Crookwell High School's athletics carnival was held last Thursday, and what stood out for organiser Belinda Maher was not just the excellent results from the competitors, but attitudes of all the students who took part.
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Blessed with pleasant weather, the students took to their respective disciplines with aplomb, which Maher said was helped by a target set by the school.
"We had most of our kids turn up to compete for the day which was good," Maher said.
"We tried to get everyone to participate in at least three events, whether they were running or the field events, and I think that helped to motivate the kids."
The sheer volume of kids participating in the carnival means that Crookwell will take a large contingent to the zone championships - roughly 30 by Maher's estimation - which will be held in June.
"I've already had some kids come and ask me if we can do some further training and things like that," Maher said.
"Out of all the carnivals, athletics is the biggest one that we take representatives away for, I guess because it appeals to a wider range of kids with everything from your sprint to your long distance through to all the throwing events."
Maher was particularly pleased that even the kids who were unable to participate in the events were still able to contribute in other ways.
"It was just such a good day, because not only did we have those kids that turn up to participate but we had a heap of kids that, for whatever reason, couldn't participate but they really put up their hand to be a helper on the day," she said.
"Whether they were timekeeping or helping rake the long jump pit. That was really good to see, it was an all-inclusive day."
The school decided to take on a new approach during the carnival, which saw students move between events in their year-groups, in an attempt to encourage camaraderie between the students taking part.
"Regardless of whether they were participating in that event, they could be there offering support to their peers who were participating or they could be helping out the staff on that event," Maher said.
"I think that hopefully helped to boost a few more kids, because we did have quite a few out with different injuries, but they could still get around ... so we hope that that boosted participation."
The winning house from the carnival was the Sturt house, who shone amid a hotly contested field of competitors.
The results from the carnival will be published in a later edition.
