THE golden glow of athletics success throughout the summer season has continued to rub off on Ballarat athletes as the medals keep on flowing at the Australian Track and Field Championship.
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On the back of Riley Shillito's gold medal winning performance in the under-15s 2000m steeplechase, a host of other Ballarat athletes have also carved their own name in gold.
One of those that has shown remarkable improvement is high jumper Lachlan O'Keefe who won the under-18s high jump with a leap of 2.15m.
That jump secured O'Keefe a qualifying mark for the World Junior Championships later this year and fell just two centimetres short of the national age record set in 2006.
O'Keefe only needed to jump 2.08m to secure the gold, which he achieved on his second jump. He then upped the bar to the 2.15m, which he again cleared on his second attempt.
However, his attempt at the national age record of 2.18 fell agonisingly close, just failing to clear the bar on all three attempts.
Another high jump gold medal was secured by Yual Reath who secured gold when he jumped 2.20m on his second attempt in the open men event. Reath was one of four competitors still alive in the competition when the bar was lifted, but he was the only one to clear it.
Reath then lifted the bar to 2.26. in a hope of continuing his bid for a world championship qualifying height of 2.33m, but his three attempts at 2.26m were unsuccessful.
Fraser Saunder continued his meteoric rise in race walking, winning by more than five minutes in the under-20, 10,000m walk.
Saunder finished in a time of 47 minutes 15.49 seconds.
Ballarat YCW member Sam Rizzo was crowned the national champion within the Open Men Wheelchair 1500m, taking home gold in a time of 3 minutes 48.60 seconds.
Daisy Sudholz came away a national champion in the under-17 Women 1500m event finishing in a time of 4 minutes 29.22 seconds.
Sudholz took control early in the race and finished in front within a competitive field.
On Sunday, Sudholz took out the gold in the under017 Women 3000m event in a blistering time of 9 minutes 48.07 seconds
Along with Sudholz, Wendouree Athletics Club member Archie Caldow also came home a national champion after winning gold in the under-17 Men 3000m with a time of 8 minutes 36.77 seconds
Caldow took home the silver in the 1500m but has followed up with an impressive and gritty performance in the 3000m to take the gold.
