After producing two national-level sportspeople in 20 years, Bolwarra Public School has now yielded two in the one year including a national champion.
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Year six student Callan Barber won the Australian under-11’s shot put, while fellow year six student Zoe Murdoch made the NSW primary school cricket team.
Callan threw a gigantic personal best of 14.54 metres to win the competition.
Prior to the national championships, his personal best in competition was 12.30m.
But some hard work in the back yard took him up to a 13.80m in training, which he matched with his second throw at the national event.
It was his third throw that broke the 14 metre barrier, and put him into the final in top position.
The finalists threw in reverse order to what they qualified, which meant Callan went last.
But no other athlete could get near his 14.54, which brought on a few fist pumps from Callan.
It was a welcome surprise for the Barber family.
“We just cried,” Callan’s mother Amanda said. “It was very emotional.”
Athletics isn’t Callan’s only sporting love, with cricket, football, soccer and swimming all on his list.
But a national championship hasn’t stopped him practicing.
“I’ve still got the holes in my backyard to prove it,” Mrs Barber said.
And Zoe has her shot at national success when she competes for NSW at the School Sport Australia cricket championships in Canberra next month.
An Australian player will present the 12-year-old with her NSW hat at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 4 at the Australia v Pakistan test match before the competition starts two days later.
After she was picked for the Hunter team for a second year, Zoe took part in a state carnival.
It was there that selectors were on the hunt for the NSW team.
But Zoe said she thought she didn’t play very well in the last three games of the carnival, so had ruled out her chances of selection.
So Zoe was shocked when her mother called and told her she had been picked.
“I thought she was joking,” she said.
“I was really, really excited. I couldn’t really believe it.”