Warrnambool's Grace Kelly, Terang's Caytlyn Sharp and Timboon's Emily Morden returned from the recent Australian Track and Field Championships in Sydney with a collective haul of four medals and eight finals appearances.

Kelly kicked off the successful nationals campaign last Monday night for the south-west contingent with a silver medal in the under 16 100 metres.

The talented teenager stopped the clock in the race down the front straight of Sydney Olympic Park in 12.13 seconds.

Tasmania's Chelsea Scolyer took out the win in 12.05 with New South Wales' Summah Harrison running 12.24 for third.

Kelly, who runs for Ballarat Harriers, backed it up two days later when she just missed out on another national medal in the under 16 200 metres, running fourth in 24.94 seconds

The DPS Warrnambool athlete, who is coached by Wayne Perry and Rob Duynhoven, finished behind Western Australia's Olivia Dodds (24.58), Queensland's Marissa Hanlon (24.78) and New South Wale's Damita Betham (24.85).

Morden, running last Tuesday, stormed to her first national final in her maiden appearance at the championships.

The middle distance runner finished fifth in the under 20 1500 metres, running a time of four minutes and 32.83 seconds.

A day later Morden backed up her strong showing in the 1500 in the straight final of the 3000-metre steeplechase, where she secured a bronze medal.

The Athletics South West Turbines member, who is trained by Phil Molesworth, stormed onto the podium in a time of 10 minutes and 53.52 seconds.

Fast-forward to Friday and Sharp continued the region's impressive showing at the nationals when she won a bronze in the Para20 100 metres.

The Eureka Athletic Club member stopped the clock in 14.31 to win the T20 class. New South Wales pair Lucia Bruce-Gilchrist (T41) and Lainee Harrison (T37) took out the gold and silver in the Para20 event.

The DPS Warrnambool athlete added a second medal on Monday, leaping to silver in the long jump. She jumped 4.87 metres in the Para20 final.

Sharp, who is coached in her jump events by Paul Cleary, also placed 10th in the open under 20 triple jump with a leap of 10.26 metres and the ambulant long jump with a leap of 4.87 metres last Thursday.

The talented athlete said she battled illness for the past two months and had limited preparations. She said she was still proud of what she achieved.

"I was quite surprised with how I went. I have been sick for a few months and in and out of hospital and hadn't trained in over two months," she said.

"I was very sick and I'm still unwell and really don't know what is going on. I hadn't been able to train for a while. I wasn't at my best but I was surprised I did alright.

"My jumps felt good, considering how unwell I was. I thought I wasn't going to be able to jump. I was a bit disappointed with my runs but I did alright considering what I was going through."

Kelly and Morden plan to take a break before turning their attention to preparing for next season while Sharp is turning her attention to football and netball.

Morden's focus will shift away from sport for the time being as she finishes high school but she already has a big goal in mind for next season.

"I'm going to have a break for a couple of weeks and I'm still in year 12 and there is cross country over the winter but I won't do much for that as I have to study as well," she said.

"Then next year I'll go back (to nationals), do it again and hopefully get a qualifier (for world juniors) even."

Kelly's focus is now stronger than ever after this year's nationals.

"I'll have a few weeks off, then I'm starting swimming two nights a week and will be getting into speedball, boxing and more gym work.

"As it gets closer to pre-season I'll begin on the light sessions."

Sharp said she was taking a break from athletics.

"I've decided taking a break a from athletics to give football and netball a go for a little while," she said.

"I learnt that it was time to take a break. Just wanting to take a break because I have lost the love for it and I'm hoping to take break and see if I want to get back into it.

"I'm playing football at Old Collegians and then I'm doing netball try outs in Melbourne for a national team for athletes with an intellectual disability."

"I played netball as a kid and was really good at it. I played at Terang but gave it up for athletics and only started getting back into it the last couple of weeks.

"I have never played footy before but decided a few weeks ago I would take it up."

Kelly was pleased to conclude a stellar season, which included another state 100-200-metre double, a win at her home gift and an appearance in an open Stawell Gift final, on a high in Sydney.

"I was really proud of all my runs (at nationals) as I have been training hard," the 14-year-old said.

"It was a good way to finish off a good season running at nationals and getting a silver and a fourth.

"It was exciting and a big level to be running at. To come second I feel like it was a big relief to cross it off the list."

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Morden said her first national championships was an eye-opening experience.

"It was an incredible experience I was so glad I got to compete," the 17-year-old said.

"The level of competition was incredible. It was also great that there was still a lot of encouragement from the other girls.

"The support we give each other makes running really enjoyable.

"The track itself was amazing. To think so many Olympians ran on the same track I did and I stood on the same podium that all those champs was pretty cool.

"It was cool that they treated the event as a trial run for the (Tokyo) Olympics."

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Morden said she would be a more experienced athlete if she returned to the national championships next summer.

"The 1500-metre final in particular I learnt what I need to work on," she said.

"The super fast start is something I didn't cope well with and how quickly they can pull a gap and once it's there it's hard to get it back.

"The experience of going to the warm up track and cool room will be normal to me next season too."

Morden's medal-winning performance at the nationals was a proud moment for her coach Phil Molesworth.

The Timboon resident is Molesworth's first athlete since 1995.

"I made his wife cry with joy and I swear he had tears in his eyes too as he was happy knowing what he has seen in athletics and the people he has helped," Morden said.

"He said to me 'you're a champ in the making."

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