Nazzy makes her mark on the track

Since Nazzarine “Nazzy” Payne laced-up her running shoes in 2025, she has accelerated in the sport with a range of strong results across mid and long distance races. While at Parkes Public School, Nazzy decided to give cross country a go, where she proved to be a strong competitor, reaching all the way to Western Region without any formal running training. Nazzy backed this up in the shorter distances when she competed at the school athletics carnival, winning the 100m, 800m and 1500m. She won all three events again at the Lachlan carnival, qualifying for Western Region athletics where she continued to produce several fast-paced results. Nazzy finished second in the 1500m, third in the 800m and fifth in the 100m final. These results earned her qualification for the state championships in both the 800m and 1500m where she gained valuable experience competing against some of the best runners in the state. After a whirlwind-year, Nazzy began training more formally with the help of her dad Marc Payne, Dubbo-based coach Mark Penman and Parkes Running Group founder Sarah Hartin. Nazzy later joined Parkes Little Athletics and transferred to Holy Family Catholic School to be closer to the friends she trains and competes with. Marc said Nazzy's training sessions with Penman, Hartin and himself have involved combining speed, endurance, hills and running technique. "Training and competing alongside her friends have also been a big part of her journey," he said. Marc said this year has brought some wonderful achievements across both cross country and track. "Nazzy progressed through the school cross country pathway to win the Polding championship, completing the 2km course in seven minutes 45 seconds," he said. "She then finished seventh at the NSW Cross Country Championships and was named first reserve for the NSW team for nationals." At the NSW level Nazzy represented Polding in the 1500m and 800m races, placing sixth in both. Nazzy broke both the 800m and 1500m records at school, cluster and diocesan level. Among those achievements was breaking a 26-year-old school record in the 1500m at Holy Family. Nazzy was named joint junior girls age champion at the Polding athletics championships and won both the 800m and 1500m, recording times of 2.35.50 minutes and 5.20.63 minutes respectively. Both of these results were personal bests at the time. She represented Polding at state level, along with several other students from Holy Family last week, including Jack Burt, Nate Calabro, Arlo Cassidy, Emrys Cassidy, Dave Jeffress and Hayden Jones. Emrys has also been a stand-out performer (stay tuned for his story to come), and Nate was named Polding's senior boys champion. Nazzy finished in sixth place in both the 1500m and 800m and set a new personal best of 5.18 minutes in the 1500m. Marc said along with competing in Little Athletics and school competitions, Nazzy has tackled the Mudgee 5km, which was a highlight. It was during this run Nazzy broke the record for her age group with a time of 19.35 minutes and was the first female across the finish line. Marc said he is proud of how far Nazzy has come since deciding to give cross country a go last year. "It has been lovely watching her develop, build friendships through running and earn opportunities to represent her school and community." Looking forward, Nazzy will be competing in the Western Plains Zone Championship this weekend where she is entered in the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m. This will be followed by the Carcoar 1.8km fun run on 8 November.