Reign Continues at National Championships | Day 4 Recap

The rain in Sydney proved no match for Australia’s top juniors on day four of the 2022 Australian Track and Field Championships, as strong performances across the board continued to pierce through the grey skies.

New South Wales junior Hayley Kitching has progressed rapidly in 2022, with the 17-year-old now having an Under 20 national title to her name over 800m to show for it. Kitching greeted the bell with a move that was full of authority, leaving no doubt that she was on her way to victory.

“I was just coming in thinking about the win, and the time takes care of itself. I’ve dropped four seconds in the past four or five months so I know I can keep moving up,” Kitching said.

“All my hard work over the last few years is finally starting to pay off, I’m just getting to see the rewards of it now.”

Kitching defeated fellow world junior qualified athletes Montana Monk (NSW), Macey Hilton (NZ) and Sayla Donnelly (QLD) to secure the automatic berth for the 2022 World Athletics Under 20 Championships in Colombia.

Charlie Jeffreson has been a major contender in Open 800m races around the country this year, making it no surprise when he fended off a quality Under 20 Men’s 800m field in the final straight – clinching the win in 1:50.04 to defeat Luke Boyes (1:50.12, NSW) and Hayden Todd (1:50.14, ACT).

“It was a great race. The plan for today was winning and getting the auto selection. With the conditions the time wasn’t a focus, just winning,” Jeffreson said.

“World juniors is a big step for me, it will be a good learning experience and good fun.”

Whilst significantly slower than his 1:47.60 personal best, the 17-year-old is elated with the result and securing an automatic world junior berth, drawing from his experience in racing the nation’s best.

“The depth in 800m is incredible. Just being around the likes of Peter Bol is a surreal feeling, it really builds up your own running. Especially now he is getting the recognition he deserves, racing with him really boosts your performance – he’s an excellent role model,” Jeffreson said.

Calab Law (QLD) continued his demolition job over 200m this season, successfully defending his Under 20 national title in a new meet record time of 20.63 (-0.7) – but he says the job is not done ahead of the Open 200m later this week.

“This is the warm up for Opens. I’m going to do it again, 20.3 is what I’m aiming for and it’s going to happen - definitely. Whoever wins is going to have to run that kind of time,” Law said.

On a wet track and into a headwind, Law defeated emerging star Connor Bond (NSW) who produced the best run of his short career with a 21.00 performance, whilst Lachlan Kennedy (QLD) rounded out the podium with his 21.15.

There was an added incentive for Law, whose victory was doubled after winning a challenge set with fellow Queensland junior Torrie Lewis:

“We are really competitive against each other, so we had a challenge for who could win by the most but we changed to who could get the meet record – and he got it,” Lewis said.

Lewis made light work of a loaded field in the Under 20 Women’s 200m final, coasting to victory in a time of 23.46 (-0.2) as her class shone through. Fellow Queenslander Georgia Harris finished second in 23.86, whilst rising New South Wales talent Olivia Rose Inkster crossed third in 24.00.

The result comes with little surprise off the back of her strong performances in the Open ranks throughout the season, with the 17-year-old far too slick for her peers at this stage of her young career.

Aiden Hinson (VIC) entered the national Under 20 Triple Jump bout without a world junior qualifier, but came away with an automatic spot on the plane to Colombia after recording a distance of 15.76m to clinch the national title.

The vast improvements come after fixing a troublesome hamstring injury, allowing Hinson to progress back to jumping near his best.

“I was confident but there was the extra pressure on doing well and also jumping a world junior qualifier. I’m all in on the triple jump at the moment, but I might pick up the long jump again next season,” Hinson said.

“I would like top three at World Juniors, if we attended last year my personal best would have got me top three – so I have high expectations.”

Stamping her authority on the Under 20 Women’s 400m ranks, Isabella Guthrie (NSW) charged away from the field in the national final – defeating fellow world junior qualified athletes Ashley Spencer (60.36, WA) and Paige Elvey (61.02, VIC).

Guthrie joins her twin sister on the plane to Colombia for the 2022 World Athletics Under 20 Championships, after Jasmin won yesterday’s Under 20 Women’s 400m title.

“It’s very exciting for Jas and I both to be heading over to Colombia for World Juniors. It takes the weight off my shoulders for the Opens later in the week, hopefully I can run 57 [seconds],” Guthrie said.

With a strong front-running performance it was Amy Bunnage (VIC) who torched her way around 7.5 laps of the track with a dazzling 9:06.93, making a mess of some of Australia’s best junior middle-distance talent.

Well within the qualifying standard of 9:32.00 for the 2022 World Athletics Under 20 Championships, Bunnage secures her first automatic spot on the Australian team headed for Colombia – having also qualified in the 1500m but finishing in fourth place of the national final.

Overcoming the difficulties that come with a soaked runway, Mackenzie Mielczarek (VIC) launched the javelin 51.68m to win the national Under 20 title with what was a powerful performance given the circumstances – recording a dominant win.

Mielczarek joins a host of fellow Australian juniors who have punched their ticket to Colombia for the 2022 World Athletics Under 20 Championships, where she will loom large as one of Australia’s brightest young hopefuls.

It was double delight for Peyton Craig (QLD) who unleashed his second lethal finishing kick of the week to win the Under 20 Men’s 3000m affair, coming over the top of a quality field in convincing fashion – taking home the title in a time of 8:12.63. Patrick Cantlon (8:12.84, NSW) beat home Thomas Diamond (8:12.84, VIC) to make the discretionary selection a tight tussle.

Tiana Boras (VIC) took home a comfortable win in the Under 20 Women’s Triple Jump to punch her ticket to Colombia, registering a distance of 12.94m en route to the national title. Boras was the only woman with the world junior standard heading into the encounter, with the 17-year-old cementing her status as the nation’s leading junior in the event.

The New South Wales 4x400m team of Isabella Guthrie, Paige Campbell, Emma O’Reilly and Jasmin Guthrie set a new meet record of 3:41.15 to close a great day of athletics.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 28/03/2022