Athletics
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THEY'RE arguably Griffith sport's best brother and sister act and they've been at it again.
Noah and Sarah Negus have returned from the School Sport Australia athletics carnival in Brisbane with yet another impressive haul of medals, as well as high praise from state coach Ben Thomas.
The five-day tournament which wrapped up last Tuesday saw the St Patrick's pair come up against some of Australia's best junior athletes, having qualified by storming the NSW state athletics carnival in Sydney back in October.
In her first appearance on the national stage, Sarah, 10, grabbed medals in every event she entered, winning gold in the 100m, 200m, 800m and long jump, as well as silver in the shot put and bronze in the 800m medley relay.
She was also part of the silver medal-winning NSW long jump relay team.
Her brother Noah, 12, claimed gold in the 4x100m relay and silver in the 800m medley relay, but just missed out on a podium place in his 800m final.
Importantly, his 100m record is still standing.
Thomas, the convenor of the NSW athletics championships and one of several team managers that took the state team from Brisbane, said the Negus kids were a credit to their school, their parents and themselves.
"Very talented athletes, but it's nice that they're actually humble kids, well-behaved and well-mannered," he said.
"They've won a swag of medals over the last few years and did very well in Brisbane."
Thomas said the Negus' achievements is even greater considering the growth in the Athletes With a Disability category over the last few years.
"NSW was the first state to try and bring that in at a state and regional level and now, all the states have come on board," he said.
"The competition has actually become quite fierce in that because there's so many more kids involved with it. For them to still be top of their game despite that is quite an achievement.
"The adversity that these kids overcome, and then to achieve, is a real credit to them.
"I know (mum) Lizl is committed in having taken the kids to Little Athletics centres and just giving them the opportunity to compete not only through the school pathway, but athletics in general in NSW.
"The schools, I think, now play a huge role in athletes with disabilities getting those opportunities because they've mixed that in with their full program.
"Those kids can now compete at school, regionally, and then at state and national level, which didn't happen in the past.
"It's a commitment from the parents but they're only getting opportunities now because of what school sport's put in place."