Rhylee runs into Australian Championships for 800m

Hallora teenager Rhylee Stewart is set to make his national level debut in 800 metre running after shaving 14 seconds off his personal best.
The 14-year-old has qualified for this year's Australian Track and Field Championships to be held at Olympic Park, Sydney next month.
As a Gippsland Track Club athlete, Rhylee improved his 800m personal best time by over 14 seconds to qualify in the under 15 category.
He stormed home over the final 250m to finish second in his heat at the recent Victorian Milers Club meeting at Box Hill, recording a qualifying time of 2:14.66. The following week, he placed seventh in the Victorian under 16 Country Championship with a personal best of 2:12.91.
In his first season with the Gippsland Track Club under the coaching of international athlete Craig Huffer, Rhylee has begund to fulfil his potential.
The Drouin Secondary College year eight student currently trains at Geoff Watt Track in Warragul on Wednesday nights with a small group of Gippsland Track Club athletes. The remainder of his training is done via the Final Surge App in which Huffer provides a program to meet running goals and competition schedule.
"From the very first training session, I knew that Rhylee had the number one ingredient of a successful athlete and that was his mindset," Huffer said. "Technically he is still raw, which makes it exciting because with his determination and focus I know there is a lot more to come."
Huffer said the focus for this season was all about the experience and exposing him to the higher senior levels of competition.
"The Australian Championships is a bonus and a well deserved reward for Rhylee this season. Rhylee's personal bests this summer are a reflection of the self disciplined approach he took to training over the challenging lockdown winter base period."Rhylee says he is fortunate to be coached by Huffer who knows first-hand the challenges rural kids face finding a path and transition to the big start. Born and bred in Gippsland, Huffer held many state records as a junior and himself won national titles over 800m, making him the perfect mentor.
After 12 months of coaching, Rhylee says he had surpassed all his goals and was super excited where the road ahead may lead.
He also urged other keen runners in Warragul to get involved.
Rhylee will join seven other Gippsland Track Club athletes who have qualified for this year's Australian Championships. This includes Debbie Husodo (U/18 3000m), Rachel O'Brien (Open 800m and 1500m), Antje Kempff (U/17 400m), Elly Fleming (U/17 800m), Finn Staple (U/18 200m and 400m), Cassie Farley (U/14 800m) and Craig Huffer (Open 3000m).
With the Victorian Championships starting this weekend, the Warragul and Sale-based training squad will hope to see a few more athletes book their place to the national championship.