HAWKS Nest local Keira McGregor is off to Brisbane to attend a prestigious school on a sports scholarship.

For many years Keira has sprinted her way to victory, receiving a number of awards including a recent silver medal at the NSW All Schools State Athletics Championship, however, this might be the last time that locals see Keira for a while.

After hearing about the school from one of the girls Keira used to train with, her family began looking into it and it wasn’t long until she earned a place at St Peter’s College with a sports scholarship.

Keira spoke to News Of The Area about the change.

“It’s certainly been a big change,” Keira said.

“Usually in the mornings in Hawks Nest my mum and I would go for a walk up to the beach but this morning we went for a walk along the riverside and it’s strange because there’s so many cars and people.”

“It’s all very different,” she said.

Although she’s a long way from home, Keira still has her eye on the prize with the goal of making it into the World Juniors, an event for athletes under twenty.

“The qualifying time is 11.8 seconds, and although I’m still young and have time to work on it, I did 12.1 seconds last year,” Keira told News Of The Area.

“I’m only 0.3 seconds off that and I’m hoping this year to get under 12 seconds to be close to that mark,” she said.

Balancing school and a lot of training, Keira is busily scheduling her way to success.

Although she’s only just moved, Keira is just about to take on her first athletics competition in the Queensland capital and Keira can be guaranteed that all of Hawks Nest will be cheering her on for this season of sprinting.

Congratulations on your achievement Keira, we can’t wait to see you as one of Australia’s best athletes in the near future.

 

By Tara CAMPBELL