Lerew captures first place at Australia track and field competition

Weiser High School senior Kailee Lerew earned first place in the 400m race at the 2024 Coast 2 Coast International Athletics track and field meet held in Gold Coast, Australia in July.  

She also placed first in the 4x100 and second in her mixed 4x400.  

 “It was definitely worth going,” she told the Signal American Sept. 5. “I met a lot of incredible athletes from the United States, a lot of really cool people, really nice people.”  

 Coast 2 Coast is a national organization that brings together top athletes from around the country, exposing them to international competition.   

 July’s event was held at the 2000 Olympic Training Facility in Gold Coast.  

 Kailee was selected by Coast 2 Coast among athletes from across the country to compete with Team USA, consisting of a total of 78 U.S. athletes, and was exposed to coaches from U.S. colleges and universities.  

 She was invited based on her qualifying standard in the 400m race with the WHS track team, winning the 3A State 400m championship title her sophomore and junior seasons. She also placed second in the 200m and first place with her teammates in the sprint medley and second in the 4x100 during last year’s state championship meet.  

 In Australia, Kailee ran against some of the best runners in the world.  However, her 400 event was different than expected.  

 “My age group didn’t have a lot of kids, actually,” she said, expressing some disappointment that her greatest challenger disqualified at the start of the race. “There were eight of us and my biggest competition false started, so I really didn’t have a lot of people to push me. They were there for a little ways, but then I just kind of ran away from them.”  

 She had three days to practice handoffs for the 4x100 and 4x400.  

 “We started simple, slow handoffs, just walking and then we would jog and eventually got to full speed,” Kailee said. “But we ran really well and our handoffs were really good for only having three days of practice and just meeting each other, too. The coaches were really nice, so they made you feel really comfortable.”  

 It was also perfect running weather.   

 Since Australia was in its winter season at the time, the temperature hovered in the high 60s and low 70s, she said.  

 Kailee’s dad Jon Lerew, who is a WSD board trustee, noted that she ran against competitors from all over the world through local programs that recruit and train them.  

 “We had teams from Australia and New Zealand, but the thing about Australian and New Zealand teams is that they have a program where a bunch of athletes from around the world actually move to Australia and participate in their track program,” he explained. “So, she ran against kids from South Africa, Japan … the list of international competition is huge, kids who will be running at the world junior Olympics in Peru at the end of this month, so it was a good group of international kids.”  

 Kailee was accompanied by dad Jon and mom Karlee, but it wouldn’t have happened without donations made by the community at large and even beyond.  

 “We told Kailee if she was going to go, she needed to work hard to raise funds for herself and one parent and she received funding from generous donors here locally, as well as family all across the U.S.” said Jon, who moved with his family to Weiser from Washington in 2020. “The donations actually covered both Karlee and Kailee’s trip … it was amazing and just super generous.”  

 Karlee was likewise stunned at the response.  

 “We were amazed by the support of our family, friends and community,” she said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”  

 Kailee added, “There were so many people that were so generous and we were very blessed. They were very, very giving and I’m very grateful.”  

 While there, the Lerews took some time to see the sights in Sydney, as well as Surfers Paradise, a suburb in the city of Gold Coast, Queensland. They also visited a wildlife sanctuary where they were able to pet kangaroos and hold koalas.  

 “It was kind of different because you go to zoos here and a lot of the animals are in cages, and they have quite a few animals in cages, but the kangaroos were just hopping around and there were lemurs and you could go pet them if you wanted to.”  

 She noted that the koalas were very calm, but much heavier than she expected.  

 “They are a solid animal,” she said, chuckling.  

 Her overall impressions of Australia seemed very favorable.  

 “Honestly, besides the birds … the birds are very different and some of the animals and the trees … it felt like home. It was very inviting and the people were very nice.”  

 “The Gold Coast was filled with God’s awesome creation,” Karlee beamed. “The deep blue ocean, soft sand, beautiful sunrises and the upside-down moon were breathtaking.”