Fairholme College athletes bring home huge medal haul from titles

Fairholme College’s strong contingent of student athletes proved they can compete with the state’s best at the QLD School Sport track and field titles. Meet our newest medal winning stars.

Like many young athletes Taylah Chapman ‘followed the footsteps’ of an older sibling when choosing a sport.

Seeing the joy her brother took from cross country she decided to try her hand at athletics.

Now just four short years later, Chapman has a trophy cabinet full of medals.

Competing at the 13-19 Years Queensland School Sport Track & Field Championships she brought home four gold, one silver and a bronze medal.

“I’m really surprised. I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Chapman, who competes in the multi-class category, said.

“I just wanted to compete and I was really proud of my performance.

“Winning all these medals was just amazing.”

Chapman trains three days a week focusing on her throwing for two of the sessions and dedicating the third to sprint work.

Working with legendary Toowoomba throwing coach Graham Pitt, Chapman’s passion and dedication to her sport is paying off with three of her four gold medals in throwing events. and the 14-year-old has high praise for her coach.

The young star also shared a message for potential athletes just like her.

“Just try it (sport) and see what happens,” Chapman said.

“You might find something you really love doing, like I did.”

Rose McLoughlin

Like her schoolmate, 16-year-old McLoughlin has benefited from working with Pitt.

The hammer thrower said Pitt’s approach to training makes the hard work needed to succeed worth it.

“He has a real passion for the sport, coaching and doing whatever he can to help his athletes,” she said.

“He makes training fun and exciting. I really look forward to it (training) and work hard when I do.”

Heading into the state titles McLoughlin was unsure how she’d perform in what is a traditionally competitive field but in the end she was pleased with bronze.

“I was a fair bit off my personal best but I’m still happy with how I went,” she said.

“The key for me is focusing on the things I do at training and keeping things the same when I compete.

“I focused on the right things with my first throw (at state titles) but changed things a little on my second and third (throw) and that didn’t work.”

Grace Vanzella

Involved in Little Athletics since Year 3, Vanzella has always favoured sprinting.

Adding hurdles to the mix only increased her passion for the sport.

“I’ve always loved sprint training and the hurdles bring in that extra element,” Vanzella said.

“You have the excitement of sprinting and that technical element with the hurdles.

“With hurdles there is always something you can work on … areas you can improve which makes it so interesting.”