Barriers Crushed | Hurdlers Lead the Way

The weekend belonged to Australia’s hurdling ranks with the trio of Chris Douglas, Nick Andrews and Mitchell Lightfoot combining to deliver a national record, two world indoor qualifiers and one world junior qualifier. 

Chris Douglas (Joey Woods) is making headlines for the second week running and for all the right reasons, lowering the national indoor 60m hurdles record for the second consecutive week when clocking 7.61 to secure yet another victory. 

The US-based Australian looks to be in immaculate form ahead of the World Athletics Indoor Championships to be held in Belgrade in March, as he eyes his maiden senior Australian tracksuit after narrowly missing selection in the 110m hurdles for the Tokyo Olympics.

Fellow Australian Nick Andrews (Tim O'Neill) joined in on the hurdling action to register a world indoor qualifier of his own, making his way over the flights and across the finish line in 7.72 seconds – a time that would have been a national record just one week ago. Andrews produced the run to win the race, after clocking 7.78 in the heats. 

Rising star Mitchell Lightfoot (Andy Burton) matched his senior counterparts when the hometown hero took to the NSW Country Championships in Maitland, stunning the local crowd with a sizzling 13.52 (+1.3) in the 110m hurdles – making him the fourth fastest Australian junior in the history of the event. 

The performance from Lightfoot was preceded by significant media attention, but the 18-year-old with the perfect name for athletics was ice cold under pressure – a trait that will hold him in good stead for this year’s World Athletics Under 20 Championships in Colombia. 

Also in New South Wales was Katie Gunn (Matt Horsnell) who leapt her way to a qualifier for the World Athletics Under 20 Championships, clearing 6.21m (+0.9) in the long jump. Gunn produced the jump in the final round of the competition to set a new personal best. 

Torrie Lewis (Gerrard Keating) may still be a junior, but the 16-year-old continues to deliver eye-catching runs that place her in the spotlight on a national scale – this time running 11.18 (+3.8) on a rainy day at Queensland’s Sally Pearson Shield. Whilst heavily wind-assisted, the run will fill Lewis with confidence as she continues to climb into the upper echelon of the Australian sprinting ranks. 

Earlier last week in Victoria, Claudia Hollingsworth (Craig Mottram) coasted her way around 1500m at the Victorian Milers Club to stop the clock in 4:12.13 – a time that qualifies her with ease for the World Athletics Under 20 Championships. 

Having gained significant national experience on last year’s domestic circuit, Hollingsworth has established a reputation a fierce competitor who always places herself in a position to win – with much faster times on the horizon for the talented junior. Lucinda Rourke (Elizabeth Mathews) recorded a world junior qualifier of her own in the same race, running 4:25.70.

Meanwhile in Victoria, Aiden Hinson (Chloe Stevens) registered a pair of world junior qualifiers in the horizontal jumps, with results of 7.61m in the long jump and 15.78m in the triple jump - including a windy 16.12m. 

Australia’s world-class wheelchair racing stocks took to the Australian Institute of Sport for the International Track Meet which forms the first leg of the Summer Down Under Series – with the OzDay 10k still to come on Wednesday. 

Dual Paralympic champion Madison de Rozario (Louise Sauvage) delivered a series of strong pushes to open her season, winning the 800m (1:53.77) and 1500m (3:33.79), whilst finishing second in the mixed 5000m (11:11.47) – a nice warm up for Wednesday where she will target her eighth OzDay 10k title. 

Sam Carter (Fred Periac) and Jake Lappin (Fred Periac) proved to be the standouts for the men across the four-day event, with Carter prevailing in classy sprint fields and Lappin asserting his dominance over the 800m and 1500m events. 

The young crop of Aussies pursuing the collegiate system in the USA continued to impress in their early season showings, with Alexander Kolesnikoff (Harvard) leading the way with a new Harvard indoor record of 19.05m in the shot put.     

Also in the field was Dylan James (Arizona State) who recorded a distance of 15.47m in the triple jump to kick-start his 2022 campaign – beginning his year with a win and a 1cm indoor personal best.

On the track Archie Wallis (Wake Forrest) made his way around 1000m in 2:26.12, whilst Jesse Hunt (North Carolina) and Lucinda Crouch (Wisconsin) clocked mile times of 4:05.84 and 4:44.72 respectively. 

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 24/01/2022