Juniors set track alight on opening night of Australian Track and Field Championships

The rising stars of Australian athletics have set the tone on Day 1 of the 2021 Australian Track and Field Championships, with the first Australian junior titles of the year claimed.

Keeping up with their Open age counterparts over the season, the Under 20 sprinters set the track alight, with Taylah Cruttenden (WA, Braiden Clarke) and Caleb Law (QLD, Andrew Iselin) claiming the 100m titles.

After clocking 11.85 (-0.2) in the heat, Cruttenden won the final with a sprint of 11.66 (+0.1) to match the meet record. The result was her eighth World Under 20 qualifying time, and the win secured her spot on the team for the World Under 20 Championships in Kenya.

Cruttenden, who has consistently run amongst the Open age athletes throughout this year’s Coles Summer Super Series said she was happy to claim the title today, but made it clear that her focus would be on the Open 100m final later in the week, where she will line up against Australia’s number one 100m sprinter Hana Basic.

“It was colder than I’m used to and it took a while to get moving, but once I got up and running it felt good. It was great to get a hit out with a great bunch of girls and cap off Juniors with another 100m win,” Cruttenden said.

“Moving up to seniors is exciting, it’s a bit more of a challenge but I’m definitely ready to step up. Running against Hannah Basic and the Open girls has definitely inspired me to run faster, it’s been a great challenge.”

After running multiple World Under 20 Qualifiers in both the 100m and 200m throughout the season, it was no surprise when Law took out the Under 20 100m title, clocking 10.66m (-0.3) to book his ticket on the team.

“It was fun to run tonight. I’m not used to how cold it is in Sydney, but I ran pretty well.” Law said.

“Tonight I got the automatic qualifier for the World Juniors, and it means there’s no pressure anymore, and I can just have fun from now on rather than worrying about being selected.”

Bart Leeton (VIC) stole the show in the Under 14 1500m timed final, recording 4:11.07 to become the fastest ever Australian Under 14 athlete across the distance.

Winning by daylight, Leeton completed the three and three quarter lap journey at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre 12 seconds faster than Caiden MacFarlane (QLD), who placed second in 4:23.25

“I’m really happy with how I went tonight. I went to the front and just ran as fast as I can which tends to be my normal mindset in the 1500m. It felt amazing to run with such a big and supportive crowd behind me the whole race.”

In the men’s U20 hammer throw, it was 17-year-old Jett Carlin (SA, Paul Carlin) that sailed home to gold, winning convincingly with a throw of 66.12m ahead of Benjamin Voogd (Vic, 64.56m), and more than five metres in front of Thomas Shannon (NSW) who finished third with a result of 59.38m.

After throwing a World Under 20 Championships qualifier in Adelaide just two weeks ago, Carlin’s win will see him automatically selected to the World Under 20 Championships Team for Kenya in January.

“It’s good to get the win today. My goal for the season was to qualify for Kenya, which I have. Today I was thinking about how if I didn’t get the win, I wouldn’t get onto the team automatically, so today was focusing on winning rather than throwing a further distance,” he said.

Australia’s top junior metric milers fought hard in the men and women’s preliminaries to secure their spots for tomorrow’s final.

The second heat of the men’s event saw eight athletes qualify for tomorrow’s race, with all eight athletes faster than those in the first heat. Jude Thomas (QLD) went into his heat as the man to beat, and crossed the line first in a time of 3:52.83, with Tasmanian Sam Clifford behind him in 3:54.23. Adam Goddard (SA) won the first heat in 3:56.96, with Ethan Brouw (NSW, 3:57.22) and Ethan McMinimee (VIC, 3:57.45) placing second and third.

With five athletes already qualified for the women’s Under 20 1500m event in Kenya, much was on the line for athletes competing in tonight’s heats. Jaylah Hancock-Cameron (NSW) was the fastest of both heats (4:32.39) with Sarah Schiffman (NSW) qualifying second in 4:32.58. World Under 20 qualifier Imogen Gardiner (NSW) will contest in the final, as will Nicola Hogg (NSW) who will be looking to win the national title.

The men’s Under 20 400m heats saw a battle between some of our best sprinters, with Reece Holder (QLD), Alexander Creak (Tas), Augustine Nkeitia Junior (ACT) and Joshua Atkinson (NSW) all nabbing wins just shy of the World Under 20 Championships qualifier of 47.35.

Holder ran the quickest at 48.11 – one second slower than his first qualifier in February, with Creak stopping the clock at 48.15. Atkinson, another World Under 20 Championship qualified athlete, ran 48.82, while Nketia Junior ran 48.38.

With three athletes having previously run under the 47.35 qualifying standard, the Men’s U20 400m final will be a true showdown over one lap, with athletes all aiming to take the win and book one of two the spots available on the World Junior Championships team.

Similarly, the women’s 400m saw two of Australia’s fastest Under 20 400m athletes take the win in their respective heats, with Caitlyn Ferrier (NSW) crossing the line 56.35, while Sidney Burrell (NSW) clocked 56.44. In the third heat, it was Jasmin Guthrie (NSW) that ran the quickest in 55.61. Burrell and Ferrier have previously posted qualifiers, and with Australia’s youngest representative at a World Championships Ellie Beer not competing, the final will be a battle to nab their spot.

Full results can be found at: http://athletics.resultshub.com.au/

The 2021 Australian Track and Field Championships will continue tomorrow until Monday, 19^th April at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre.