Development Tour Underway with Bedford Success
Published Tue 19 Jul 2022
While Australia’s established stars are lighting up Oregon for the World Athletics Championships, a team of Under 23 athletes are completing a development tour in Europe as they bridge the gap to the senior ranks – kick-starting their campaign at England’s U20/U23 Championships.
There was no shortage of success as the green and gold featured prominently on the podium, including 11 wins lead by a clean sweep in the middle-distance ranks as Jack Lunn (Steve Fabris) registered the performance of the meet – a 1:48.61 run en route to 800m victory.
Lunn’s prowess was matched by his 800m counterpart Matilda Ryan (Penny Gillies), with the former Australian Under 20 representative demonstrating her class with a tidy run of 2:06.00, while Matthew Hussey (Peter Burke) saluted in the Men’s 1500m in a time of 3:51.20 – the tactical affair playing into the hands of the fast-finishing Australian. Jaylah Hancock-Cameron (Andae Kalemusic) stretched away from her British competitors in the Women’s 1500m to clock 4:16.37 and lay the foundations of a successful European campaign.
Issac Heyne (Adam Didyk) continued his international exploits during 2022 as the well-travelled 22-year-old coasted to victory over 5000m when stopping the clock in 14:25.34 in the challenging conditions. Jess Noble (Ben Toomey) made it an Australian 5000m double when taking out the women’s race with a time of 16:46.92.
The wins were not restricted to the track as Jess Bell (Morgan Ward) and Emily Whelan (Matt Horsnell) stamped an Australian presence in the field, with Bell taking out the Women’s Javelin with a 51.04m effort, while Whelan soared over 1.80m to win the Women’s High Jump.
Queensland hurdler Sam Hurwood (Rajeev Balakrishnan) continued his upward trajectory after a recent 13.63 personal best in the 110m hurdles, clinching his maiden international win in a time of 13.94 (+0.3). Alexander Kwa (Susan Andrews) also won over the hurdles, tearing his way around the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase bout in 9:12.31.
Allanah Pitcher (Frank Overton) walked her way to victory over 5000m as she stopped the clock in 23:57.34 in the 12.5 lap journey, building her international resume after making her Australian debut at the World Athletics Race Walking Teams Championships in Oman this March.
It was a pair of podium finishes in the long jump encounters, with Zane Branco (David Reid) and Brittany Carroll (Glenn Carroll) finishing second and third with marks of 7.25m (+0.1) and 6.16m (+0.9) respectively – leaving Carroll within reach of her 6.26m personal best in the coming competitions. Also taking third in the Women’s Triple Jump was Caitlin Blackman (Albert Cianfrini) with 12.38m.
Silver in the throws went to Emma Berg (Peter Barrett) and Sally Shorky (Karyne Di Marco, Dennis Knowles and Breanne Clement) with efforts of 14.78m and 46.89m in the shot put and discus throw respectively, while Kristie Edwards (David Reid) torched her way down the straight in 11.70 (+1.4) for bronze in the 100m.
Marli Wilkinson (Daniel Bailey) was impressive in the Women’s 400m final when running 1:01.24 over the sticks to secure third place, while Mark Fokas (Natasha Stenberg & Ben Colless) was the fifth man across the line in the Men’s 400m Hurdles final in 55.93, after clocking 54.96 in the heats.
Rounding out the results for the competition were Callum Rorison (Rajeev Balakrishnan) and Jagga Pybus (Wayne Mason), with Rorison registering a slick 48.01 in the 400m heats before falling unwell and being unable to compete in the final, while Pybus’ 100m time of 11.76 (+1.5) in the semi-final saw him finish in 14th place overall.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 19/6/2022
