The championships were split into juniors and seniors, which took place on the weekends of March 20 and 21 and March 27 and 28 respectively.

BLA had children compete in a wide range of age groups, from the Under 9s all the way through to Under 17s.

Bowral's young athletes shone on the big stage, with Oscar LeGuay (first in Under 10 Boys 70m Sprint), Charlotte Withers (second in Under 12 Girls Javelin), and Drew Cooney (third in Under 10 Girls High Jump) the standouts.

There were also a number of top five finishes across both weekends, with even more athletes in the top ten of their age groups.

The lead-up to the state championships had been severely hampered by COVID-19, as the Zone Championships were cancelled. This forced many of the athletes to qualify for the Regional Championships by submitting their best times from local competitions.

So to have gone through so many tribulations and still produce such strong results thrilled club secretary Katie Blake.

"Considering the year that we had, with COVID and the amount of events we got to go to leading up to it ... our results were phenomenal," Blake said.

"All the kids put in so much effort and tried their hardest, and got the results for it."

Many of the junior athletes faced further challenges, as the first weekend of state championships were severely hampered by intense winds and heavy rainfall.

While a number of events were postponed, and some cancelled outright, many went ahead despite the poor conditions.

"The junior state weekend was that horrific weekend where it poured rain," Blake said.

"We had kids in torrential rain doing the 100m, the 400m, in just horrible conditions."

Following the club's success at the State Championships, Blake expects the confidence the athletes gained to roll on through the winter season.

"Last year they missed out on sport at school level, it just didn't happen. All the events got cancelled," Blake said.

"Kids coming off athletics have got their fitness, and they'll all be looking towards their school events now. There will be momentum, and some of these kids, you watch them at school level this year. They'll just fly."

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