WARRNAMBOOL sprinter Hannah Duynhoven knows her next moves in the athletics world are a step in the right direction.
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The 19-year-old finished her time with dad Rob and Wayne Perry at the DPS (Duynhoven Perry Sprinting) stable on a high with victory in Open women's race at the Geelong Gift on Sunday and now prepares for a move to Melbourne for university.
Duynhoven begins her four years of university life this week at La Trobe Bundoora studying a Bachelor of Applied Science with a Masters of Clinical Prosthetics.
But the sprinter is still eager to continue her promising career in the athletics world.
And because of her blistering Victorian Athletics League season so far, where she has collected two victories, she has landed a spot in accredited Athletics Australia coach Scott Rowsell's training squad.
Duynhoven said the successful coach had sought her out after the Geelong victory.
"We contacted the VAL with an email saying that I was moving up to Melbourne and if we could get some contacts for any coaches in the area and then Scott Rowsell actually got into contact with Dad and myself," she said.
"I am really excited to move into training with him and he has some really awesome athletes training with him so it's definitely going to be a big step up and a challenge. I'm hoping he will push me to another level and I can keep on improving."
Rowsell has Australian Commonwealth Games representative Maddie Coates, who is someone Duynhoven has admired from afar, and reigning men's Stawell Gift winner Jacob Despard in his Rowsell Athletic Development squad.
Duynhoven, a former Warrnambool College student, said she was eager to learn from some of Australia's top athletes.
"Just competing at the higher levels they are competing at means they are going to have so much experience," she said.
"I'm hoping they can lift me up and hopefully that environment will push me and inspire me to improve and challenge me a lot, which will be really good."
The teenager said she had identified areas she wishes to improve under Rowsell.
"It's just overall strength and I guess in my starts as well," she said.
"Being a tall athlete it's kind of hard to get a quick start compared to some of the little pocket rockets that fire out of the starting blocks.
"So I just want to start building some more strength, which will help improve my running."
Duynhoven is eyeing off two more gifts this season including the famous Stawell Gift, which runs at Central Park over the Easter long weekend.
Before Stawell the south-west export will try to continue her winning form at the Ringwood Gift on April 7.
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Sean Hardeman
I'm a sports journalist for the Warrnambool Standard who covers a number of different sports across the south-west of Victoria. I enjoy watching cycling, surfing, football, soccer and Formula 1.
I'm a sports journalist for the Warrnambool Standard who covers a number of different sports across the south-west of Victoria. I enjoy watching cycling, surfing, football, soccer and Formula 1.
