The Far South Coast will be represented on a national stage this December when Paige Moxey straps on her running shoes at the Pacific School Games.
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Moxey, from Numbugga, qualified for the event thanks to a third place finish in the 100-metre sprint at the recent PSSA all-schools carnival in Sydney.
Moxey’s mother, Anne-Marie, said her daughter had always been athletic.
“She’s always been fast,” she said. “They do the school carnivals for athletics every year, and she always managed to win those.”
“She wins the cross country as well, but she doesn’t enjoy that as much as sprinting.”
Track and field isn’t the only sport that Paige excels in.
“She’s big into horses too,” Mrs Moxey said. “She does a lot of dressage riding, and she’s just started show jumping.”
“Pretty much the only thing that she’s not good at swimming. She still wants a pool at home though.”
Despite her daughter’s athleticism, Mrs Moxey wasn’t expecting any success this year.
“We’re quite surprised, because she’s been out for about eight months this year with jumper’s knee,” she said.
“We had to stop her from doing little athletics; she wasn’t even allowed to jump on the trampoline.”
Mrs Moxey said her daughter was ecstatic when traveling back from Sydney.
“She was over the moon,” she said.
“The six hour car trip on the way home was ‘I’m so proud of myself, I can’t believe I’m going to Adelaide’.
“She cracked the 14 second mark, which she was obviously stoked about. 13.98 seconds was her fastest run.”
Moxey and her mum will travel to Adelaide for the School Games that begin on Sunday, December 3.
“It’s a New South Wales team that goes, but a parent has to go with them,” Mrs Moxey said.
“We own a farm, so it’s hard for both of us to go away.”
“It’s going to cost about $3000 to go, which is surprising, but that’s what you do for your kids.”
This may only be the start for Paige, as she’s started working with a coach in Bombala.
“She’s just started training, because her technique is really bad,” Mrs Moxey said.
“We think that may be why she’s getting injured, so we’ve started doing the training with Malcolm Lavender.”
Mr Lavender is an Athletics Australia Senior International level 4, track and field coach with 27 years of experience.