WEEKEND REVIEW | Clay cements herself as Australia’s third fastest hurdler

Competition is heating up as the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games edge closer, and Australia’s athletes are proving they’re ready for top-level competition, with another weekend of solid performances both domestically and internationally. 

The Sally Pearson Shield in Queensland was fittingly headlined by two of Australia’s top ranked 100m hurdlers, as Liz Clay (Sharon Hannah) and Michelle Jenneke (Gary Bourne) came head-to-head with the aim of clocking all-important Tokyo qualifiers. In her season opener for the event, Clay prevailed, clocking the exact Olympic Qualifying time of 12.84 (+1.0) and climbing into third position on the Australian all-time rankings. Warming up into competition, Michelle Jenneke (Gary Bourne) finished in second place, with 13.35 (+1.0). 

At the same meet, T38 athlete Daniel Bounty (Peter Bock) ran the 1500m in 4:14.51 - proving his consistency as he chases Deon Kenzie’s Australian record of 4:05.11. The result is also an Athletics Australia B-qualifier putting him in contention for his first Paralympic Games. 

The Parkdale gift hosted a number of Australia’s elite distance runners and sprinters in a blockbuster day of handicap races ranging from 70 metres to two miles. The event was live streamed both online and on Kayo, and in a move to help athletes in their quest to win gold in Tokyo, 30% of money raised from the live stream was pooled and shared with Australia’s top five Olympic hopes in Tokyo.

The men’s and women’s two mile races were the feature events on the program, with Juliet McBurney (Tim O’Shaughnessy) and Brett Robinson (Nic Bideau) proving too strong off their given handicaps.

Genevieve Gregson (Nic Bideau) and Andrea Seccafein (Nic Bideau) were set the task of chasing down the field from scratch, with Natalie Rule off 100 metres. McBurney ran strongly from her mark of 260 metres - with a smart tactical race securing her the win. Rule finished in second place and Gregson’s blistering final lap saw her move into third place.

The photo finish was required in the men’s event, with fan-favourites Ryan Gregson (Nic Bideau) and Stewart McSweyn (Nic Bideau) both prominent in the finish with Robinson. Robinson prevailed off his mark of 55 metres, ahead of McSweyn who fell agonisingly close as the backmarker, and Gregson who put in a strong performance off 70 metres.

Jack Boulton utilised his 5.25 metre handicap on his way to victory in the 120m Men’s Gift, finishing ahead of Jack Peris (Nova Peris, 6.00m) and Harrison Kerr (8.25m). The 120m Women’s Gift was won by Chiara Santigila (Andrew Dawson) off 5.75m, with Zoe Glassborrow (10.75m) and Hannah Duynhoven (12.25m) rounding out the minors.

The women’s 800m was taken out by Claudia Hollingsworth (Craig Mottram) off 28 metres who found another gear when challenged by Abbey Caldwell (Gavin Burren) off 34 meters in the home straight. The men’s event was won by Riley Bryce (Mark Hipworth) from 34 meters, who held off a barnstorming Jack Lunn (Steve Fabris) off 8 metres.

At the New South Wales 5000m Championships it was Kieren Tall who proved too slick for the field – running 13:59.23 to finish narrowly ahead of Matthew Hudson in 13:59.92. Cameron Griffith finished in third place in a time of 14:09.53.

Kate Spencer won the women’s title when running 16:30.30 to finish in front of Leanne Pompeani (Des Proctor) in 16:32.72 and Paige Campbell (Philo Saunders) who clocked 16:35.83, both of which were valiant in defeat.

Lachlan Raper’s (Ben Liddy) time of 1:47.97 was good enough to top the field in the Men’s 800m ‘A’ event and secure a huge personal best - a fitting reward for the persistent 22-year-old. 

Morgan McDonald (Joe Bosshard) flew his way around 3000m in the USA – clocking 7:41.55 at the Prickly Pear Invitational in Phoenix to kick his 2021 campaign off to a flying start. McDonald finished in fifth place in the classy field.

Although it wasn’t part of this weekend’s success, last week’s result by Hana Basic (John Nicolosi) at the Victorian High Velocity meet is worth noting.  Basic clock the fastest women’s 100m time by in Australian in two years – running 11.45 (+1.4) to join in on the action on the Australian sprinting scene, with a number of women forming a strong culture and healthy competition over the shorter distances.

Next week’s action is headlined by the Oceania and Australian 20km Race Walking Championships, to be held on Sunday, as well as the ACT State Championships which is set to attract the nation’s best sprinters, throwers and jumpers. 

By Lachlan Moorhouse
Posted: 7/2/2021

Photo with thanks to Casey Sims