DEDICATION to fitness and good efforts on the track have earned Port Fairy’s Bonnie Williamson a ticket to Canada.
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The Brauer College student will compete in age group athletics competitions at Kelowna and Vancouver as part of a 19-day Sports Travel Australia tour next June and July.
The 2016 Track and Field Tour of Canada will take in two competitions sanctioned by Athletics Canada, with Australian students between the ages of 13 and 19 invited to take part.
Bonnie, who will turn 14 in April, earned an invitation after meeting Sports Travel Australia timing standards at this year’s School Sports Victoria state titles, where she finished 12th in the 1500-metre race.
“It was because I have relatively equal times with the people over in Canada, who I’ll be competing against,” she said.
“So I wouldn’t dominate, but I wouldn’t full-on lose, either.”
As well as competing in the 1500-metre race in Canada, Bonnie will have to choose three more events to take part in across the competitions.
Given her prowess on the athletics track in recent years, she said two possibilities immediately sprang to mind.
“I’ll do the 800 (metres), because last year, in year 7, I got to states for 800,” she said.
“The year before that, I got to states for long jump, so I’ll do that as well.”
Although she is still to make up her mind on what will be her final event, Bonnie said it could well be the 100-metre race, given her fondness for running.
The talented athlete – who trains for one or two sessions a day, six days a week – said although she did not do a lot of track-specific work, she had long been interested in running events.
“I’ve always run because mum (Lisa) used to do a lot of athletics, so she got me into it,” Bonnie said.
“I don’t always train (for track events), but I’m quite fit because I do a lot of basketball and netball.”
Bonnie plays domestic basketball at Port Fairy, and also lined up at goal defence for the Port Fairy’s Hampden league netball team this year, taking out the 13 and under best and fairest award.
She has also been nominated for the past two Warrnambool and Moyne youth achiever awards for her sporting exploits.
In between competing and training during the tour, Bonnie and the other young athletes will take in the sights, visiting Whistler Blackcomb – home of the 2010 Winter Olympics – and viewing grizzly bears in their natural habitat, as well as crossing the border to the United States to go to Disneyland, Universal Studios and Hollywood Boulevard.