Athletics Australia – News – Day 3 Nationals

Day Three of the 92nd Australian Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games Selection Trials has delivered triumph aplenty, with thirteen athletes ensuring their automatic nomination for selection to compete at Glasgow 2014.

Battling blustery conditions and intermittent sunshine, the impressive list of track and field charges ignored the factors they couldn’t control and dropped strong performances to win national championship gold.

Leading the way were IAAF World Championships silver medallists Sally Pearson (Qld) and Kim Mickle (WA), who won the women’s 100m and women’s javelin respectively to confirm their addition to the nominee list for Glasgow 2014.

Surging up the straight into a -4.1 headwind, Pearson stopped the clock at 11.70 to win her 12th national crown. The performance provides a fantastic prelude to her start in the women’s 100m hurdles tomorrow, and caps off a strong domestic season of flat running that includes times of 11.35, 11.29, 11.34 and 11.27 from the Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane instalments of the National Athletics Series.

Mickle’s best mark of 64.28m came in the fifth round and it ensured a sixth consecutive national title for the new Australian javelin record holder. The Commonwealth Games A-Qualified Kelsey-Lee Roberts (ACT) won the silver medal with a throw of 58.58m, and her performances this season mean that Athletics Australia Selectors can discretionarily add her to the nominee list next week.

Delivering arguably the highlight of the Nationals so far, Josh Ralph (NSW, 1:46.57) reigned supreme over Alex Rowe (Vic, second, 1:46.68) and Jeff Riseley (Vic, third, 1:47.11) in the men’s 800m to ensure his maiden opportunity to compete in an individual event at an international championship.

Only his third ever Australian Athletics Championships medal, Ralph is thrilled by his choice to move into the two-lap event and now looks forward to making up for the disappointment of not getting a chance to run in the 4x400m relay at last year’s IAAF World Championships.

“It always a hurts a bit less after a race when things go well so it has been an impressive move up to the two-laps from my perspective. After Moscow last year I was heartbroken about not getting a run in the relay. I knew why I didn’t and appreciated that but didn’t want to be that guy again so we thought about having a crack at the longer distances and see what I can do. It’s been such a great choice,” Ralph said.

“The race played out differently to how I thought it would. That’s good though because it’s more race experience in different styles and it gives me a chance to try new things. I’ve been checked a few more times today than I have before but I better get used to it because I assume it will be the same if not worse in Glasgow.”

Ralph was one of five athletes who will get to the chance to compete for Australia for the first time.

In the men’s 110m hurdles, the IAAF World Junior Championships silver medallist Nicholas Hough (NSW) clocked 14.12 (w: -2.9) to add an open national title to his multiple gold medals from the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in recent years and secure his nomination for Glasgow 2014. He will be joined on the entry list in Glasgow by Morgan Mitchell (Vic) in the women’s 400m, after she ran a huge personal best of 52.22 to take out the one-lap race in her first Commonwealth Games B-Qualifier from Anneliese Rubie (NSW, second, 52.35) and Caitlin Sargent (Qld, third, 52.77).

Soaring to a new personal best of 13.93m (w: +0.7), Linda Leverton (Qld)ensured her addition to the nominee list by winning her third Australian Athletics Championships gold medal in the women’s triple jump, while Sean Roberts (SA) finished second in his heat of the men’s ambulant 100m behind IPC Athletics World Championships representative Brayden Davidson (SA, first, 13.50) in a time of 13.20 (w: -0.9). The performance is enough to secure his berth in the men’s T37 100m for athletes with cerebral palsy.

Competing in the women’s 1500m, Zoe Buckman (Vic) will also be nominated for the Commonwealth Games after she won the metric mile in a time of 4:10.86 from Heidi Gregson (NSW, second, 4:11.66) and Jenny Blundell (NSW,third, 4:12.00).

Continuing her impressive rise in the world of middle distance running, the IAAF WorldChampionships finalist is now confident in her ability to read the race andperform no matter what the conditions are.

“It’s a championship race without pace and it was pretty windy out there so I wasfeeling my way through it the whole time. It’s a skill I am getting better at and I’m glad to secure my spot in the team. You have to be happy with the win, and I’m glad that my bold move to go into the wind on the back straight was something that I was able to hold,” Buckman said.

“I look back to 2010 and see that I was like Bambi at the Commonwealth trials.Even at the Olympics I didn’t have that edge, but it is gradually coming along and I am proud of that.”

Victoria Mitchell (Vic, 3000m steeplechase), Richard Colman (Vic, wheelchair 1500m) and Madison de Rozario (WA, wheelchair 1500m) will join Buckman on track at Glasgow 2014 followingtheir nomination for selection to the Australian Commonwealth Games Association.

Mitchell ran a second Commonwealth Games B-Standard and season best of 9:42.01 to win the women’s 3000m steeplechase from a returning Madeleine Heiner (SA, second, 9:48.05, CG-B) and London Olympian Genevieve LaCaze (Qld, third. 10:15.55). It is her first Australian team since the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Colman (3:29.77), who is a Paralympic champion and the 2010 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, edged out the Commonwealth Games A-Qualified Kurt Fearnley (NSW, second, 3:29.90) ton win the national men’s wheelchair 1500m crown and ensure automatic nomination for Glasgow 2014. In the women’s event, de Rozario (WA) was victorious in 4:02.56 to ensure her Australian team spot.

In the field, it was Liz Parnov (WA, pole vault) and Benn Harradine (Qld, discus) who staked their claim for nomination.

Delivering what will likely be her first appearance for Australia since making her Olympic debut at London 2012, the Commonwealth Games B-Qualified Liz Parnov (WA) won the women’s pole vault with a best mark of 4.20m to ensure her automatic nomination to the Australian Commonwealth Games Association. Her training partner Emma Philippe (WA, 4.20m, CG-B) and the Commonwealth Games B-Qualified Jamie Scroop (SA, third, 4.10m, CG-B) won the silver and bronze medal.

A former IAAF World Youth and IAAF World Junior Championships silver medallist, the 20-year-old now looks forward to making every effort to prepare as well as she can for competition in Europe before the Commonwealth Games.

“It was a really hectic competition for me out there. I never felt relaxed and that’s not the best way to be so I am so happy to know that it’s done and I’m in,” Parnov said.

“The Commonwealth Games was always the main priority and this was the first step. I’m really happy with where I am right now and I can go away and prepare properly for Glasgow and hopefully deliver a good result.”

London 2012 finalist Harradine sent the discus out to a 62.23m mark to win his sixth national title and ensure his automatic nomination after throwing a Commonwealth Games A-Standard at the IAAF Melbourne World Challenge two weeks ago.

Delayed by almost 24 hours, the men’s decathlon result was decided following a lengthy jury meeting at Athletics Australia this morning.

The meeting came as a result of an official appeal by the silver medallist Stephen Cain (Vic, second, 7493 points) about interference by the now automatically nominated for Glasgow 2014 Jake Stein (NSW), who maintains the national crown after the complaint was dismissed.

The 2011 IAAF World Youth Champion and 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships silver medallist, Stein is a star on the rise in the combined events and his gold medal win today ensures what will be his first competition at an open age major international championship.

Scoring an impressive 7564 points to win gold overall, Stein’s first day was one that he described as disappointing. He ran 11.67 in the 100m before jumping 6.97m in the long jump, throwing the shot put 14.77m, soaring 1.86m in the high jump and clocking 52.00 in the 400m. On day two, Stein opened with 14.89 in the 110m hurdles, hurled the disc 47.40m, cleared 4.40m in ten pole vault, chucked the spear 63.66m and ran 4:43.71 in the 1500m.

Tickets to the 92nd Australian Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games Selection Trials are not pre-sold. Alltickets will be sold ‘on the gate’ at Lakeside Stadium on each of the four days of competition.

The final timetable and entry lists for the 92nd Australian Athletics Championships, the last event on the 2014 National Athletics Series, are available for download by clicking here.

Please note that the entry lists are subject to change, and that events will be seeded into heats and qualification groups closer to the commencement of competition.

 

Commonwealth Games Qualification Status

The Athletics Australia High Performance Department has prepared two documents that detail the Qualification Status of all athletes who have nominated for selection to the Australian team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games (excluding 10,000m, marathon, relays and multi-events).

These documents, which are split into male athletes and female athletes, have been designed to highlight which athletes have achieved a qualification standard, and provide guidance on the stages of the selection process that they can be considered for nomination according to the 2014 Commonwealth Games Selection Policy, which is available for download here.

Please note that athletes who have not yet nominated for selection are not included in these documents.

 

 Athletics Australia – News