PREVIEW | 2022 Brisbane Track Classic

The 2022 Australian Track and Field Championships may have been run and won, but a host of Australia’s top athletes and international guests are hungry for more at this Saturday’s Brisbane Track Classic – the final leg of the 2022 Chemist Warehouse Summer Series.

Read our preview below.

100m:

It is set to be a truly international affair in the sprints at Brisbane, with entries from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Kiribati, but in the men’s race they will all be chasing the newly crowned fastest man in Australia – Jake Doran (Paul di Bella).

Doran blitzed his competitors with a windy 10.05 on his way to a maiden national title and will be looking to emulate that form in Brisbane, where he once again comes up against an evenly contested field featuring in-form men Eddie Nketia (New Zealdn) and Joshua Azzopardi (Rob Marks).

9.98-second man Yoshihide Kiryu (Japan) will be eager to spoil the Australian party, along with Ismail dudu Kamara (Sierra Leonne) who has already shown what he is capable of throughout the Australian domestic season.

On an Australian front, the women’s race is lead by Torrie Lewis (Gerrard Keating) and Bree Masters (Ryan Hoffman) who have proven to be in slick form of late, along with Victorian sprinter Mia Gross (John Nicolosi) – but look out for Zoe Hobbs (New Zealand).

Hobbs jetted to Australia with the hope of hitting the 11.15 World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games qualifying standard, narrowly missing with her 11.17 meet record at the national championships where she won with ease.

Lewis bypassed the Open ranks at the 2022 Australian Track and Field Championships after winning the junior sprint double, opting to attend her school formal before returning to take on the nation’s best in Brisbane – where she will be out to improve her 11.33 best.

Jaydon Page (Sebastian Kuzminski) took out the 100m Para race at the nationals and will be looking to repeat the dose in Brisbane in the absence of The White Tiger, and look out for another big celebration from the exuberant teenager.

Page will take on Ari Gesini (Sebastian Kuzminski) and Nick Hum (John Boas), but the sprint specialist may just prove too good for the versatile long jumpers.  

200m:

18-year-old Aidan Murphy (Peter Fitzgerald) left the field in his wake on his way to the Open 200m crown at the national championships, but he is about to get his first taste of international competition in the form of Japan’s Shota Izuka – a 20.11 second man.

Murphy may only be a junior but has stamped his authority on the Open ranks and is declaring himself ready to progress with leaps and bounds over his favoured 200m, where he holds a best of 20.41 – the Australian Under 20 record.

Calab Law (Andrew Iselin) is another junior to keep a keen eye on in the event, having been served his first loss to Murphy at the national championships. Law has been in swift form and looks ready to lower his 20.63 best significantly.

17-year-old Torrie Lewis (Gerrard Keating) and Bree Masters (Ryan Hoffman) will be hard to beat in the women’s 200m, but national silver medallist Jacinta Beecher (Gary Bourne) has forced her name into he conversation after a series of strong runs.

Lewis and Masters are tightly contested with their career-best times of 23.18 and 23.21 respectively, whilst Beecher went 23.48 into a slight headwind at the national championships as she ran herself into form.

Georgia Hulls (New Zealand) will give them all something to chase after proving too strong for even Ella Connolly in Sydney when running a new personal best of 23.17 (-0.5). Kristie Edwards (David Reid) will also race prominently if she can muster the form of her 23.17 personal best from November.  

400m:

Alex Beck (Mark Ladbrook) headlines all the action over 400m fresh off winning the national title in a time of 46.41, making him a deserved favourite for the Brisbane Track Classic.

Beck will be challenged by Kaito Kawabata (Japan) who is yet to open his season but holds a 45.75 personal best from June, whilst 21-year-old Queenslander Callum Rorison will be looking to build on the form that saw him win national bronze last week.

Rosie Elliot (New Zealand) was prominent in the Australian 400m bout with her time of 53.48 seconds, but the additions of Sarah Carli (Melissa Logan) and Jasmin and Isabella Guthrie (Angus McEntyre), who have both punched their ticket to Colombia in the 400m and 400m hurdles respectively, make for an interesting affair in Brisbane.

Olympian Jessica Thornton (Brett Robinson) laid it all on the line to win silver at the nationals, but this is an encounter of similar difficulty, factoring in the new additions and Japan’s Nanako Matsumoto – a 53.02 runner.

800m:

When Peter Bol (Justin Rinaldi) takes to the track, it’s worth watching.

Bol has made a habit of collecting domestic wins and has no plans of stopping in Brisbane, as one of the world’s leading 800m-men continues to put on a show on home soil fresh off winning back-to-back Australian titles.

US-based Australian Charlie Hunter (Pete Julian) finished in second place of the national final and will once again mount a challenge, but he will be joined by 17-year-old Charlie Jeffreson (Penny Gillies) who has already booked his ticket to the World Athletics Under 20 Championships with his time of 1:47.60 and Under 20 national title.

Brad Mathas (New Zealand) has shown he is not afraid to throw down the gauntlet to his training partner in Bol, whilst Guy Learmonth (Great Britain) will be looking to rustle the feathers whilst in Australia.

Saturday can’t come soon enough for Bendere Oboya (Justin Rinaldi), who will be eager to make amends for her first-round exit at the national championships. In only her third 800m race, Oboya was forced to learn the hard way that her style is not suited to a slow first lap, so look out Brisbane.

Ellie Sanford (Teri Cater) and Tess Kirsopp-Cole have filled the podium on countless occasions this season and will be determined to clinch the top spot in Brisbane, and with Olympic 400m hurdler Sarah Carli on pacing duties – expect the pace to be hot.

1500m:

Callum Davies (Collis Birmingham) flew under the radar and all the way to national bronze behind only Oliver Hoare and Matthew Ramsden in Sydney, with the former world junior finalist starting to make his impression in the Open ranks.

Davies will be challenged by teammate Jude Thomas (Collis Birmingham) and international guest Samuel Tanner (New Zealand), but it is Tanner who poses the biggest threat with his 3:34.72 personal best.

Rorey Hunter (Dick Telford) and Mick Stanovsek (Mark Rowland) have also proven their class domestically, whilst Paralympic medallist Jaryd Clifford (Philo Saudners) and 17-year-old Peyton Craig (Brendan Mallyon) will be chasing fast times.

Fresh off her national silver medal, Georgia Griffith (Collis Birmingham) will be hard to beat in Brisbane – but Claudia Hollingsworth (Craig Mottram) is no stranger to a challenge.  

After a rocky start to her 2022 campaign, Griffith pieced it together in the national final when closing well over the final lap, setting up a battle with the 16-year-old Hollingsworth in Brisbane. Hollingsworth finished behind Catriona Bisset in the Open 800m after slaughtering the field in the Under 20 1500m, and Saturday could be the day we see her lower her 4:12.13 personal best.

A host of Para-athletics talent will be on display in the second of two men’s 1500m races, including newly crowned national champion Reece Langdon (Philo Saunders, T38) and Paralympic medallist Deon Kenzie (Philo Saunders, T38).

The two will be joined by 16-year-old Angus Hincksman (Simon Moran, T38) and Daniel Bounty (Peter Bock, T38), with the world-class quartet putting on a show at the national championships in the first of many races en route to the Paris Paralympics in 2024.

Hurdles:

Nick Hough (Anthony Benn) made it national title number seven last week in the 110m Hurdles and will be eager to build on that form in Brisbane, where he will once again take on Nick Andrews (Tim O’Neill) and Chris Douglas (Joey Woods).

Hough clocked 13.68 on that occasion to beat home the US-based duo, but the 28-year-old who is renowned for making the hurdles hurt will be looking to tidy up his form as he sharpens up ahead of his international campaign. The fast-starting Andrews is more than capable of toppling the seven-time national champion, whilst Douglas is only likely to improve after recently dropping down to the high hurdles – setting up yet another enthralling battle over the sticks.

Olympic semi-finalist Liz Clay (Sharon Hannan and David Reid) dropped one of the hottest times of the championships with her 12.72 en route to victory in the 100m hurdles, cementing her status as Australia’s premier hurdler with back-to-back titles.

The field will be stretched to catch the scorching-hot Clay, but Celeste Mucci (Darren Clark) has looked the most likely with her return to form, including a personal best of 12.96 to clinch silver in the national final. Michelle Jenneke (Gary Bourne) made her comeback official with a 13.05 for bronze in the national final, whilst Hannah Jones (Sally Pearson) and Abbie Taddeo (Penny Gillies) are always likely prospects on the domestic scene.  

Long Jump:

Chris Mitrevski (John Boas) is a man is prime. The Victorian delivered a stunning sequence of six jumps over eight-metres on his way to picking up the national title, including a windy 8.26m and a legal 8.21m – just one-centimetre shy of the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games qualifying standard.

Mitrevski will be confident in locking away that mark sooner rather than later, and if he can nail the board then Saturday might just be his day with the 25-year-old in the form of his life. National silver and bronze medallists, William Freyer and Henry Frayne (Gary Bourne), will look to close the gap on Mitrevski after trailing him at the national championships.

Japan’s Hibiki Tsuha will be a welcomed addition to the competition if he can muster the form of his 8.23m best, with Tsuha just one of a group of Japanese athletes opening their 2022 campaigns down under.

20-year-old Samantha Dale (Andrew Murphy) has been the measuring stick for women’s long jump in 2022, and not many have come close to her lofty distances in the deep end of the sandpit. Dale broke through with a significant personal best of 6.70m before improving in Melbourne to leap 6.72m – topping it off with a national title in Sydney.

Jessie Harper was second on that occasion with 6.30m in the blustery conditions, whilst 19-year-old Tomysha Clark (Renee Clark) clinched bronze with 6.26m – but they will all be leaping in pursuit of Dale in Brisbane.

High Jump:

Yual Reath (Paul Cleary) makes his way up to Brisbane having secured his maiden national title in Sydney when jumping 2.20m to defeat Olympian Joel Baden (Sandro Bisetto).  

The excitement machine cleared multiple bars with ease on his way to the national title and will be eager to build on his 2.26m personal best in favourable conditions, as the 21-year-old continues his wild ride to the top of Australia’s high jump ranks.

Baden will be looking to set the record straight in Brisbane, whilst national bronze medallist Simioluwa Thomsen-Ajayi and Oscar Miers (Gary Bourne) will be out to stamp their presence on the contest.  

Javelin:

Reigning world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber (Mike Barber) may have added an Olympic bronze to her name in Tokyo, but right by her side in the final was the up-and-coming Mackenzie Little (Angus McEntyre) – who threw a personal best of 62.37m.

Barber’s 2022 campaign revolves around her World Athletics Championships title defence, but it was Little who upset the global medallist in Melbourne with a sixth-round throw of 61.13m to steal the win – with their career head-to-head standing at 7-5 in Barber’s favour.

Little progressed to clinch the national title with a throw of 62.09m in Barber’s absence, setting up an enticing battle at the Brisbane Track Classic in Barber’s new hometown.

Junior Mackenize Mielczarek (Steve Cain) is proving to be a model of consistency and will bring some flare to the runway, having already booked her ticket to the 2022 World Athletics Under 20 Championships in Colombia this August.

Cameron McEntyre (Angus McEntyre) heads up the men’s contest having been crowned the 2022 Australian Champion last week, with silver medallist Cruz Hogan (Morgan Ward) looking to even the ledger.

Shot Put:

Damien Birkinhead (Scott Martin) headlines the strong men in the shot put along with Aiden Harvey (David Bruce) who took out last week’s national title, whilst the whilst the trio of Para-atheltes in Todd Hodgetts (Scott Martin), Cameron Crombie (Hamish McDonald) and Marty Jackson (John Eden) add to a solid field in Brisbane.

Harvey threw 18.47m to take home his first national title ahead of Birkinhead who threw 18.33m, setting up a quality rematch in Brisbane for the tightly contested duo.

It was Hodgetts who threw the farthest in the Shot Put Ambulant event at the nationals with his 15.45m to score 89.18%, but Crombie defeated him with win with 14.85m and 93.10%, whilst Jackson finished behind them with 14.22m and 89.15% - a tight competition to look forward to once again in Brisbane.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 7/04/2022