Athlete excels in many disciplines

REPRESENTING Victoria is a feat Bendigo athlete Milanke Haasbroek has performed many times in the past year.

Whether it be cross-country running, track racing, aquathlon or modern pentathlon, Milanke has shone.

This week Milanke headed to Rockingham in Western Australia to contest School Sport Australia’s Aquathlon titles.

A testing event involved a one-kilometre run, 200-metre open water swim, and another one-kilometre run.

Her focus now switches to the Australian Pentathlon Multisport Championships in Toowoomba on 26 April.

Milanke will tackle the swimming, obstacle course and Laser Run disciplines.

Last month, she claimed the Victorian under-13 modern pentathlon in Ballarat.

After a 100-metre swim, a Laser Run of three x 300-metre runs and three x five-metre shoots, and an obstacle run, Milanke led the field. An introduction fencing component was not scored.

Milanke was on the Yarra Ranges athletics track in mid-March to compete at the Australian Laser Run Championships.

Her time after three runs across a 300-metre distance and three shooting segments at a five-metre range was 37 seconds under qualifying for the world titles in her age group. Milanke was 80 seconds clear of her nearest rival as she claimed her first national title in Laser Run.

In the past 12 months, the Bendigo University Athletics Club’s rising star has won a gold, a silver and two bronze medals at various national championship meets.

On the cross-country front, Milanke ran the three-kilometre at last year’s national titles on Symmons Plains in Launceston to be ninth. A highlight was a bronze medal in the under-12 teams category.

It’s a big commitment for parents Braam and Liezel as they juggle Milanke’s training for the many sports she is keen to try.

“With every race, every shot, and every competition, Milanke is rewriting expectations and setting new standards of excellence,” Braam said.