The Riverina is celebrating a gold rush at the NSW All Schools Championships.
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The four-day state meet came to an end at Homebush on Sunday in what proved to be a spectacular success for Riverina athletes.
Six Riverina teenagers combined to win a total of eight gold medals.
Temora flyer Grace Krause led the charge with a brilliant golden double in the 14 years girls triple jump and long jump.
The Riverina Anglican College (TRAC) young gun Daniel Okerenyang matched Krause's efforts with the same double in the 14 years boys triple jump and long jump.
Wagga High School's Kippy Langat claimed gold in the 17 years boys triple jump, TRAC's Casey Smith won the 5000m race walk, while Temora's Damian Wells won the 19 years boys hammer.
Tumut High School's Indi Cooper completed the blitz with gold in the girls 15-16 years 100m T38.
Krause was the star of the show, finishing the meet with five medals, two gold, two silver and a bronze.
She grabbed sliver in the 14 years girls 100m and 200m, missing out in the 100m by one hundredth of a second.
It was the triple jump where Krause performed best, breaking a 19-year record set by Wagga's Alyisha House back in 2002.
Having arrived with a personal best of 11.05m, Krause landed 12.30m with her opening jump of the meet to smash her PB and better House's record by 34cm.
However, Krause was not finished yet. She finished with a 12.33m at her last attempt, a mark that only five athletes have bettered in the 85-year history of the meet.
"It felt good - I didn't think I'd jumped that far on the first attempt," Krause said.
In the boys 14 years triple jump, Okerenyang's best effort of 13.51m saw him win by well over a metre.
He also captured gold in the long jump with a 6.10m effort.
The 14-year-old was surprised by his efforts given the little training he did in the lead up.
"I only had three sessions before that so it was a surprise," Okerenyang said.
"I was really happy. I had a 40 centimetre PB in long jump, and a 50 centimetre in triple jump."
Fellow Wagga athlete, Langat, moved himself to number one in Australia for under 18, and number four for under 20s, with his win in the 17 years triple jump.
Langat saved his best effort for his last jump with a 14.62m effort proving enough to edge out defending champion William Moir by six centimetres.
"It was a really good performance...a big PB so I was really happy with that," Langat said.
"I knew I would be competing for the gold so that was definitely the aim so I was happy to get that."
Wells took out the 19 years hammer with a throw of 54.86m, an effort that was within four metres of a record. He backed up that effort with a bronze in shot put, and a fifth in discus.
Smith took gold in the 5000m race walk in a time of 31.19.43.
Cooper continued to press her claims for selection in the Australian team for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games with her gold medal performance.
She clocked 15.09 into a 1.1m/s wind. Her T38 100m event is one of a handful of para events on the 2022 Commonwealth Games track and field program.
Krause, Okerenyang, Langat and Wells are all part of the Greg Wiencke team. The Temora coach was again the subject of high praise from his athletes, who credited him for playing a big part in their success.
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