Young Guns Fire | Weekend Review

World junior qualifiers and state titles were on the menu for what was a windy weekend of athletics action around the nation. 

The South Australian 3000m Championships were held on Thursday evening, with the women’s and men’s titles taken out by Olympian Izzi Batt-Doyle (Nic Bideau) and rising star Isaac Heyne (Adam Didyk) respectively.

Batt-Doyle returned to the track after her bronze medal in the national 10,000m, dropping down to the 3000m and clocking a time of 9:01.87 to clinch an emphatic victory by almost 30-seconds over her nearest rival.

The solo performance will only bolster the confidence of the Adelaide local ahead of Saturday’s Adelaide Invitational where she is set to run the 5000m, a battle that looms as a head-to-head with Rose Davies – both women only improving as they absorb the significant work done in training throughout January.

Heyne proved too good in the war of attrition that was the men’s race, outlasting his competitors after a hot early pace to take the win in a time of 8:03.16 ahead of Paralympian and dual World Champion Jaryd Clifford (Philo Saunders).

The 22-year-old endurance machine has enjoyed a strong start to his 2021/22 campaign, setting a new 5000m personal best of 13:44.66 to finish second at the state championships in November – along with a series of promising results on the road.

Queensland’s Charlie Sprott (Jayden Russ) also laid down a world junior qualifying time over 3000m, joining a host of Australian Under 20 men to qualified for the event – running 8:11.50 to throw his hat in the ring to compete in Colombia in August.

Liam Georgilopoulos (Howard Arbuthnot) became the second Australian junior to qualify for 2022’s world junior championships, clearing a new personal best of 5.05m in Queensland to meet the qualifying standard.

On the sprinting front it was a windy weekend across the nation for Australia’s fast men and women, and whilst most competed with illegal tailwinds, Victoria’s Cooper Sherman (Neville Down) continued his sensational season with a run of 21.24 (-1.6) over 200m – his third world junior qualifier in the event.

Will Roberts (Fred Martin) torched his way down the straight in Sydney with a windy 10.20 (+3.7) to defeat New Zealand’s Edward Osei-Nketia, yet another positive for the 22-year-old who is enjoying a fine start to the year of 2022

Ella Connolly (Mark Ladbrook) is relishing the opportunity to put consistent racing under her belt after a troublesome run with injury in previous years, clocking a 100m time of 11.31 (+2.3) before registering a 200m performance of 23.17 (-1.5).

Young gun Calab Law (Andrew Iselin) made full use of one of the biggest tailwinds of the weekend, with the 18-year-old stopping the clock in 10.24 (+4.7) in the 100m – having already qualified for both the 100m and 200m at the World Athletics Under 20 Championships.  

And whilst it was a quiet weekend for US-based Australians both in the NCAA and on the indoor circuit, Jason Clayton (Loyola) wasted no time in making an impression just weeks into his college experience – setting a huge personal best of 8:03.39 over 3000m in his first race for the Ramblers.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 7/02/2022