Former Orange runner Connor Whiteley wins NSW State Championship event

The born and bred Orange athlete grew up trying to be a triple threat - swim, bike and run - with the Orange Triathlon Club and had varying levels of success.

But it wasn't until the now 23-year-old moved to Sydney for university that he decided he needed to focus his attention to one aspect in particular.

"It became apparent when I was getting up in the ranks that my swim wasn't where it needed to be if I wanted to keep racing triathlons at a high level," he said.

"Running I'd always done on the side and I've been achieving some good results over the last few years in that as well."

So he decided focus all of his attention into running and put the triathlon to the side.

"Obviously the run is the big part of the triathlon, so I was quite fortunate to be able to transfer that across as it was my strongest of the three disciplines," he said.

"It's definitely something I'd been thinking about for maybe 12 months or more before I made the decision. It definitely wasn't a decision that I made lightly, but it looks like it's been a good one so far."

You can say that again.

Whiteley - who only recently moved to Canberra to join a running club that includes the 30^th ranked 1500m runner in the world, Rorey Hunter - recently competed at the NSW State Championships where he bagged himself a victory to remember in the 5000m.

"Things have been a bit up and down with my form, so I suppose when you have a race that doesn't quite go your way, it lights a fire under you," he said.

"I really wanted to have a good one, so making sure my preparation was good, backing off my training enough to keep my legs fresh on the night and it seems like everything went the right way on this one race."

With about four laps to go, Whiteley found himself in a group of seven that had separated away from the pack.

Having then picked up the pace, it was Whiteley and one other who were vying for the title with 1200 metres to go.

"Heading into the last lap I went to the front. It wasn't until 250 metres to go that I started getting that gap," he said.

"I just had to pin the ears back, stay relaxed and absolutely go for it. I still had to run pretty hard to the line, but could also enjoy that last 100 metres as well."

Whiteley would finish the race with a time of 14 minutes and 16.44 seconds, ahead of Thomas Do Canto (14:17.93) and Harrison McGill (14:21.06).

With a state championship now on his list of accomplishments, Whiteley is turning his attention to Nationals in April.

"That's what I'll be focusing on for this season and then go overseas later in the year for some racing," he added.

"Who knows what next season might hold."

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