Maitland's state-of-the-art Regional Athletics Centre has been chosen to host the event, which is expected to give the local economy a healthy boost.

Hosted by Athletics NSW, a full range of track and field events will go ahead over three jam-packed days.

One of the most promising young athletes to keep an eye out for is 18-year-old Mitchell Lightfoot, from Maitland.

In other news:

Mr Lightfoot ran a personal best of 13.62 seconds in the 110 metre hurdles at the NSW All School Championships last month.

This great result earned him a spot on the World Juniors Australian team which will head to Colombia in August, but first he will attempt to better his time in his home town this weekend.

"It's so good to have the Country Championships come to Maitland, it's an opportunity for me to get friends and family to come along and watch me race that wouldn't normally be able to travel and do that,' Mr Lightfoot said.

"The facilities here are great, the track has settled in really nicely, and I know that there are people running PBs on it,

"They're top tier facilities, up to par with national standards, and to be able to train here up to three times a week has been really good for me.

"My coach and I don't really like to talk specific numbers before an event, but the aim is to run a few good races and try and push my best time below that sub-13.50 second mark."

Philip Penfold, mayor of Maitland, said Maitland attracting such a big event is a testament to the quality of our new Regional Athletics Centre.

"We're looking forward to welcoming the athletes and their families to Maitland for the weekend, and showing them what our great city and local businesses have to offer."

The Maitland Regional Athletics Centre opened in October, 2020 and has a World Athletics Class II facility rating.

James Constantine from Athletics NSW said the NSW Country Championships are one of the most important events on the regional calendar.

"We've been here a few times to check out the facilities and they're as good as anything that we've seen in the state," he said.

"It's a coup for our athletes to have these facilities to compete at, and we're keen to work with local clubs, volunteers, and businesses for a great weekend of athletics."

Athletics NSW will run the event in a COVID Safe way, following NSW Health's guidelines for community sports.

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