Records, Relays and Rising Stars | Weekend Recap

A blockbuster weekend of Australian athletics action witnessed two national junior records tumble thanks to a rising crop of sprinters and Amy Bunnage, while Lauren Ryan shattered 15-minutes for 5000m and Lisa Weightman chalked up marathon number 25 on the podium in Osaka.  

Clocking her third Olympic marathon qualifier with a 2:24:43 performance to claim a third place finish on the roads of Osaka, Lisa Weightman (Dick Telford) made marathon number 25 a memorable one when racing to within 23 seconds of victory.

The result sees the 45-year-old continue to flex her longevity as she chases the monumental feat of becoming Australia’s first five-time Olympian in athletics, remaining one of five Australian women to have clocked the 2:26:50 Olympic standard in the qualifying window – with a maximum of three to be selected to don the green and gold on the roads of Paris in August.

The result comes after teammate Cameron Myers (Dick Telford) nailed his second Olympic 1500m qualifier on the other end of the scale on a historic night in Bankstown, racing to victory in 3:33.30 – the fastest time in the world this year and just 0.04-seconds outside his Australian Under 20 record.

The nation’s sprinters combined to put on a show in the relays at the Cathy Freeman Shield in Brisbane, led by an Australian Under 20 record of 39.12 in the 4x100m delivered by the team of Frankleen Newah-Jarfoi (Daniel Sneyders), Sebastian Sultana (Greg Smith), Cody Hasler (Rob Marks) and Gout Gout (Diane Sheppard).

The Open men followed suit with the equal fourth fastest time ever by an Australian team and the fastest since 2012, as Christopher Ius (Andrew Murphy), Jacob Despard (Rolf Ohman), Calab Law (Andrew Iselin) and Josh Azzopardi (Rob Marks) clocked a scorching 38.43 as the 2024 World Athletics Relay Championships draw closer this May in the Bahamas.

Also propelling themselves into 30^th place on the world rankings ahead of the World Relay Championships, the Men’s 4x400m capped off an afternoon of relay success with a 3:03.88 reading thanks to the work of John Gikas (Andrew Murphy), Harrison Hunt (Dylan Hicks), Alex Beck (Mark Ladbrook) and Nick Donaldson (Mark Ladbrook).

Rolling on with the sprinting action and it was Australian junior representative Cooper Sherman (Neville Down) who stamped his presence at Lakeside Stadium for the Victorian Championships, tearing around the 400m in a career-best 45.98.

Also impressing en route to the Victorian title was Joel Baden (Sandro Bisseto) who soared over 2.28m as he begins to hit his straps in the Olympic year, while Rhydian Cowley (Brent Valance) and Rebecca Henderson (Simon Baker) walked to wins over 5000m in 18:28.47 and 21:42.01. Reece Langdon (Tim O’Shaughnessy, T38) raced to another Paralmypic A qualifier of 3:58.00 over 1500m.

The World Athletics Continental Tour headed across the ditch for New Zealand’s International Track Meet, a Bronze level meeting, as Matthew Denny (Dale Stevenson) asserted himself back atop the leaderboard in the Men’s Discus with a winning throw of 65.79m.

Wins were also secured by Ebony Lane (Matt Carter) who left the field in her wake over 100m in a time of 11.27 (+2.5), while Elizabeth Hedding (Alex Stewart) made her presence known in the Women’s Long Jump with a winning leap of 6.50m (+2.5) – also nailing her first legal personal best since 2019 in the sequence.

Luke Boyes (Ben Saint Lawrence) rounded out the top results in New Zealand with second place behind Sam Tanner with a run of 1:46.74 over 800m.

In the United States, Lauren Ryan (Lara Rogers) became just the sixth woman in Australian history to shatter the 15-minute barrier over 5000m, stopping the clock in 14:57.67 at the Dempsey Indoor Facility, while Amy Bunnage (Stanford) set a new Australian Under 20 record in 15:11.68 (pending ratification) to eclipse Eloise Wellings’ mark of 15:18.6 from 1999.

Australian junior representative Hayley Kitching (Penn State) delivered a slick double in the space of an hour at the Big Ten Championships, with the 19-year-old clocking 2:04.08 to win the 800m title before doubling back to take out the 600m in 1:26.97. Jackson Sharp (Wisconsin) added to the success at the Big Ten Championships when winning the 3000m/5000m double, with a particularly impressive 3000m time of 7:46.42.

Juniors Aleksandra Stoilova (Clemson) and Jett Grundy (Montana State) continued their strong form with runs of 7.32 (60m) and 47.12 (400m) respectively, while 2022 World Indoors representative Thomas Willems (Colorado) raced to a swift 46.89 over 400m and Toby Gillen (Ole Miss) put in another classy showing over 5000m in 13:32.66.

Adding to the 2024 World Under 20 Championships qualifying performances, the Victorian Championships witnessed William Wong (Eric Wong) storm over the 110m hurdles a breakthorugh 13.58 (+1.2), while Jessica Milat (Cathy Woodruf) took out the 100m title in 11.59 (-0.8). In Perth, Olivia Dodds (Lyn Foreman) delivered another 100m qualifier in 11.56 (0.0), while 16-year-old Daniel Williams (Andrew Rowlings) set a new 1500m personal best of 3:45.22 in Brisbane.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 26/2/2024