A Werribee shot put and hammer thrower is heading all the way to the US on a college scholarship.
Julia Bourke has been offered a four-year scholarship to Illinois State University, where she will study nursing and compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s division one competition.
The 18-year-old, who has competed in state and national athletics events, was contacted by a recruitment agency earlier this year.
She said she had spent a large part of the year fielding interest from a number of US universities.
“I had about 10 or 12 universities that I was speaking to initially, then I narrowed it down a bit,” she said.
“[Illinois State] has consistently good results. They’ve had some really impressive athletes over the last few years who have continued to produce good results even after they’ve left uni. I spoke to the coach and we got on well, and it seemed like it would be a good fit.”
Julia, who has just completed year 12 at Bacchus Marsh Grammar, won’t take up her scholarship until August next year. In the meantime, she plans to work and train.
She says she’s excited to have been selected and is looking forward to the challenge.
“We went over there in June to visit the uni, have a look around and meet the coaches and stuff.
“It was an official visit and I sort of got the feeling they were pretty interested,” she said.
