LOCAL Broadford runner Poppy Robinson has set the athletics scene alight in Australia recently, coming to Canberra and scoring a new Victorian record for the under 12 100m and 200m races in the School Sports Australia national track and field championships.
Held in Canberra from November 27 to November 30, Broadford Primary School’s Robinson ran with elite consistency from start to finish to claim two gold medals, an incredible achievement, cementing herself as arguably Australia’s fastest female primary school runner and a star to watch in the future.
The 100m heats saw Robinson qualify fastest by 0.13 seconds, running a 12.4 in the first heat, raising expectations.
Robinson was up to the task in the final with Queensland’s Alexa Gillon pushing her all the way, but in the end, it was a new personal best for Robinson, who ran a 12.3, taking one tenth out of her heat time to win the gold medal.
The times represented an improvement on the Victorian championships recently, where she had broken the Victorian record by running 12.52.
However, it was the 200m race, where Robinson completely blitzed the field, which made people stand up and take notice.
Robinson was 0.12 quicker than any runner in the heats with a lower wind co-efficient, running 26.22.
With the same wind co-efficient of 0.5 in the final, Robinson completely blindsided the field with an incredible run, again claiming a Victorian record time of 25.53 to win by 0.48 from New South Welshman Annika Kumar, and claiming a second gold medal.
The time was 0.42 quicker than the time she had run in the Victorian championships – again, then a state record, with a time of 25.95.
Robinson’s final medal saw her compete in the final of the 4×100 metre relay, running the anchor leg. Despite giving it her all, herself and teammates Zoe Strangis, Mackenzie Duddy and Amelia Miskell would have to settle for third, finishing 1.11 seconds behind eventual winners Queensland.
Robinson’s mother, Skye Bryans, said it was a significant achievement that reflected the hard work she had put in during the school sports circuit.
“She was fit, and did some trials, but her times were still reflective of where they were last year, but then we went to Bali for a couple of weeks, but then we came back and she did school district, and her times were starting to improve a lot, so the break did her good,” she said.
“She’s improved every time she has run, so I think that’s an indicator that she’s grown a lot over the last couple months, so she has gotten stronger and she’s very determined.
“She works hard. She’s back into training now and she’s a determined little girl who does a lot of training on grass. It is overwhelming going to some of these events, you are up against private school kids who have a coaching team around them, and there’s little old us from country Victoria.
“Hopefully it inspires other little kids that being against the odds sometimes, they can achieve awesome things. Broadford Primary School has got behind her and the kids look up to her, so it’s pretty cool for our community.”
