XAVIER College alumni Jacqueline Thring has continued to thrive in her athletics career since she moved to the United States earlier this year.

The 19-year-old was offered a track scholarship at the University of Mount Olive in North Carolina on the track and field team and has excelled ever since, breaking the school’s indoor 200m sprint
record.

She was also part of the record-breaking indoor distance medley relay team earlier this year, helping the university claim both the indoor and outdoor women’s conference championship for 2019.

Thring was delighted to have made an immediate impact.

“It feels pretty cool (holding the record),” she said.

“I’d only been there a few months, so that was great.

“Winning the conference championships, we had won it a few times before that, but it was a great atmosphere.”

Despite having to adjust to the lifestyle quickly, the Northern Districts Athletics Club senior member has loved life in America.

“It’s been real fun, I only finished year 12 properly a month and a half before heading over to the US…I’d never been over there before,” she said.

“I quite like it (Mount Olive), it’s a small community, everyone knows everyone and there’s small classes.”

The indoor and outdoor track and field seasons ran from January to May this year, and Thring said she’s loved the challenge.

“In competition season, we have our classes that go Monday to Friday and we train every day; we get one day off a week, and we compete every weekend,” she said.

“You have to catch any classes up that you miss.

“We go to different tracks each weekend.”

During her off-season, Thring has been training at home with Northern Districts, and said it was good to be back in Australia.

“I’ve definitely missed it,” she said.