This will be the first time Ivy has competed at national level.

"It's the first time I had to travel to a major meet as well,'' the 14-year-old said.

Ivy, who is in her third year of athletics, will contest the under 15 girls javelin and the 90 metre hurdles. She won the javelin at the recent state championship held in Sydney while she was fourth in the hurdles, however, her time was inside the qualifying standards for the nationals.

Ivy is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sport Award winner for this week. She earns a $50 voucher from long-term sponsor, Iguana.

Ivy rounded off preparations for her trip to Adelaide by claiming a bronze medal in the under 14 girls javelin at the Little Athletics NSW Championships in Sydney. Throwing a 400 gram javelin, her effort of 34.77m beat her previous best by a metre.

At the state junior titles Ivy won the under 15 javelin with a throw of 34.59m, using a 500g javelin for only the third time. This was three metres better than her previous PB.

"The javelin is my best chance in Adelaide,'' she said. "But the competition is going to be very tough. I'm going to have to improve to get a medal, but I don't think I'm that far off.''

Ivy admits to being 'a little bit nervous' about making her debut at the nationals.

"I'm really excited too,'' she quickly added.

Her success at state has been the highlight so far of what has been a strong season. At the regional championships held in heat wave conditions at Tamworth in February, Ivy won the under 14 girls 200m hurdles, javelin and triple jump. She also managed silver medals in the discus and senior 100m relay and two bronze medals in the long jump and 80m hurdles.

Ivy trains two or three times a week under the guidance of her aunt, Jenny Wyllie, who is also the Taree club coach.

While she shows promise in a number of disciplines, Ivy nominates the javelin as her favourite.

She currently mixes athletics and netball commitments. A member of the Manning Valley Netball's under 14 representative side, Ivy has already contested one carnival as part of preparation for the state championships to be held in Sydney in July.

Ivy is a goal keeper and goal defence. She plays for Taree City in the Manning competition, which gets underway on Saturday, April 6.

She admits to having divided loyalties when it comes to netball and athletics.

"I've been playing netball for nearly 10 years, but athletics has a really nice community,'' she said. "I like them both.''