Victory to the big V at the Australia Cup

[pierrejean]

Victoria has taken out the annual Australia Cup meet in hot and blustery conditions at the Australian Institute of Sport to launch the five-meet Australian Athletics Tour for 2010.

Sixteen members of Australia’s 2009 world championships team hit the track for the first meet of the season, which saw two Commonwealth Games A-qualifiers posted on an action-packed afternoon.

In the long jump pit Berlin bronze medallist Mitchell Watt (Qld) commenced his 2010 campaign in style with his sixth Commonwealth Games A-qualifying performance and first for the new year.

Watt leapt 8.13m (w: 1.4) on his second attempt to take out the long jump title in emphatic fashion ahead of training partner Chris Noffke (Qld, 7.75m (w: 0.5)).

“It feels like it’s been a long time, I’ve been training well but you can’t really replicate a competition environment in training that well so the only way I’m going to jump further is just to keep competing,” Watt said.

Widely tipped to break Jai Taurima’s national record of 8.49m in 2010, Watt said achieving the record mark was not his major focus.

“I’m not the only one out there who could break it, Fabrice (Lapierre) could come close but if the conditions are good and I’ve got a few comps under my belt then who knows what could happen,” he said.

“(The record’s) not really my focus at the moment, I’ve got a long season and obviously I want to jump a lot further and if the record comes it comes.”

While it was the Victorians who took out the state-versus-state competition it was
in-form Western Australian representative Ben Offereins who stole the show, posting a new personal best, meet record and Commonwealth Games A-qualifying time in the men’s 400m.

Offereins crossed the line in 45.32 to eclipse the previous meet record of 45.87 set by Sean Wroe in 2001 and stake his claim for Commonwealth Games selection.

Running in lane seven Offereins stormed down the back straight and never looked back, holding off a late charge by Clay Watkins (SA) in a Commonwealth Games B-qualifier and personal best time of 45.92 and New South Wales athlete Joel Milburn (46.63) to take out the win.

Since bursting onto the scene as a member of the bronze medal-winning 4x400m relay team at the Berlin world championships in August Offereins has cemented himself as a force to be reckoned with on the national athletics circuit.

“There was a lot of competition out there today which was good,” Offereins said.

“It makes you run scared, usually I don’t have anyone keeping up behind me but I had Joel (Milburn) and Clay (Watkins) and all those sort of guys right on my bum so it helps bring that extra bit out and it’s always good running with those sort of guys.”

Offereins said he took confidence in his ability to match it with the country’s top runners from today’s race, his sights already set on cracking the elusive 45-second barrier.

“Everyone wants to crack 45 (seconds), everyone wants to be a 44-second runner. Joel’s lucky enough to be there and hopefully I can join him pretty soon.”

The winning Victorian team’s charge was led by Bola Lawal in the men’s 100m and track stalwart Tamsyn Lewis in the women’s 400m.

Lawal clocked 10.46 (w: -1.8) to take victory in the blue-riband sprint ahead of Carl Van der Speck (NZL, 10.74) and national record-holder Patrick Johnson (Qld, 10.76).

Lawal, a native Nigerian who was granted permanent Australian residency in 2009, said his sights were now set on lining up for the green and gold.

In the showdown between the four members of the women’s 4x400m world championships relay team it was track stalwart Tamsyn Lewis (Vic) who took line honours , the 15-time national champion stopping the clock at 52.41 to edge out Jody Henry (WA, 52.44) in the dying metres of the race. Fellow Flame athletes Pirrenee Steinert (NSW, 52.81) and Caitlin Pincott (Qld, 53.43) crossed the line in third and fourth places respectively, the podium finishers all hitting the B-qualifying mark.

In other highlights:

•      Dual Olympic medallist Jared Tallent(AIS) enjoyed a solid early-season hit-out ahead of the national race walking championships and Commonwealth Games selection trials in Hobart next month, clocking 19:08.81 in the 5000m walk ahead of AIS training partner Adam Rutter in 19:52.10. In the women’s field it was Claire Tallent (AIS) leading the charge with 22:22.58 ahead of Jillian Hosking (ACT) in 22:35.15.  
  

•      Target 2010 athlete Jacinta Boyd (Qld) posted a B-qualifier in the women’s long jump with 6.44m (w: 1.5).
  

•      Lauren Boden (ACT) stormed home in the women’s 400m hurdles to post her second B-qualifier, stopping the clock at 56.48.
  

•      Jump Start to London representative Laura Whaler edged out ACT local Melissa Breen in a photo finish in the women’s 100m. Whaler clocked 11.71 (w:-2.6), just ahead of Breen in 11.74.
  

•      Louise Ellery (ACT) posted a world record in the seated shot put event, becoming the first woman in the F32 classification to eclipse the six metre-mark with her heave of 6.09m.
  

The Australian Athletics Tour now moves north for the Brisbane Athletics Classic next Saturday, February 6, where world championships golden girl Dani Samuels will return to action alongside a host of the nation’s top track and field athletes in the race for Commonwealth Games glory.

ENDS

[kitkat1]

The 400m is once again pretty strong in Australia. There seems to be a recent tradition, going back to say the late 1970s, among the men - and back to the very start of international 400m racing for women. At the Tokyo Olympics when the women’s 400m was introduced, Australia’s Betty Cuthbert won gold (in 52.01 on a cinders track - pretty fine!) with Judy Amoore (Pollock) taking the bronze in 53.4sec. Britain’s Ann Packer (52.2). Since then the women have been inconsistent, with Raelene Boyle giving the 400m only one serious season, 1982, her swang song year when she won 400m gold at the Brisbane Commonwealth Games (PB 51.08). She in turn became a mentor and confidante to Cathy Freeman. Between Boyle and Freeman, there was Debbie Flintoff-King (50.78), Maree Holland (50.24 Seoul Olympics) and Renee Poetschka (50.19)…

[kitkat1]

CONGRATULATIONS YOUNGY: You got your man into the 45s. It’s a beautiful day

[Youngy]

Thanks KK, yep one target down still a few more to go, but it’s terrific to see six years of hard work culminate in a breakthrough like Saturday.

Yesterday, Clay reminded me of my ‘selling pitch’ in 2004 when he was a 17 year old promising fast bowler and I was on the phone trying to lure him to athletics and I said he had the ability of running into the 45.XX one day. At the time he had run 51 something, so it was a rather bold & risky long range forecast that finally came true.

46.43 to 45.95 - good to take a decent slice off the PB.

Now to get down to the sub 45.6 range…

btw, Offerins’ runs was super, conditions were not ideal yet he bolted away as if he had just joined in at the 300.

[kitkat1]

@Youngy

Thanks KK, yep one target down still a few more to go, but it’s terrific to see six years of hard work culminate in a breakthrough like Saturday.

Yesterday, Clay reminded me of my ‘selling pitch’ in 2004 when he was a 17 year old promising fast bowler and I was on the phone trying to lure him to athletics and I said he had the ability of running into the 45.XX one day. At the time he had run 51 something, so it was a rather bold & risky long range forecast that finally came true.

46.43 to 45.95 - good to take a decent slice off the PB.

Now to get down to the sub 45.6 range…

btw, Offerins’ runs was super, conditions were not ideal yet he bolted away as if he had just joined in at the 300.

Any info on how Ben trains would be of great interest if anyone knows. He’s looking like Australia’s next 44 performer.

But Youngy what do you think has made the difference to your man this season, which is still very new in Australia. The Oz nationals aren’t until mid-April I think.

[kitkat1]

Results Australia Cup - Canberra
2010 Australia Cup - 30/01/2010
AIS Athletics Track, Bruce, ACT

Team Scores - Open

Place Team Points

  1      Vic                                      VIC                       70.50
  2      Nsw                                      NSW                       67
  3      Qld                                      QLD                       65
  4      Nt/Wa                                    NTWA                      57
  5      Sa/Tas                                   SATA                      53
  6      Act                                      ACT                       3150
  7      Nzl                                      NZL                       29
  8      Best of the Rest                         BOR                       26
  9      Jump Start to London                     JSL                       17

Little Athletics

Place Team Points

  1      Qldla                                    QLDL                      81
  2      Nswla                                    NSWL                      73
  3      Wala                                     WALA                      58
  4      Actla                                    ACTL                      56
  5      Tasla                                    TASL                      54

Results

Mixed 1500 Metres Open Finals
1, Julian Dent, AACT, 4:01.67. 2, Brad White, AACT, 4:01.95. 3, Michael
Roeger, AACT, 4:03.21. 4, Bradley Scott, AACT, 4:26.24. 5, Andrew Whyte, AACT,
4:28.57. 6, Anna Neumaier, AACT, 4:35.20. 7, Sophie Greig, AACT, 4:50.29.

Boys Long Jump Little Athletics
1, Jonathon Legos, Nswla, 5.86m, w:NWI. 2, Robert Gray-Kaumbuthu, Actla,
5.78m, w:NWI. 3, Jaden Williams, Qldla, 5.72m, w:NWI. 4, Tongchai
Quartermaine, WALA, 5.51m, w:NWI. 5, Jordan Bennett, Tasla, 5.11m, w:NWI.

Girls Shot Put Little Athletics
1, Mia Cunningham, Qldla, 11.21m. 2, Claire McClenaghan, Tasla, 10.58m. 3,
Laura Andreazza, Nswla, 8.78m. 4, Jessica McPherson, Actla, 7.73m. 5, Lauren
Plati, WALA, 7.40m.

Mixed Javelin Throw Ambulant
1, Kelsey-Lee Roberts, ACT, 44.23m. 2, Wade McMahon F37, AIS, 38.01m. 3,
Jayden Sawyer F38, ACT, 35.27m. 4, Madeleine Hogan F46, VIS, 27.92m. 5, Brent
Todd F42, NSW, 26.70m.

Men 200 Metres Ambulant
(w: -2.8) 1, Evan O’hanlon T38, AIS, 22.76. 2, Heath Francis T46, AIS, 23.25.
3, Gabriel Cole T46, SA, 24.14. 4, Jon Bernard T12, QLD, 24.51. 5, Chris
Mullins T38, VIC, 25.65. 6, Mitchell Pink T38, NSW, 27.09. 7, Adam Cunningham
T37, ACT, 28.40.

Girls High Jump Little Athletics
1, Shannon O’dempsey, Qldla, 1.64m. 2, Erika Vredenbregt, Actla, 1.61m. 3,
Becky Clark, Nswla, 1.55m. 4, Amelia Cairns, WALA, 1.45m. 5, Rachelle Taylor,
Tasla, 1.25m.

Girls 400 Metres Little Athletics
1, Hannah Joye, Qldla, 60.63. 2, Andrea Berrell, Nswla, 60.99. 3, Breanna
Dixon, WALA, 61.12. 4, Tiffany Henricks, Tasla, 63.26. 5, Anthea Hoshovsky,
Actla, 68.38.

Boys 400 Metres Little Athletics
1, Alex Mould, Qldla, 52.68. 2, Christian Fobister, Actla, 54.12. 3, William
Richardson, Nswla, 54.34. 4, Jesse Way, WALA, 55.12. 5, Jordan Bennett, Tasla,
55.98.

Women 400 Metres Open
1, Tamsyn Lewis, VIC, 52.41. 2, Jody Henry, Nt/Wa, 52.44. 3, Pirrenee
Steinert, NSW, 52.81. 4, Caitlin Pincott, QLD, 53.43. 5, Danielle Taylor,
Sa/Tas, 54.19. 6, Angeline Blacburn, ACT, 58.66. --, Olivia Tauro, Best of the
Rest, DNF.

Men 400 Metres Open
1, Ben Offereins, Nt/Wa, 45.32. 2, Clay Watkins, Sa/Tas, 45.95. 3, Joel
Milburn, NSW, 46.63. 4, David Burke, VIC, 46.74. 5, Nick Boylett, QLD, 47.23.
6, James Dolphin, NZL, 47.50. 7, Derek Collinge, ACT, 49.23.

Mixed 800 Metres Handicap Open
1, Bob Chapman, AACT, 3:29.77. 2, Gary Maher, AACT, 3:33.14. 3, Tony Booth,
AACT, 3:38.21. 4, Greg Stretton, AACT, 3:38.31. 5, Amanda Walker, AACT,
3:39.56. 6, Paul Archer, AACT, 3:39.76. 7, Emma Adams, AACT, 3:40.66. 8, Heidi
Johnston, AACT, 3:41.09. 9, Bruce Graham, AACT, 3:41.75. 10, Rachelle
Ellis-Brownlee, AACT, 3:42.19. 11, Jim White, AACT, 3:42.47. 12, John Lamb,
AACT, 3:42.67. 13, Katie Forestier, AACT, 3:42.86. 14, Geoff Sims, AACT,
3:43.41. 15, Ken White, AACT, 3:44.57.

Men 800 Metres Open
1, Lachlan Renshaw, NSW, 1:49.18. 2, Alex Rowe, VIC, 1:50.54. 3, Werner Botha,
QLD, 1:51.35. 4, James Boden, Sa/Tas, 1:51.43. 5, Kale Symons, ACT, 1:52.20.
6, Richard Olsen, NZL, 1:52.28. 7, Justin Evans, JSL, 1:52.77. 8, Chris
deBoer, Nt/Wa, 1:53.47

Women Long Jump Open
1, Jacinta Boyd, QLD, 6.46m, w:4.9. 2, Jess Penney, ACT, 6.14m, w:3.4. 2,
Brooke Stratton, VIC, 6.14m, w:3.5. 4, Lauren Foote, Sa/Tas, 5.87m, w:1.9. 5,
Talissa Scott, NSW, 5.77m, w:-1.4. 6, Caryn Brett, Best of the Rest, 5.75m,
w:3.0. 7, Loughlyn Webb, Nt/Wa, 5.59m, w:1.6.

Women 100 Metres Wheelchair
(w: -1.1) 1, Jemima Moore, VIC, 18.76. 2, Madison DeRozario, WA, 18.85. 3,
Angie Ballard, Nswis, 19.10. 4, Sara Tait, QLD, 21.37.

Men 100 Metres Wheelchair
(w: -1.6) 1, Richard Nicholson, ACT, 15.56. 2, Sam Carter, QLD, 15.76. 3,
Alex Dupont , CAN, 15.86. 4, Jake Lappin, VIC, 16.34. 5, Kyle Shaw, CAN,
16.59. 6, Declan Young, NSW, 17.62. 7, Sam MacIntosh, VIC, 19.53.

Mixed Shot Put Ambulant
1, Jo Mirtshin Tba, ACT, 15.28m. 2, Russell Short F12, VIS, 14.50m. 3, Jayden
Sawyer F38, ACT, 9.96m. 4, Jodi Willis-Roberts F12, VIS, 9.67m. 5, Brent Todd
F42, NSW, 9.09m. 6, Katherine Proudfoot F36, AIS, 8.29m. 7, Noni Thompson F36,
VIC, 6.83m.

Boys Javelin Throw Little Athletics
1, Michael Taylor, Nswla, 44.90m. 2, Tarwyn Filipek, WALA, 41.56m. 3, Liam
Spannenburg, Qldla, 38.93m. 4, Thomas Gravina, Tasla, 37.90m. 5, Jacob
Mitchell, Actla, 26.53m.

Men 100 Metres Ambulant
(w: -5.6) 1, Evan O’hanlon T38, AIS, 11.81. 2, Heath Francis T46, AIS, 11.94.
3, Gabriel Cole T46, SA, 12.48. 4, Jon Bernard T12, QLD, 12.98. 5, Chris
Mullins T38, VIC, 13.31. 6, Mitchell Pink T38, NSW, 14.05. 7, Scott Reardon
T42, AIS, 14.57. 8, Adam Cunningham T37, ACT, 14.58.

Women 100 Metres C Race Open
(w: -0.2) 1, Jessica Knox, NSW, 11.96. 2, Angela Byrt, VIC, 12.15. 3, Bessie
Hayes, QLD, 12.26. 4, Shannon McCann, Nt/Wa, 12.30. 5, Stephanie Pollard, ACT,
12.36. 6, Bridgid Connolly, Sa/Tas, 12.76.

Women 100 Metres B Race Open
(w: -2.4) 1, Eloise Graf, Best of the Rest, 12.30. 2, Virginia Trad, QLD,
12.33. 3, Emma Freer, Sa/Tas, 12.43. 4, Ashleigh Whittaker, VIC, 12.49. 5,
Laura Verlinden, NSW, 12.53.

Girls 100 Metres Little Athletics
(w: -2.1) 1, Larissa Chambers, Qldla, 13.09. 2, Breanna Dixon, WALA, 13.11. 3,
Caitlin Newson, Tasla, 13.73. 4, Laura Andreazza, Nswla, 14.17. 5, Taylah
Allan, Actla, 14.50.

Men 100 Metres C Race Open
(w: -1.8) 1, Mathew Turk, VIC, 10.77. 2, Aaron Stubbs, QLD, 10.97. 3, Robbie
James, Sa/Tas, 11.03. 4, Jeffrey Thumath, NZL, 11.05. 5, Jared Bizoudenhout,
Nt/Wa, 11.20. 6, Ben Jaworski, Best of the Rest, 11.26.

Men 100 Metres B Race Open
(w: -0.8) 1, Keith Sheehy, NSW, 10.50. 2, Jake Hammond, Best of the Rest,
10.59. 3, Daniel Martin, VIC, 10.63. 4, Craig Bearda, NZL, 10.73. 5, Ray
Williams, JSL, 10.77. 6, Mitchell Zilm, Nt/Wa, 11.10. 7, Luke Storta, ACT,
11.26. --, Mark Ormrod, Sa/Tas, DNF. --, Matt Davies, QLD, DQ.

Boys 100 Metres Little Athletics
(w: -2.5) 1, James Quinn, Qldla, 11.85. 2, Jonathon Legos, Nswla, 12.42. 3,
Nicholas Laidler, WALA, 12.55. 4, Jake Dodge, Tasla, 12.76. 5, Harry Ingram,
Actla, 12.80.

Women High Jump Open
1, Petrina Price, NSW, 1.85m. 2, Ellen Pettitt, Nt/Wa, 1.85m. 3, Amy Pejkovic,
Best of the Rest, 1.76m. 4, Kaitlin Morgan, Sa/Tas, 1.65m. 5, Gabrielle
Howard, VIC, 1.65m. 6, Erika Vredenbregt, ACT, 1.60m. --, Kristen Truscott,
QLD, NH.

Women 100 Metres Open
(w: -2.6) 1, Laura Whaler, JSL, 11.71. 2, Melissa Breen, ACT, 11.74. 3,
Charlotte vanVeenendaal, NSW, 11.75. 4, Crystal Attenborough, Nt/Wa, 11.95. 5,
Caitlin Sargent, QLD, 11.99. 6, Jess Gulli, VIC, 12.00. 7, Larissa
Pasternatsky, Best of the Rest, 12.12. 8, Leanne Hodge, Sa/Tas, 12.38.

Men Triple Jump Open
1, Henry Frayne, VIC, 15.88m, w:0.2. 2, Josh Lumley, QLD, 15.59m, w:3.1. 3,
Tim McGuire, Sa/Tas, 14.81m, w:2.0. 4, Alex Jacenko, NSW, 14.53m, w:1.6. 5,
Vayios Koudamakis, Nt/Wa, 13.87m, w:2.3. 6, Ambrose Kilian, JSL, 13.52m,
w:2.7. 7, Robert Gray-Kambuthu, ACT, 11.98m, w:6.1.

Men 100 Metres Open
(w: -1.8) 1, Bola Lawal, VIC, 10.46. 2, Carl VanDerSpeck, NZL, 10.74. 3,
Patrick Johnson, QLD, 10.76. 4, Patrick Fakiye, NSW, 10.78. 5, Liam Gander,
JSL, 10.85. 6, Todd Bateman, Sa/Tas, 10.86. 7, Lucas Mata, Nt/Wa, 11.00. 8,
Sean Wroe, Best of the Rest, 11.02. 9, Brendan Matthews, ACT, 11.13.

Mixed Shot Put Seated
1, Hamish MacDonald F34, ACT, 8.71m. 2, Damien Bowen F34, Actas, 8.56m. 3,
Louise Ellery F32, Actas, 6.09m.

Men 5000 Metres Race Walk Invitation Open
1, Jared Tallent, AIS, 19:08.81. 2, Adam Rutter, AIS, 19:52.10. 3, David
Mejia, MEX, 19:56.23. 4, Adrian Herrera, MEX, 19:59.41. 5, Ato Ibáñez, SWE,
20:12.16. 6, Dane Bird - Smith, QRWC, 20:21.69. 7, Ian Rayson, Nswis,
20:46.15. 8, Brendon Reading, ACT, 21:11.87. 9, Darren Bown, SA, 21:14.05. 10,
Sean Fitzsimons, AIS, 21:36.51. 11, Derek Mulhearn, NSW, 21:42.67. 12, Rhydian
Cowley, VIC, 21:46.95. 13, Blake Steele, SA, 22:06.09. 14, Michael Reading,
AIS, 24:05.64. 15, Steven Washburn, NSW, 25:10.31.

Women 5000 Metres Race Walk Invitation Open
1, Claire Tallent, AIS, 22:22.58. 2, Jillian Hosking, ACT, 22:35.15. 3, Kellie
Wapshott, AIS, 22:54.91. 4, Cheryl Webb, Nswis, 23:04.26. 5, Beki Lee, JSL,
23:36.56. 6, Nicole Fagan, NSW, 23:49.70. 7, Beth Alexander, VIC, 24:36.84.
–, Amy Burren, VIC, DNF. --, Regan Lamble, AIS, DNF.

Men Javelin Throw Open
1, Stuart Farquhar, NZL, 81.11m. 2, Matt Outzen, Best of the Rest, 71.77m. 3,
Hamish Peacock, Sa/Tas, 71.57m. 4, Ben Baker, NSW, 71.25m. 5, Ashley Hollins,
QLD, 67.91m. 6, Mark Sheehan, Nt/Wa, 65.49m. 7, Iain Simmons, VIC, 64.47m. 8,
Jari Talka, ACT, 59.76m. 9, Dylan Risk, JSL, 56.83m.

Girls 1500 Metres Little Athletics
1, Naomi Fitzpatrick, Qldla, 5:07.10. 2, Katherine Audsley, WALA, 5:15.19. 3,
Naomi Stewart, Actla, 5:22.70. 4, Riana Drake, Nswla, 5:38.32. 5, Rachelle
Taylor, Tasla, 5:53.57.

Boys 1500 Metres Little Athletics
1, Charlie Hunter, Nswla, 4:39.73. 2, Reuben Caley, Actla, 4:43.60. 3, Matt
Albert, Qldla, 4:54.99. 4, Elliot Goldstone, WALA, 4:55.22. 5, Nicholas
Bennett, Tasla, 5:21.60.

Women 1500 Metres Open
1, Kaila McKnight, VIC, 4:21.07. 2, Holly Noack, Nt/Wa, 4:24.50. 3, Margie
Atthow, QLD, 4:25.90. 4, Jenny Blundell, NSW, 4:27.85. 5, Melanie Daniels,
Sa/Tas, 4:29.06. 6, Andrea Ilakovac, ACT, 4:35.53. --, Noni Cooper, Best of
the Rest, DNF.

Men Long Jump Invitation Open
1, Mitchell Watt, QLD, 8.13m, w:1.4. 2, Chris Noffke, QLD, 7.75m, w:0.5. 3,
Mark Howard, NSW, 7.69m, w:1.2. 4, Shaun Fletcher, QLD, 7.60m, w:3.0. 5, Zane
Leonard, VIC, 7.53m, w:2.4. 6, Ryan Roselli, NZL, 7.30m, w:1.1. 7, Jeffrey
Thumath, NZL, 7.14m, w:1.8. 8, Daniel Egan, NSW, 6.94m, w:2.1. 9, Thomas
Soliman, NSW, 6.68m, w:1.4.

Women 400 Metres Hurdles Invitation Open
1, Lauren Boden, ACT, 56.48. 2, Jess Gulli, VIC, 61.37. 3, Lisa Celi, NSW,
61.66. 4, Bianca Mignot, VIC, 62.25. 5, Catherine Brown, QLD, 62.82. 6, Tarin
Nevin, ACT, 63.46.

Men 400 Metres Hurdles Invitation Open
1, Brendan Cole, ACT, 50.96. 2, Sasha Alexeenko, QLD, 52.43. 3, Danny
Brandwood, Best of the Rest, 52.96. 4, Felipe De Castro Cruz, WAIS, 53.59. 5,
Daniel O’Shea, NZL, 54.00. 6, Alex Carew, VIC, 55.01. 7, Nick Kalivati, NZL,
56.22.

Mixed Discus Throw Ambulant
1, Russell Short F12, VIS, 41.53m. 2, Jodi Willis-Roberts F12, VIS, 33.66m. 3,
Shayne Allen F12, NSW, 23.56m. 4, Katherine Proudfoot F36, AIS, 22.50m. 5,
Noni Thompson F36, VIC, 17.37m.

Girls 4x100 Metres Relay Little Athletics
1, Qldla ‘A’ (Hannah Joye , Mia Cunningham , Shannon O’dempsey , Larissa
Chambers ), 52.26. 2, Nswla ‘A’ (Becky Clark , Riana Drake , Andrea Berrell ,
Laura Andreazza ), 52.85. 3, Tasla ‘A’ (Claire McClenaghan , Caitlin Newson ,
Rachelle Taylor , Tiffany Henricks ), 55.06. 4, Actla ‘A’ (Anthea Hoshovsky ,
Naomi Stewart , Erika Vredenbregt , Taylah Allan ), 56.04. --, Wala ‘A’
(Amelia Cairns , Lauren Plati , Katherine Audsley , Breanna Dixon ), DQ.

Boys 4x100 Metres Relay Little Athletics
1, Wala ‘A’ (Jesse Way , Nicholas Laidler , Tongchai Quartermaine , Tarwyn
Filipek ), 47.16. 2, Qldla ‘A’ (Alex Mould , Jaden Williams , Liam Spannenburg
, James Quinn ), 48.58. 3, Tasla ‘A’ (Nicholas Bennett , Jake Dodge , Thomas
Gravina , Jordan Bennett ), 49.11. 4, Nswla ‘A’ (Michael Taylor , William
Richardson , Charlie Hunter , Jonathon Legos ), 49.65. --, Actla ‘A’ (Harry
Ingram , Robert Gray-Kaumbuthu , Jacob Mitchell , Christian Fobister ), DQ.

Men 400 Metres Wheelchair
1, Alex Dupont , CAN, 50.17. 2, Richard Nicholson, ACT, 50.48. 3, Matthew
Cameron, QLD, 52.18. 4, Kyle Shaw, CAN, 52.47. 5, Sam Carter, QLD, 53.42. 6,
Jake Lappin, VIC, 53.44. 7, Declan Young, NSW, 64.18. 8, Sam MacIntosh, VIC,
77.42.

Women 4x100 Metres Relay Open
1, Qld ‘A’ (Jacinta Boyd , Caitlin Sargent , Virginia Trad , Bessie Hayes ),
45.64. 2, Nsw ‘A’ (Laura Verlinden , Jessica Knox , Talissa Scott , Charlotte
vanVeenendaal ), 46.24. 3, Nt/Wa ‘A’ (Loughlyn Webb , Shannon McCann , Jody
Henry , Crystal Attenborough ), 46.91. 4, Vic ‘A’ (Angela Byrt , Tamsyn Lewis
, Jess Gulli , Ashleigh Whittaker ), 46.95. 5, Sa/Tas ‘A’ (Emma Freer , Leanne
Hodge , Lauren Foote , Bridgid Connolly ), 47.44. 6, Best of the Rest ‘A’
(Larissa Pasternatsky , Eloise Graf , Caryn Brett , Amy Pejkovic ), 48.14.

Men 4x100 Metres Relay Open
1, Nzl ‘A’ (Carl VanDerSpeck , Craig Bearda , Jeffrey Thumath , James Dolphin
), 40.04. 2, Qld ‘A’ (Patrick Johnson , Matt Davies , Nick Boylett , Aaron
Stubbs ), 40.41. 3, Vic ‘A’ (Bola Lawal , Mathew Turk , Daniel Martin , David
Burke ), 40.58. 4, Nt/Wa ‘A’ (Lucas Mata , Mitchell Zilm , Jared Bizoudenhout
, Ben Offereins ), 41.27. 5, Best of the Rest ‘A’ 41.49. 6, Sa/Tas ‘A’ (Todd
Bateman , James Boden , Robbie James , Clay Watkins ), 41.68. 7, Nsw ‘A’
(Keith Sheehy , Alex Jacenko , Joel Milburn , Patrick Fakiye ), 42.83.

Mixed Javelin Throw Seated
1, Damien Bowen F34, Actas, 24.16m. 2, Louise Ellery F32, Actas, 10.87m.

[Youngy]

KitKat wrote: “Youngy what do you think has made the difference to your man this season, which is still very new in Australia. The Oz nationals aren’t until mid-April I think.”

I think the trip to to Europe for the World Uni Games has helped accelerate Clay’s progress.

He ran 46.46 at the nationals in March to get a berth in the Uni team and it compelled us to employ another periodisation for the winter instead of doing our traditional winter prep.

It also exposed Clay to high class competition where he ran a PB of 46.43 (Velenje) and became a massive motivation for the 09/10 summer season.

He didn’t have a big break after the Uni Games so we specifically prepared for a return in November and has been able to build on previous seasons’ gains.

We still stick to a short to long program where Clay does not go beyond 120m until into the early stages of the comp phase.

We have done a few more split quarters (200/200 with a 90s break) sessions with his times (combined for the two runs) dropping into the sub 45s range which gave us the impression he could go around 46 low. It appears he has got the differential down to about 1sec., which indicates a strong lactic tolerance.

That was his 3rd 400m this season -
Nov 14 - 46.75
Jan 14 - 46.69
Jan 30 - 45.95

This time last year Clay was running 46.90 and ended up with 46.46 at the nationals in March. With an April nationals we will probably go a little heavy for a couple of weeks before we get into solid race mode. Can’t predict what will happen, but I certainly hope and will work to ensure the 45.95 is not his best time this summer - with the quality of 400m runners in the running for the CG, 45.95 won’t guarantee a relay spot.

[kitkat1]

Your man is also in 200m PB form I think I read somewhere. 21.1? Or faster? That gives him some speed reserve to get through the first part of his race without suffering.

What is your toughest session, in your view?

[Youngy]

The 21.12 PB was on Wednesday 27th Jan and the 45.95 PB on 30th Jan.

Hard to say what is the toughest session. One he complained of more than most in terms of soreness was the 12 x 60’s (2x 6) we did two Sundays back. All off the blocks with a walk back between reps 15 min break between sets.

Recently in reasonably hot conditions we did 2 x 200/200 with 90s between reps and 15 mins between sets (each rep flat out) followed by another flat out 200 - left a few struggling. Doesn’t sound much but when they are flat to the boards it does take some serious condition to do them with a 1.5s differential.

12 x 120’s (2x6 in a 50/20/50 format) all off the blocks is probably toughest in the general prep. They’re all 100% with athletes basically racing every rep.

Apart from a 300m trial or the occasional 300/150 is as far as he goes in a single or split rep.

[kitkat1]

Kevin Moore, one of the NSWIS 400m project guys, did 350m, 320m, 300m at 400m race pace off 8mins and had blood lactate readings done last weekend. The physiologist said it was the first time he had recorded a reading above 20mm/l. He liked the session, but I don’t think Kevin did. LOL

[Youngy]

Decent run by the 19 year old Kevin Moore on the weekend.

ANSW Sydney All-Comers
30/01/10

Men 400 metre A Grade
1 2662 Moore, Kevin Min (Mingara) 47.38
2 287 Macfarlane, Iain (Please Selec) 47.60
3 1972 Gurr, James (Uts North) 47.84
4 2152 Stevens, Samuel (Sydney Uni) 48.36
5 2003 Smellie, Martin (Sydney Pacific) 48.48
6 1974 Garrett, Tristan (Uts North) 48.53
7 2602 Duncan, Morgan (Please Selec) 48.61
8 668 Roff, James (Randwick Botany Harriers) 48.67

[John]

@Youngy

Yesterday, Clay reminded me of my ‘selling pitch’ in 2004 when he was a 17 year old promising fast bowler and I was on the phone trying to lure him to athletics and I said he had the ability of running into the 45.XX one day. At the time he had run 51 something, so it was a rather bold & risky long range forecast that finally came true.

You must be quite a salesman as a promising Aussie paceman choosing athletics over cricket is a BIG call.

Congrats on how things are going and keep up the good work.

[DMA]

Well Done Youngy. great run.