Athletics: Dynamic duo's golden glow

Hawke's Bay's Briana Stephenson (left) and Georgia Hulls won five golds at the Australian Junior Championship.

Hawke's Bay Airport staff be warned ... beef up the security today.

One of the biggest hauls of gold will pass through the gates. That's the five gold medals won by Hawke's Bay athletes Georgia Hulls and Briana Stephenson at the six-day Australian Junior Athletics Championships which ended in Perth on Sunday.

Havelock North High School 16-year-old Hulls lowered her 200m qualification time of 23.98s for the July 20-24 World Junior Championships in Poland with her under-18 win in 23.80s on Friday. This was a world qualifying time by 0.2s and was 0.05s away from beating the New Zealand under-20 record.

This time also smashed the Australian National Championship meet record by 0.15s.

On Sunday she won gold in the under-18 100m with a time of 12.07s.

"I was hoping to lower my world championship qualifying time of 11.98s," Hulls said.

"With winds swirling about and and the temperature 37 degrees celsius conditions could have been better. Athletes feet were literally burning after races," Hull said.

Hulls and her Hastings Athletics Club clubmate, Stephenson, combined with Brooke Somerfield of Tauranga and Aucklander Natasha Eady to win gold in the under-20 4 x 100m relay in convincing fashion with a time of 46.13s. Hulls ran the last leg and was five strides ahead of the second placegetter.

"I wasn't expecting the win because this isn't our usual team," Hull said afterwards.

The fact the Kiwis' baton changes were so smooth reflected the training the team members had done with the New Zealand under-20 relay programme.

Napier Girls High School 16-year-old Stephenson, who will be trialling for the New Zealand Secondary Schools netball team later this month, had earlier won golds in the under-18 high jump and long jump events.

Her personal best high jump of 1.75m was just outside the qualifying standard for the world junior championships. Stephenson won her long jump with a dramatic last jump of 5.98m which was short of the 6.20m qualifying mark.