Junior Athletes Fire Up for Long Hot Summer

By Chris Wainwright

The domestic athletics season is upon us, and with it comes the excitement of the unknown. Who will represent Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games?, what size will the Australian team be for the upcoming World Junior Championships in Canada?, and most importantly can Steve Hooker really break the long standing pole vault record held by Sergey Bubka? All of these questions – and more – will be answered over the coming months, although for me personally it is always the next generation of athletes that I like to focus on.

After researching such athletes as Christie Pearson, Ella Nelson, Kane Grimster and Zoe Riikonen over the past six months, it was fantastic to see many of them compete at the recent State Schools Championships. It was also wonderful to see such impressive results from our “next generation” of track and field stars in Australia, in what is seen as the prelude to the Australian Schools Championships in December.

With the World Junior Championships the focus of many of our junior athletes, it was interesting to see who was going to be the first to put up their hand for selection – and we certainly weren’t disappointed with the number of athletes who lead the way.

With the temperature reaching 30 degrees at Olympic Park in Melbourne for most of the three days of competition, there was always going to be some sizzling results from our junior sprinters, with Matthew Turk leading from the front. Aided by an illegal tail wind of 2.2m/s, Turk ran away with the U/18 100m title, clearly winning in a time of 10.53sec. The 2009 U/18 Victorian sprint champion, in both the 100m and 200m, Turk was a little unlucky not to represent Australia at the 2009 World Youth Championships, but now looks a strong contender to wear the green and gold next year in Canada (note – qualifying time required for WJC = 10.64sec).

Also delivering in the sprinting events was 15 year-old Angela Byrne, taking out both the 100m (11.96sec, +2.0m/s – 1^st time under 12.00sec) and 200m (24.87sec, +1.3m/s). Eligible for the World Junior Championships next year (being born in 1994), Byrne has definitely signaled her attentions for future Australian teams (note – qualifying time required for WJC = 11.82sec).

Also on the track we were lucky enough to witness two World Youth Championship representatives compete against each other in the men’s U/18 1500m final. Both Kane Grimster (1500m) and Jordan Williamsz (800m) represented Australia in Italy earlier this year, and in the end it was only 1/10^th of a second that separated the two at the finish line. Although the times weren’t exactly super fast (3:53.08 to 3:53.18), both athletes will push each other to bigger and better things over the coming months (note – qualifying time required for WJC = 3:47.50).

Away from the track it was the emergence of 14 year-old Paris McCathrion. Competing in the women’s U/15 pole vault, McCathrion cleared 3.75m, a performance that broke her existing U/15 state record and also broke the U/16 state record held by Rebecca Marchant of 3.70m. Her previous record of 3.55m was achieved only a week prior at Box Hill (29/10). McCathrion is another future star to watch closely over the coming years.

Both Marchant (3.70m, 1^st) and Alexa Pocklington (3.60m, 2^nd) also produced solid results in the women’s U/17 pole vault final, with both athletes equaling their respective personal bests (note – qualifying height required for WJC = 3.95m).

Marchant also collected a silver medal in the women’s U/17 triple jump (12.25m, +0.6m/s), behind World Youth representative Brooke Stratton (12.52m, +0.7m/s). Stratton also went onto take out the women’s U/17 long jump (5.92m, nwi) and 100m hurdles (14.29sec, +0.9m/s) titles, and is showing the form that took her to personal bests of 6.13m and 12.62m in the long jump and triple jump respectively over the past six months.

Other athletes who shined over the three days of competition were:

·         Denise Snyder – 1^st in the women’s U/18 high jump (1.75m);

·         Brodie Cross – 1^st in the men’s U/16 pole vault (4.40m);

·         Nathan Krepp – 1^st in the men’s U/16 discus throw (62.16m);

·         Luke Cann – 1^st in the men’s U/16 javelin throw (63.00m);

·         Damien Birkinhead – 1^st in the men’s U/17 shot put – 5kg (19.21m);

·         Birkinhead also took out the men’s U/17 discus and hammer throw titles;

·         Joel Bee – 1^st in the men’s U/18 400m (47.75sec) (note – qualifying time required for WJC = 47.30sec);

·         Kane Grimster – 1^st in the men’s U/18 3000m (8:27.89);

·         James Vine – 1^st in the men’s U/18 110m hurdles (13.82sec, +3.6m/s);

·         Thomas Cornelius – 1^st in the men’s U/18 long jump (7.00m, +0.4m/s).

Note: Birkinhead, Snyder and Grimster all represented Australia at the 2009 World Youth Championships.

In Sydney it was another World Youth representative that stole the show. The silver medalist from Italy (where she cleared 1.85m), Amy Pejkovic was the standout in the field, winning the U/17 women’s high jump with a new personal best of 1.86m (which was a first time clearance, after previously missing twice at 1.83m). The height was well above the World Junior qualifying mark of 1.80m (and was also a “B” qualifier for the 2010 Commonwealth Games), and it would now seem likely that Pejkovic will be flying over to Canada in July next year.

On the track it was Chloe Jamieson who took all before her. Unleashing a sensational 27.67sec (-0.7m/s) run in the heats of the U/16 200m hurdles, which was a new Australian U/16 record (breaking the record held by Jess Gulli – 27.91sec in 2003, while also breaking the existing meet record of 28.05sec held by Carly Rodger). Jamieson then proceeded to run even faster in the final (27.54sec, -0.9m/s) to clearly stamp herself as one of the top athletes of the meeting.

Also showing speed on the track were:

·         Jake Hammond who blasted out a 10.61sec (+0.6m/s) victory in the men’s U/20 100m. Hammond then completed the sprint double with a 21.07sec 200m (+0.4m/s) performance, which was just shy of Matt Shirvington’s meet record of 20.97sec. Both performances were World Junior qualifiers;

·         Eloise Graf (11.86sec) and Larissa Pasternatsky (11.88sec), running 1-2 in the women’s U/20 100m, although the race was run with an illegal tail wind of +3.1m/s. Pasternatsky also ran a time of 24.39sec to take victory in the women’s 200m final;

·         Ella Nelson won the women’s U/16 sprint double, winning the 100m in 12.21sec (+2.3m/s) and the 200m in 24.56sec (+0.0m/s). Nelson also broke the meet record, previously held by Karlie Morton, in the heats of the 200m. Unfortunately the result was wind assisted (+2.1m/s), therefore the 24.11sec performance will not count towards qualifying for the World Juniors;

·         Mitchell Tysoe also ran a fast 13.86sec (+2.2m/s) in the U/18 110m hurdles final, while Nicholas Hough also performed well over the high hurdles, recording a quick time of 14.36sec in the U/17 event (while also winning the 100m in 10.86sec, +0.5m/s)

 

Other impressive results over the four days of competition included:

·         Karlie Morton – 1^st in the women’s U/17 200m, recording a time of 24.33sec (+0.2m/s);

·         Christie Pearson – 1^st in the women’s U/16 800m, winning in a time of 2.09.42. Pearson also just missed out on breaking Olivia Tauro’s 400m meeting record of 55.70sec, winning in a time of 55.92sec;

·         Lisa Celi – 1^st in the U/17 women’s 400m hurdles (1.01.97), and in the process smashing the meeting record of 1.03.87 previously held by Britney McGlone;

·         Amanda Bartrim – 1^st in the women’s U/20 pole vault final, also breaking the meeting record with a final clearance of 3.40m;

·         Clare Maloney – 1^st in the U/20 women’s triple jump (12.40m, +1.2m/s), also a meeting record;

·         Steven Solomon – 1^st in the men’s U/17 400m hurdles (54.36sec), also a record breaking performance;

·         Liam Speers – 1^st in the men’s U/18 shot put (5kg) (18.73m);

·         Ben Talakai – 1^st in the men’s discus throw (57.13m, 1.5kg), breaking Benn Harradine’s meeting record by over 2m.

With many quality performances from the State All Schools Championships, our junior athletes will now turn their attention to the Australian All Schools, December 5-7, which will be held in Hobart. We can only hope that we see just as many record breaking performances over the three days of competition, and we can also hopefully see more athletes close in on qualification for the 2101 World Junior Championships?

Which athletes are the ones to watch out for in Hobart? Well there will be many to choose from, but keep a close eye out for athletes such as Jake Hammond, Christie Pearson, Jordon Williamsz, Kane Grimster, Ella Nelson, Paris McCathrion and Amy Pejkovic. These are just some of the names that could one day join the likes of Jana Pittman and Dani Samuels as World Champions or even an Olympic champion such as Steve Hooker. The excitement continues!

·         Australian All Schools and Youth Championships, Hobart – 5^th to 7^th December, 2009

·         Zatopek 10: Melbourne – 10^th December, 2009