Ashlyn Blackstock returned from the Oceania Athletics Championships this month with more than a silver medal.
The Belmont North 18-year-old came back with renewed motivation.
Blackstock was among three Lake Macquarie rising talents who were picked to represent Australia at the Oceania titles in Mackay, Queensland from June 7 to 11.
Whitebridge 17-year-old Jemma Pollard finished the international competition with two gold medals. She won the under-18 women's 400-metre final in a championship record 54.52 seconds. It was a personal best [PB] mark as well as a world junior titles qualifying time.
Dudley parathlete Ella Osborne, 18, produced a bronze medal performance in the women's ambulant 400m and Blackstock recovered from a poor start to finish second in the under-20 women's discus final.
"It was actually a really stressful competition because I started with three fouls, which in a normal competition I would have just been out," Blackstock said.
"But because there were only four of us we automatically got into the finals, so I got another three throws. It was on my last throw that I went from fourth place to second."
The trio were named in the Australian team following performances at the national track and field championships in April.
"I had a lot of really big tough things going on after nationals," Blackstock said. "My coach [Gerry Targett] passed away in that time. Then two days after I got an email saying I was selected for the Oceania Championships.
"I spent a lot of time trying to get back into the circle firstly because there was all of that grief of losing Gerry but then also trying to find the fun in it because, seriously, if I hadn't been chosen for Oceania I probably would have stopped throwing. The experience has created this new spark of excitement and motivation to just keep going."
Blackstock threw 46.62 metres to place second behind New Zealand's Natalie Rankin-Chi Tar (49.33) in Mackay and will now start "rebuilding" with her eye on the 2026 Commonwealth Games and a future Olympics appearance.
Pollard and Osborne, who train under Tim Eschebach with Newcastle Runners, are also aiming for bigger things after what they both described as an "amazing" experience representing Australia.
Pollard, who has shaved almost four seconds off her PB for 400m in the past 12 months, is targeting the world junior championships in 2024 then Olympics.
Osborne, who was born without her left forearm and is the Australian women's 400m champion for her classification, is eyeing the Para World Championships next year and the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
