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Australian All Schools Wrap: Solomon Sizzles

posted by rtchris on December 6, 2010, 7:44pm

by Chris Wainwright

In one of the biggest competitions on the Australian track and field calendar, hundreds of school age athletes converged on the Doncaster Athletic complex in Melbourne for the Australian All-School Championships. Athletes were greeted with warm humid conditions over the weekend of athletics action, with the temperature being consistently in the high 20’s with mostly sunny skies.

For many of the athletes it was a great opportunity to post important World Youth qualifiers for the World Youth Championships next year in Lille, France. Other athletes were looking forward to just simply producing personal best performances and placing their names in the record books. In the end we were treated to multiple World Youth qualifiers and some fantastic record breaking performances.

Solomon Stuns the Crowd with the Performance of the Meeting

Although there were many great performances across the two days of competition, there was one performance that stunned many in the crowd – Steve Solomon’s win in the boy’s U/18 400m event. His time of 46.44sec was simply stunning, eclipsing the previous meeting record of 47.13sec set by Miles Murphy way back in 1983 and moving Solomon to no.2 on the World U/18 ranking list.

Considering that Murphy went onto win the 1986 World Junior Championships there are some high expectations of what Solomon can achieve over the next two years. In 1986 Murphy produced a 45.64sec performance in Athens to take home the gold, a time that Solomon would now see as a goal and not just a dream.

Solomon started to show his true talent in a lead up event for the World Junior Championships in Canada this year, when he produced a 47.03sec in a meeting in Richmond, Canada. Although he didn’t compete in the individual 400m at the World Juniors he did help the Australian 4x400m team to a 4^th placing in the heats, just missing out on a spot in the final.

After earlier in the year placing 3^rd at the Australian Junior Championships (47.77sec), Solomon could now start to mix it with the senior 400m athletes in 2011. Although still only 17 years of age there is no doubting that Solomon can produce a few upsets over the remainder of the domestic season.

Watch Solomon's win in the boys U/18 400m below:

Clarke Flies to More Records on the Track

It’s hard to believe that a 15 year-old running 10.72sec is overshadowed at a athletics meeting, but that was the case for junior sprint sensation Josh Clarke. In a weekend that he won’t forget in a hurry, the NSW teenager produced a 10.74sec (+1.3m/s) heat run followed by an even faster 10.72sec (+0.1m/s) run in the boy’s U/16 100m final.

The performances broke the 1998 meeting record of 10.79sec held by David Pearson – who was also the Australian U/16 record holder. That was until Clarke stepped onto the track on a perfect day for sprinting, using the warm conditions to power away to an impressive victory and new Australian U/16 record.

View Clarke's Record Breaking Performance Below:

Clarke had entered the meeting with limited sub 11 second performances, so his 10.72sec was certainly a shock to many in the crowd. It now moves Clarke into contention for a spot on the Australian team for the World Youth Championships, joining Jarrod Geddes (who was 3^rd in the U/18 boys event) and Hugh Donovan from Queensland (who was absent from the weekends action, but has run 10.68sec this year) with qualifying performances.

A Host of World Youth Qualifiers

Joining Clarke on the list of World Youth qualifiers for Lille next year were:

· Emily Crutcher (high jump – 1.81m)

· Daniel McConnell (hammer throw – 55.64m, also a meeting record and adds to her already numerous qualifying performances)

· Monique Cilione (javelin throw – 47.83m)

· Sarah Ferrier (long jump – 6.08m (+1.3m/s), also took out the U/16 girls triple jump – 12.32m (+0.1m/s))

· Jarryd Buchan (400m – 48.41sec, 2^nd to Solomon in the boys U/18 event)

· Timas Harik (800m – 1.51.82, just edged out Jesse Beadman 1.52.23 PB)

· Jenny Blundell (800m – 2.07.44, just outside her PB of 2:06.57)

· Sarah Carli (400m hurdles – 60.52sec, smashed her previous PB of 61.67sec)

· Elliott Lang (javelin throw – 73.77m, upset another qualifier in Luke Cann (71.89m) (note: Cann went onto throw 77.38m at the Schools Knockout competition on the 6th December, which was only 40cm's away from breaking the Australian U/18 javelin record)

Other Top Performances

The other notable performances from the weekend of track and field action were:

· Amy Pejkovic – defeating Crutcher on a count back in the girls U/18 high jump, clearing 1.81m

· Brooke Stratton – holding off a flying finish from World Youth Olympic medalist, Michelle Jenneke – 13.96sec to 14.10sec (-1.6m/s). Stratton also produced a PB of 13.70sec (+1.9m/s) in the heats

· Damian Birkenhead – just missed his own Australian U/18 shot put record of 21.31m, throwing 21.28m to break the meeting record of 20.77m (Rhys Jones – 1998)

· Kate Spencer – broke the 7 minute mark in the girls U/16 2000m steeplechase (6.59.08)

· Hana Basic – narrowly defeated Brooke Pires-Parenzee in the girls U/16 100m – 11.92sec to 11.93sec (+0.3m/s). Sophie Taylor also broke 12 seconds in the final (11.97sec)

· Ben Jaworski – ran a very fast 10.58sec (+0.5m/s) 100m in the boys U/18 event, defeating Simon Greig (10.66sec) and Geddes (10.81sec). Also won the 200m in 21.76sec (+0/1m/s)

· Jonathon Coatsee – cleared 2.15m in the boys U/18 high jump, and also had three quality attempts at 2.21m.

2011 and Beyond

There is no doubt that we are going to see some the above mentioned athletes move onto bigger and better things in 2011 and beyond, with athletes such as Jenny Blundell, Timas Harik and Sarah Ferrier all names to keep an eye out for over the coming years.

It was great to see such quick times in the sprint events, but it was also impressive to see some quality field performances from the likes of Damien Birkenhead and Jonathon Coetsee. It all points to an interesting year for our junior athletes as they head towards France for the World Youth Championships and beyond. Watch out Steve Hooker, Sally Pearson and co., here comes the next generation of superstars of Australian track and field!

Tags: 2010 Australian All School Championships, Steve Solomon, Jenny Blundell, Josh Clarke, Amy Pejkovic, Ben Jaworski, Damien Birkenhead, Timas Harik, Brooke Stratton, Sarah Ferrier
Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on December 7, 2010, 12:46am

Junior Stars Shine in Hobart

posted by rtchris on December 8, 2009, 12:53am

by Chris Wainwright

The Australian All-Schools Championships is always an exciting part of the Australian track and field calendar, with the future stars of Australian athletics on show.

This year we headed down to Hobart for the 24^th edition of the Championships, and with so many talented athletes competing it was always going to be another memorable meeting. Over the five days of competition it is always difficult to single out any one athlete or any one performance, so instead I have chosen my top-5 athletes from the meeting.

1. Chloe Jamieson – simply put Jamieson was the star athlete of the meeting. At only 15 years of age Jamieson destroyed her opposition and even stunned her coach, Matt Beckenham, with her amazing performances. Firstly she moved into the top-50 on the Australian all-time ranking lists for the 400m hurdles, with a sizzling 59.66sec victory in the U/17 final. The result smashed her training partners’ championship record of 60.85sec, set by Lauren Boden in 2004, and was only a matter of 0.16sec away from being a qualifying time for next year’s World Junior Championships.

Although any athlete would be content with such a performance, Jamieson had earlier set the track on fire with an Australian record in the 200m hurdles. Having already broken the record at the NSW All-Schools Championships, Jamieson was always confident of lowering it even further and she didn’t disappoint. She ran 27.50sec (+0.0) in her heat and then 27.27sec (-2.5) in the final to again dominate her rivals (and again smash the previous meeting record of 27.73sec – held by Brooke Stratton in 2008). To round off the meeting, Jamieson took out the girls 90m hurdles in 12.74 (+1.3). What can you say – an outstanding meeting from an athlete to keep a close eye on over the coming years.

2. Christie Pearson – some people could be surprised with Pearson being in my top-5, although when you look at her results closely you will certainly see that she had an outstanding championships. The 15 year-old not only smashed her personal bests in both the 400m and 800m, her time of 2.07.52 now has her ranked 45^th on the Australian All-Time Junior ranking list. Not bad considering that she will be a junior for another three years!
Her win in the U/16 400m final was just as impressive, with her time of 55.62sec being the second fastest 400m run over all age groups (only bettered by Caitlin Sargent in the U18 event – 55.40sec). With such quality performances from Pearson the question now has to be asked – will the World Junior Championships in 2010 become a real opportunity considering that she was 0.02sec outside the qualifying mark for the 800m? Even the 400m qualifying time for the World Juniors of 54.80sec is not completely out of the question, although if Pearson was to qualify in both events she would have to choose between the two as a youth athlete (athlete born in 1993 or 1994) can only compete in one event longer than 200m. Either way if Jenny Blundell (2^nd in the U16 final in 2.07.63) can continuously push Pearson over the next six months in the 800m (and vice versa), we could have a very interesting Australian Championships on our hands next year.
After injury concerns earlier this year (due to growth spurts), Pearson is just getting better and better and will push the more experienced junior 800m athletes in Australia over the coming six months.

3. Jordan Williamsz – it was always going to be the U18 1500m final that would decide whether or not Williamsz had a successful championships, and in the end he was able to get the upper hand of his Victorian counterpart Kane Grimster in one of the best races on the track over the five days of competition. After easily taking out the 800m final in 1.51.85, the 1500m title was never going to be as easy an assignment. In the end it took a championship record of 3.50.16 (bettering the legendary Mike Hillardt’s record of 3.50.7h set way back in 1977) to take the title away from the just as determined Grimster.
It will now be interesting to see whether Williamsz can close in on the World Junior qualifying mark of 3.47.50 in the upcoming Zatopek Classic. For Grimster the silver medal in the 1500m was turned into gold in the 3000m final, with victory in 8.43.03. He will also move onto Melbourne for the U20 3000m at the Zatopek Classic.

4. Kaitlin Morgan and Paris McCathrion – this is where I cheat a little, with two 14 year-old athletes holding down 4^th spot on my list. Morgan has to be in the list, with one of the biggest upsets in recent history taking place in the girls U17 high jump final. With the home crowd supporting her all the way, Morgan defeated World Youth medalist Amy Pejkovic when she cleared 1.80m. With Pejkovic “only” clearing 1.78m (compared to her recent best of 1.86m), the victory was Morgan’s. In defense of Pejkovic she had competed in both the long jump (3^rd – 5.61m) and triple jump (4^th in 12.12m) and also carried an injury into the final (a spike injury, which occurred in the long jump two days earlier), but you can’t take anything away from an excellent performance from Morgan.
Another junior star of the field is Victorian pole vaulter, Paris McCathrion. After easily taking out the U15 pole vault (3.60m), the pressure was on for her to replicate the gold medal performance in the U17 event. Again she didn’t disappoint, with a new personal best of 3.80m and a second gold medal (albeit a shared gold medal with Rebecca Marchant, with both athletes clearing the same height). Although both athletes will be ineligible for next year’s World Junior Championships (due to their age), watch out for both athletes wearing the green and gold at the 2011 World Youth Championships.

5. Dane Bird-Smith – to be honest the walk events at any championships aren’t regarded as highly as the many of the other track or field events, although when you see an athlete such as Bird-Smith competing you sit up and take notice. Competing in the U18 5000m walk, Bird-Smith obliterated the old meeting record (22.07.83) with an excellent performance of 21.08.70. The World Youth representative then proceeded to do what most walkers would never dream of doing - compete in both the 200m and 400m. A walker on the running track is always an interesting sight, but for Bird-Smith he looked right at home. An excellent 4^th placing in the 400m final (49.01sec) followed a slightly disappointing 24.51sec run in the heats of the 200m.
Overall it was another example of how talented this Queenslander junior is, in both the walks and sprints. A name to watch next year in Canada at the World Junior Championships (although it will be in the 10000m walk and not the 200m or 400m!)

Well that’s my top-5 performers from the Australian All-Schools Championships. In saying this however there were certainly more than the above athletes who had success in Hobart. Other athletes to shine included:

· Caitlin Sargent – 200m – 24.35sec /400m – 55.40sec double in the girls U18 age group;

· Lara Nielsen – a win in the U18 girls hammer throw (54.62m record);

· Brooke Stratton – triple gold medal haul (100m hurdles – 13.77sec, long jump – 6.02m and triple jump – 12.40m);

· Danielle McConnell – hammer throw record (52.92m) in the girls U16 event;

· Wasie Toolis – a record throw of 47.41m in the girls U16 javelin throw;

· Amy Burren – a new record in the U16 girls 3000m walk (14.18.07);

· Samantha Prime – 1500m (4.34.86) and 3000m (9.50.37) distance double;

· Matthew Turk – gold medal in the boys U18 100m (10.69sec – PB);

· Joel Bee – U18 boys 400m victory (48.14sec);

· Victoria ‘A’ – recorded an impressive time of 41.12sec in the U18 boys 4x100m final, just outside the Victorian U20 & U19 state records;

· Liam Speers – shot put (18.75m) and discus throw (57.59m) U18 boys victories;

· Nicholas Hough – victory in the U17 boys 110m hurdles final (13.72sec);

· Damien Birkenhead – wins in the U17 boys hammer throw (63.80m) and shot put (19.89m - record) finals and 2^nd in the discus final (49.93m);

With so many impressive performances from our junior athletes in Hobart it is impossible not to get excited over the coming years, especially London 2012 and beyond. It will now be interesting to see just how such athletes as Kane Grimster and Jordan Williamsz perform at the upcoming Zatopek Classic.

Tags: 2009 Australian All Schools, Chloe Jamieson, Jordan Williamsz, Kane Grimster, Amy Pejkovic, Brooke Stratton, Dane BirdSmith
Read more | Comments (1) | Updated on December 8, 2009, 5:46pm

Australian Cross Country Championships

posted by rtross on October 5, 2009, 5:08am

Courtesy of Athletics NSW

In a few days, Nowra will host the 63rd Australian Men's and 50th Australian Women's Cross Country Championship.

In the lead up to these championships, we will present a few articles about the history of this race and the unique venue - Willandra.

Below is the first article about the 1959 Men's Cross Country Championships - held 50 years ago.

Vagg dethrones the king: The 1959 Australian Cross-Country Championships Oaklands Hunt Club, Melbourne

By LEN JOHNSON

In his preview of the 1959 Australian cross-country, The Age athletics correspondent Bruce Welch said of Bob Vagg: "A strong, intelligent runner, he could surprise by beating his more experienced rivals next Saturday."

Welch must have known something. Vagg did indeed surprise his more experienced rivals, led by New South Wales teammates Dave Power and Albie Thomas and, at 19 years of age, became the youngest man ever to win the title.*

On paper, as distinct from in the paper, it was an upset. Power was the king of Australian distance running. Seventh in the 1956 Olympic 10,000 metres, Power became the first Australian to win an Empire/Commonwealth distance gold medal when he won the six miles in Cardiff in 1958. He won the marathon for good measure to make it a double.

And he was a great cross-country exponent. Coming into the 1959 race, Power had won the previous three national titles.

Vagg was not intimidated, however. His victory was not a total shock to him.

"I didn't expect to win, but I thought I had a good chance," Vagg says. "I had been training a bit with Dave at that stage, and I was basically running better than him up to five miles on the road."

A bigger concern was the course, at Oaklands Hunt Club just north of Melbourne. On the edge of Melbourne's suburbs now, it was rural land then. The Hunt Club was used for the riding and cross-country running disciplines of 1956 Olympic modern pentathlon. The official Olympic report describes the 4km loop used then as "testing". It included some ploughed field and several crossing and re-crossings of a small creek.

Vagg was more worried about the "three or four jumps. I wasn't flexible with jumps. I tended to freeze up a bit as I approached them. But I coped."

Power put up a strong defence. "He got a break three-quarters of the way through the race," Vagg remembers, "but I must have got a second wind. I came home like a train."

The race report in The Age also notes that Power fell twice "at critical stages."

As well as doing some training with Dave Power, Vagg had a secret weapon. Like Dave Stephens, "the Flying Milko", some of his training was automatic. For Stephens, who broke Emil Zatopek's world record for six miles at the start of 1956, it was a milk round; a paper run did the trick for Vagg.

"I'd done paper runs since I was about 11 or 12," says Vagg. "Elizabeth Bay is a very hilly area, it's all up or down, and I did a run from Paddington to there and back."

Later, Vagg trained between university lectures during his lunch-break.

"Anyone who can beat runners of the proven calibre of Power and Thomas has a great athletic future," Herb Elliott's coach Percy Cerutty said of Vagg's 1959 win. "On current form, he should represent Australia over 10,000 metres in (the 1960 Olympic Games in) Rome."

Vagg missed out then, but he won the cross-country again in 1961 and ran the six miles at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth. He won the 1964 Australian marathon title and finished 31 out of 68 starters in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic marathon.

Then he retired. "I decided I wasn't going to be the world's best so it was time to get a career." He still walks for exercise and is soon heading off for a walking tour of Scotland.

*Bob Vagg (19 years, six months, 20 days) remains the second-youngest man to win an Australian cross-country title. The late Mizan Mehari is the youngest. The former Ethiopian, who settled in Australia after the 1996 world junior championships in Sydney, won the 1997 title at 17 years, seven months, two days) and 1998 at 18 years, seven months, one day.

Image of the 1961 race (held in Sydney's Centennial Park)with a few of the leading competitors from the 1959 race. In the photo are: (30) Graham Thomas NSW, (2) Trevor Vincent Vic, (3) Tony Cook Vic. Image courtesy of Trevor Vincent.

Australian Cross County Championships 1959 Melbourne, 22 August 1959

10 KM - Men - Saturday 22 August 1959

1 Bob Vagg NSW 32.22.4
2 Dave Power NSW 32.35.0
3 Albie Thomas NSW 32.53.0
4 Graham Thomas NSW 32.53.0
5 Don Brain Vic 33.08.0
6 Geoff Walker Vic 33.41.0
7 Rob Morgan-Morris Vic 33.50.0
8 Tony Cook Vic 34.10.0
9 Ray White Vic 34.16.0
10 Malcolm Hay WA 34.27.0
11 John Lawler NSW 34.42.0
12 Bruce Russell Vic 34.50.0
13 Ron Jenkins NSW 35.22.0
14 Neville Scott SA 35.25.0
15 Clarence Radford WA 35.32.0
16 Lloyd Frisby SA 35.43.0
17 David Foote Qld 36.07.0
18 Ian Beck SA 36.22.0
19 George Bale Qld 36.25.0
20 Doug Worling Qld 36.40.0
21 Rod Nicholls Tas 37.05.0
22 Ian Wheeler SA 37.12.0
23 Murray Edwards SA 37.14.0
24 Alain Bray Qld 37.21.0
25 Geoff Saggers WA 37.24.0
26 Peter Flessor Qld 38.26.0
27 E. Scott Tas 40.18.0
- Terry Sullivan Vic DNF

TEAMS

1 New South Wales NSW 10 pts
2 Victoria Vic 28 pts
3 Western Australia WA 49 pts
4 South Australia SA 57 pts
5 Queensland Qld 66 pts

Results

Len Johnson was The Melbourne Age athletics writer for over 20 years, covering five Olympics, 10 world championships and five Commonwealth Games. He is the author of The Landy Era, From Nowhere to the Top of the World, and a former national class distance runner (2.19.32 marathon) who trained with Chris Wardlaw and Robert de Castella.

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Tags: Australia XC champs
Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on October 5, 2009, 5:11am

Briggs Classic 2009 Men's 800m

posted by rtsam on January 1, 2009, 10:08pm

Tags: matt hammond, 800m, Graeme Briggs
Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on October 8, 2009, 10:10pm