Athletics: Medals galore but teen sprinter appreciates other incremental gains

Schoolgirl sprinter Georgia Hulls, 17, with a swag of medals she won at the Australian Athletics Championship and the North Island Secondary Schools' Championship.

Happiness isn't a one-size-fits-all garment that talented Hawke's Bay sprinter Georgia Hulls can slip on every time she drops to her knees to take her mark on the starting blocks .

For Hulls it's a relative emotion, not necessarily reflected in the three types of precious metals - gold, silver and bronze.

The Havelock North High School pupil makes no secret of her desire to bask in the golden glow but when it proves elusive she is equally adept at recognising and taking in her stride other incremental gains.

"Obviously I wanted to win both the races but I'm reasonably happy although I'm not totally happy," says Hulls after collecting a silver in 200m and a bronze in 100m in the under-20 female grade of the Australian Championship at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre last month.

The 17-year-old is mindful that sometimes the glare of the bling can distort the bigger picture in progressively working towards slow but sure mental and physical growth.

That she was in a field of 31 elite runners in the 100m preliminaries is in itself an accomplishment, never mind that she has no control over other variables.

Hulls' intention was to clock personal best times but she found the conditions in Sydney quite challenging.

"I don't think anyone in our ranks ran PBs," says the year 13 pupil, revealing it rained quite a lot and made the track heavy and slow. "It felt different but at the time I didn't know why."

The impact of inclement weather on the artificial track was something the locals had shed light on and, by no means, is it official.

For that reason, Hulls seems to have benefited immensely in the open 200m women's race where she finished seventh - in a field of 53 with a hint of international flavour.

Hulls clocked 24.54s with Toea Wisil, of Queensland, winning in a time of 23.76s. Ella Nelson, clinched silver in 23.91s while fellow New South Welshwoman Lari Pasternatsky got on the podium for bronze in 24.28s.

In races where fractions of a second denote development, she relished the ego-free experience, not just running alongside half of the field who were Olympians but rubbing shoulders with them before and after the sprint.

"They talked to everyone and they were quite welcoming."

Hulls found it enlightening to relate to athletes who had started where she is now and see how they have plotted their careers to get to where they are today.

Coming back from Sydney to compete at the North Island Secondary Schools' Athletics Championship in Taranaki a week later wasn't the same as the Aussie nationals butshe enjoyed the challenge in a relatively competitive environment.

"They have a new track there so it was quite nice," says Hulls who picked up five gold medals - 100m, 200m, 400m, 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m - at the TET Stadium in Stratford.

Fellow national age-group representative Lucy Sheath, 17, from Blenheim, is the only athlete who went to Sydney with her and was also at the school champs.

Hulls' immediate focus is the Oceania Championship from June 18 to July1 at the ANZ Stadium, in Suva, Fiji, where the athletes' village will based at the University of the South Pacific campus adjacent to the venue.

It's the first trip to the island nation for Hulls but it's her second Oceania Championship. Her first was to Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, in 2014.

"In terms of representation, it's good to be able to come back to where I started," says the Hastings Athletics Club member.

She will be defending her Oceania under-20 100m and 200m sprint records.

"I'd like to break both the records and just win all the other races."

Father Dean Hulls coaches her. She's coming off a well-earned break but started frequenting the gym last week for strength and conditioning. Hulls will start track work in preparation for this winter on Friday.