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Any relay runner knows it's a team effort, but it was hard not to be impressed by Elias Cambourne's efforts at Sydney Olympic Park on October 20.
Anchoring Tacking Point Public School's boys' 4x100-metre team in the Primary Schools Sports Association state athletics final, Cambourne lifted his team onto the podium after he took the baton in sixth position.
The team of Cambourne, Jake Riches, Ollie Zevone and Ben Oakeshott finished barely half a second behind eventual winners Barker Public School with Sydney Grammar St Ives in second.
Coach Mick Connolly said the success on October 20 was one of the highlights of his teaching career with the team taking home the school's third medal in 26 years.
"It's hard to win medals at a state event, but every few years you get fast runners of the same age so it was exciting," he said.
"The boys won the Hastings District, Lower North Coast and North Coast titles so we knew we had a quick team."
Connolly admitted training was challenging because they didn't have an oval, but instead they trained in straight lines and on Stuart Park.
"The boys came second in their heat (in a time of) 53.34 seconds, then 53.94 in the semi and then 54.05 in the final."
All four of the boys started at Tacking Point Public School in kindergarten and this was their last chance at state level, all being in year six.
Cambourne knew he had some work to do after he took the baton from Riches with 100 metres to run.
"(My job) was just to bring it home and finish it off," he said.
"I was sixth when I took over and I was a bit worried, but then managed to gain some ground and then I thought I can do this in the final 20 metres.
"I just said 'let's just run fast' and over the final 20 metres I did that."
Riches said as one of the middle runners with Zevone, their job was to put Elias in a position to challenge right at the end.
In the end, their hours of training outside of school lunchtimes paid off.
"We did about an hour each week with Mr Connolly outside of school and he's a great coach," he said.
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