ORMISTON'S Francesca Peacock is the new under 18 high jump national champion after cruising to a win at the National Track and Field Championships in Sydney this month.
The Moreton Bay College student, 16, jumped 1.74 metres to win the competition.
It was a triumphant moment for Peacock after her 2019 nationals hopes were quashed when she tore her anterior talo-fibular ligament two weeks before she was due to compete in Perth.
Then COVID-19 saw the competition cancelled in 2020.
Peacock said she had gone to Sydney not expecting a win.
"[In the lead-up] I was just training with my squad and focusing on technique as much as we could," she said.
"It wasn't completely serious, I wasn't going down there to win, we were just trying to get me to my best place possible."
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Her training paid off when she cleared each height on her first jump. Her winning height was an equal personal best, the same height that saw her tie for gold at the state competition in 2019.
"When I made the jump ... I felt on top of the world, I was euphoric," she said.
"When I got the medal and stood on the podium, the same one all the Olympians did, it still didn't quite set in that I was number one in Australia.
"My nanna was there and she was crying. All my little cousins were practicing high jump after watching the competition.
"[Coach Julian Konle] said he couldn't be more proud of me. Everyone was so supportive and kind."
Peacock's high jump career began about seven years ago in Little Athletics.
She urged young aspiring athletes to follow their passion.
"You're not going to get far doing something you don't love doing," she said.
"For high jumpers, I'd say it takes a long time to master techniques.
"It took me three years to actually get the Fosbury flop technique and that took a lot of patience. But you'll get there."
She set her goals high for 2021, saying she hoped to clear 1.77 metres.
"I felt like I was going to get it at Nationals but I think I must have been a bit tired," she said.
"But I'm going to do it."
Peacock said her training mates, Sophie Lillicrap and Olivia Luckensmeyer, who placed second and sixth respectively in the same competition, had been a great support to her.
She also thanked Moreton Bay College director of sport Susan Pavish, coach Julian Konle, former coach Nik Bojic, physiotherapist Kristy Petrie and her parents.