Weightman in a Hurry, International Aussies Impress | Weekend Review
Published Mon 02 May 2022
After a lull in competition following the Australian Track and Field Championships, many of Australia’s top athletes have made their way overseas to compete on the international stage – but it was Lisa Weightman who delivered the result of the weekend right here on home soil.
Four-time Olympian Lisa Weightman (Dick Telford) continues to show no signs of slowing down at 42-years-old, as she clocked a scorching 31:20 performance at the Sydney 10 on Sunday. Should the event have been a National Permit Meet, Weightman's time would have been the fastest road time in history by an Australian home soil. Weightman delivered the dazzling performance on the streets of Sydney Olympic Park, and fell just three seconds shy of Benita Willis’ 31:17 national record.
Canberra’s Leanne Pompeani (Des Proctor) delivered a strong run of 31:43 to be the second woman across the line, a performance that could only be overshadowed by Weightman’s brilliance on the day. The Men’s race was won by Brisbane’s Kieren Perkins (Peter Bracken) in a time of 28:57, while Luke Bailey (Andrew Dawes) blitzed the field to win the Wheelchair race in 24:09.
On international soil and it was a wet and windy Japan that played host to many Australian athletes as they hop their way to the European summer, with Celeste Mucci (Darren Clark) registered back-to-back wins in the 100m hurdles when delivering performances of 13.21 (-2.8) and 13.08 (-0.6) in Hiroshima and Osaka respectively.
Mucci’s hurdling compatriots Nick Hough (Anthony Benn) and Nick Andrews (Tim O’Neill) completed the same double in the 110m hurdles. Hough kick-started proceedings with a 13.73 (-1.5) run for second place in Hiroshima, before an emphatic 13.50 (0.8) win in Osaka - suggesting the seven-time national champion is nearing his best with his fastest run in four years. Andrews reaped results of 13.98 (-0.7) for third in Hiroshima, before a seasons best of 13.72 (0.8) was good enough for fifth place in Osaka.
Junior Calab Law (Andrew Iselin) was not interested in waiting until the World Athletics Under 20 Championships in August to make his international debut, declaring himself ready to begin his career on the world stage when running 20.88 (0.1) to finish in second place of the 200m in Osaka.
Also collection silver in Osaka was reigning Australian long jump champion Chris Mitrevski (John Boas) who recorded a leap of 7.78m (0.4) in the challenging conditions. The 25-year-old is chasing the 8.22m qualifying standard for the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games, having fallen just one-centimetre short with his final jump at the national championships.
Olympian Jessica Thornton (Brett Robinson) finished in fifth place of the 400m at Osaka, clocking 54.58.
Stanford’s prestigious Payton Jordan meet saw a brave Brielle Erbacher (Jody Erbacher) dwindle late in the 3000m steeplechase to narrowly miss the 9:30.00 qualifying standard for the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games, clocking a significant personal best of 9:32.96 to finish in third place.
With Tokyo Olympian Amy Cashin asserting herself as the nation’s premier women’s steeplechaser, Erbacher has quietly gone about her business in recent years to find herself on the doorstep of her maiden Australian tracksuit in the senior ranks.
Fellow Australian Cara Feain-Ryan (Ben Norton) finished in fifth place as the clock read 9:50.25.
20-year-old Australian Ky Robinson (Stanford) continues to build on the rich vein of form that saw him win silver in the 5000m at the NCAA Indoor Championships when running 13:20.17, this time making his 10,000m debut with an outstanding run of 27:47.11, finishing in sixth place of the slick encounter.
South Australia’s Isaac Heyne (Adam Didyk) made the first stop of his international voyage a worthwhile one, setting a huge personal best of 13:30.82 in the 5000m to finish in ninth place at Payton Jordan. The run will only bolster the confidence of the 22-year-old as he progresses to the international stage in 2022.
The action rolled on for Team Tempo with marquee athletes Matthew Clarke (Adam Didyk) and Max Stevens (Adam Didyk) in the 3000m steeplechase, with the tightly-contested duo clocking times of 8:28.74 and 8:30.70 respectively, finishing in sixth and eighth placings.
The 5000m had a strong Australian flavour to it with numerous athletes competing in the affair, as Lauren Ryan (Florida State) secured bragging rights as the highest placed Australian with her 15:30.00 and sixth placing. Paige Campbell (Philo Saunders) was eighth in 15:36.95, followed by Ruby Smee (San Francisco) in 10th (15:58.02), and Caitlin Adams (Adam Didyk) in 12th with a time of 16:02.73 after a bout of COVID-19.
Junior Adam Goddard (Adam Didyk) rounded out the action at Payton Jordan with his run of 3:51.28 to finish in second place of his 1500m heat.
Olympian Ed Trippas (Princeton) took to the track at the coveted Penn Relays, registering a strong performance in the 3000m steeplechase to run 8:30.25 and finish in fourth place. After a relatively casual start to the season for the 23-year-old Olympian, Trippas is now building momentum towards his best.
Imogen Barrett (Florida) is a name that has flown under the radar in 2022 after her recent 2:01.65 personal best, consolidating that form with a 2:02.33 run on the weekend to win at the UNF Invitational in Florida. Barrett has been a model of consistency to begin her outdoor campaign and would only have to continue her current trajectory to force her name into Australian team conversations.
Fellow Australian and 800m athlete Carley Thomas (Washington) proved too good for her competitors at the Fresno State Invitational in California, clocking 2:04.49 to clinch the win with a seasons best performance.
Dylan Burrows (Oklahoma Christian) continues to make progress on his athletic pursuits in the United States, beaten only by Olympian Bryce Hoppell in the 800m at the Rock Chalk Classic in Kansas – Burrows once again dipping under the 1:50-barrier with his time of 1:49.36.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 2/5/2022
