By Marc McGowan
ATHLETICS is definitely a family affair for Narre Warren’s Cox clan, as the Dandenong Little Athletics Centre Championships provided an emphatic reminder at Robert Booth Reserve last month.
Ashleigh, 15, and sister, Katelyn, 8, enjoyed a stellar two weekends of track and field action for Narre Warren Little Athletics Club as they pocketed four and six gold medals respectively.
Ashleigh also earned two silver medals as the talented youngsters competed against local clubs Hampton Park, Dandenong Districts, Rosewood Downs and St Gerard’s.
“I’d love to one day be a state gold medallist or make it to the Commonwealth Games,” she said.
The older sibling attempts to offer her guidance to Katelyn at times, but her fleet-footed sister is not always willing to take it on board.
“It’s pretty good having her around, but she doesn’t take my advice most of the time,” Ashleigh laughed.
Their father Geoff has been a coach at Narre Warren for seven years and encourages his daughters to remain in the sport.
“It’s always good to have kids involved in sport,” he said.
“I took up coaching because I wanted to make sure the kids were doing the right things at training.”
To complete the family infatuation with the sport, Geoff’s son, Ben, 17, also used to put on the spikes, but has now turned to Australian Rules football.
