Two strong teams will travel to the mainland following the recent Tasmanian All Schools competition last weekend, which acted as the selection trials for the national events. The OVA Southern Saints wish to congratulate all athletes who have been selected.

Heading up the list of 14* OVA members selected are U18 athletes Henri Norton, Dusty Rankin, Anna Blackwell and Alice Randall - all who have enjoyed success in the build up to the Tas All Schools. The progression of both Henri and Dusty over their sprint events, especially the 400m, has been exciting to watch and both will look to continue to improve on their times in Melbourne. Nathan Coleman is also no stranger to the sprinting discipline and will be one to watch. 

Middle distance athlete Torin Jones returns to form after breaking both wrists during a soccer match earlier on in the year, and is joined by Rebecca Revill in the U16 age group who has been steadily progressing over her 800m/1500m races. Bec has competed at a handful of interclubs recently, and can constantly be seen pushing the pace as she seeks to improve on her early potential. Bec is training with TIS coach Susan Andrews, but is also being mentored by fellow OVA athlete Samuel Morey which is a great pairing. 

New OVA recruit Bec Kovacic has been training hard over the weeks, and is an exciting prospect who has begun the transition from Little Athletics to senior athletics. Grace, Lucy, Lydia and Sophia are also a part of the strong OVA female contingent - and aside from striving for personal bests in Melbourne, will no doubt enjoy the friendship and memories from the nationals trip. 

The full list of OVA athletes include: Henri Norton, Dusty Rankin, Alice Randall, Kaela Beechey, Anna Blackwell, Nathan Coleman, Torin Jones, Bec Kovacic, Rebecca Revill, Grace Jacobson, Lucy Carter, Lydia Atrill, Sophia Murray (Secondary), Brenna Lemon (Primary).

Brenna will be an integral part of what looks to be a tight knit primary school team, heading off to Canberra for the Schools Sport Australia competition - which despite the individual events, has a strong team based influence. These trips are always a great experience for the state's best primary athletes, who will no doubt band together to collectively achieve their best during competition. 

Both teams are also strongly represented by some of OVA's senior management, including current committee members and athletes Nathan Morey, Rosemary Coleman (secondary) and Dominic Anastasio and Kira-Lee DeWit (primary). Greg Beard and Gabby Steele are also great additions to the management of the primary team, both no strangers to the OVA Southern Saints across various capacities.

We again wish all athletes the best of luck during the competitions, as well as those managing and supporting the teams #goOVA