not knowing how you are going to compete on the day,” she said. She said she always scans the field looking for familiar faces.
“I go through and scan through my competition, not for my competition but for my friends,” she said.
Estah, who has improved her results every year, hopes the friendships forged at state level carry her to the Olympic stage.
“Not just me but every single one of the girls that I compete with,” she said.
“My favourite event is javelin,” she added.
For Izaac, the championships were equal parts holiday and revelation.
“I didn’t even think too much about the events really, it was just a fun little holiday trip up there with my mum,” he said.
“Before the events I got a bit nervous, but once I was at the event I felt a bit less nervous,” he said.
“After I got a couple of medals, I got a bit more confident, so that was good.”
The 14-year-old said the success surprised him.
“I realised that I can actually do good at this level, because I’ve never really done this well at a level this high, so it was a bit of a shock to get all of those medals,” he said.
Izaac trains mainly for hurdles but says his heart is with the triple jump.
“I just like that event, it’s really fun so I like that event the most,” he said.
“I don’t really train for triple jump, but I’ll probably train a bit more now after I realised I can do good.”
He said perseverance has been key to his improvement.
“I used to not be very good at hurdling, but after you train a bit then you can definitely build up your confidence and get a lot better than you think you can be,” he said.
