Rising Stars Going Far | Weekend Review
Published Mon 30 May 2022
The youthful brilliance of Australian athletics was on display across both the Gold Coast Invitational and NCAA over the weekend as an Under 20 Australian record fell and 14 Aussies punched their ticket to the NCAA Final in Eugene, while established athletes flexed their form.
The Gold Coast Invitational played host to many of Australia’s top juniors who are bound for the World Athletics Under 20 Championships in Colombia this August, with the headline act of the Men’s Under 20 4x100m relay team delivering a new national record of 39.30.
The team comprising of Lachlan Kennedy, Calab Law, Connor Bond and Aidan Murphy narrowly surpassed the previous record of 39.34 and have high hopes for their maiden international voyage – with 10.28-man Jai Gordon and Ryan Tarrant forming the six-man squad.
The Open Men’s 4x100m team Jake Doran, Joshua Azzopardi, Jacob Despard and Jake Penny turned their practice at Athletics Australia’s relay camp supported by the City of Gold Coast into a 39.08 performance, while the Open Women’s team of Kristie Edwards, Bree Masters, Monique Quirk and Naa Anang got the baton around the track in 43.72 seconds. The results cap off a nine day camp on the Gold Coast utilised to refine the exchanges and reduce times, providing athletes with the best chance to qualify for the upcoming World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games.
A shortened run up proved little challenge for Mackenzie Mielczarek (Steve Cain) who launched the javelin a stunning 54.28m in the low-key environment, as Olympic finalist Mackenzie Little (Angus McEntyre) took out the event with a 58.70m effort. The result will serve as a confidence booster for Mielczarek who is eager to force her name into the medal conversation in Cali, and appears capable of doing so.
17-year-old Peyton Craig (Brendan Mallyon) produced one of the runs of the day when lowering his 800m personal best from 1:55.34 to 1:47.52 as he surged to an emphatic victory, with the result holding the versatile triathlete in good stead ahead of his first major championship – but he will first compete at the World Age Group Triathlon Championships in Canada in June.
The personal bests continued as Katie Gunn (Matt Horsnell) took full advantage of a perfect 2.0m/s tailwind to deliver a leap of 6.23m, the farthest legal jump of her career. Gunn was valiant against her Open-aged competitors who were lead by Samantha Dale (Andrew Murphy) who took the win with 6.46m (+2.2).
Oscar Miers leapt his way into the eight-metre club in the Men’s Long Jump with a performance of 8.04m (+1.6), piling on a stunning 20cm to his previous personal best as the multi-talented athlete balances the sandpit with the high jump mat. Ayo Ore (Alwyn Jones) fell just shy of his personal best with a leap of 16.26m (+0.1) to take out the triple jump, as the reigning national champion continues a promising build.
Hurdlers Celeste Mucci (Darren Clark) and Sarah Carli (Melissa Logan) produced strong runs over the sticks on the Gold Coast as Mucci sailed to victory in 13.03 (+1.9) in the 100m hurdles, while Carli’s 56.43 in the 400m hurdles was a class above the rest of the field.
Other results included Aidan Murphy (Peter Fitzgerald) dismantling a slick 200m field in a time of 20.68 (+1.0), while 15-year-old Delta Amidzovski (Roger Farbi) clocked 13.83 (+1.9) in the 100m Hurdles.
At the annual Next Generation Athletics meeting at Nijmegen it was Izzi Batt-Doyle (Nic Bideau) who made it back-to-back wins in the 5000m when running 15:33.03 to take out the title, returning to the site of her 5000m personal best of 15:04.10 in 2021.
The Women’s 800m saw an Australian trio dominate proceedings, lead by Georgia Griffith (Nic Bideau) who won with a swift 2:00.72 to build on her sparkling form, while Ellie Sanford (Terri Cater) and Sarah Billings (Nic Bideau) rounded out the podium in time of 2:03.77 and 2:05.27 respectively.
The East and West finals in the NCAA saw 14 Australians advance to the big dance to be held at Hayward Field next week, punching their tickets to Oregon after surviving the rounds at their respective finals.
Tokyo Olympian Ed Trippas (Princeton) looked in fine form in the 3000m steeplechase when demonstrating his class to win the qualifying round with a run of 8:33.93, as he looks to close in on his 8:19.60 and time his peak to perfection.
The big names Imogen Barrett (Florida) and Carley Thomas (Washington) went through unscathed in the 800m, progressing in times of 2:02.61 and 2:03.18 respectively, while Adam Spencer (Wisconsin) dropped a 3:38.24 in the 1500m to cement his status as a major contender in the NCAA final.
James Joycey (North Carolina) and Lianna Davidson (Texas A&M) lead the way in the field as Joycey launched the hammer 69.29m and propelled himself to the top of the Australian ranking by 9cm, while 19-year-old Davidson advanced to Eugene with a throw of 54.85m in the javelin.
Australia’s middle-distance stocks continue to strengthen as Amelia Mazza-Downie (New Mexico) and Cara Woolnough (Utah) clocked times of 16:08.84 and 15:50.80 respectively to clinch qualifiers, while Zach Facioni (Wake Forrest) and Ky Robinson (Stanford) also booked their flights with runs of 13:44.04 and 13:39.02. Haftu Strintzos (Villanova) made light work of qualifying in the 10,000m with a performance of 28:43.13.
Izzi Thornton-Bott (Oregon) fought on valiantly in the 1500m and was rewarded with a finals berth after her run of 4:20.58, while heptathlete Anna Bush (Wake Forrest) locked away her spot in Eugene with 5675 points in the Heptathlon. Maisie Stevens will also feature in the Women’s 4x100m for the University of California.
Michelle Jenneke (Gary Bourne) made her way over the 100m hurdles in a time of 13.11 (-0.3) to finish in fourth place at Miami, having clocked 13.15 (-0.5) in her heat as she continues to make a strong impression upon returning to the fray.
Former Australian record holder Joseph Deng (Justin Rinaldi) blew out the cobwebs with an improved run of 1:47.43 over 800m to finish in sixth place in Belgium, as the smooth-moving operator looks to re-join teammate Peter Bol at the top of the Australian 800m ranks.
The Gran Premio Internacional de Marcha Cantones de A Coruña 20km walk in Spain saw Rebecca Henderson (Simon Baker) and Declan Tingay (Steven Tingay) clock times of 1:36:47 and 1:23:58 to lead the way for Australia with placings of 12th and 29th respectively, on what was a challenging day at the gold label event. Katie Hayward (Steve Langley) put in a spirited performance to finish in 15th place with a time of 1:37:21.
Australia’s wheelchair racing contingent will finish their tour of Switzerland this week, with a full results summary of all the latest action to come.
*For information regarding joining the NCAA system as an Australian athlete, or to update Athletics Australia on your results as an NCAA athlete, please visit https://www.athletics.com.au/high-performance/pathway-able-bodied/.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 30/5/2022
