Kealey the star of 2008 Briggs Classic

Mitch Kealey produced the fastest 1500 metres ever run in Tasmania to be the clear choice as the athlete of the meet at tonight's 2008 Briggs Athletics Classic.

In almost idyllic conditions at the Domain Athletic Centre in Hobart, the talented young Queenslander, who turns 24 at the end of this month, showed he is on track for a solid shot at Olympic selection in recording 3.39.70 to demolish both the meet and the Tasmanian all-comers records, which previously stood at 3.41.71.

The race was run at a solid pace from the outset, with the 16-man field in indian file. Kealey made his move in the back straight with 250 metres to go, leaving his opponents led by Irish visitor Dave Campbell and NSW runner Lachlan Chisholm to fight for the minor placings. The first four, completed by Nick Bromley, all bettered the old records.

Home-town girl Donna MacFarlane was the pick of the women competitors. Despite a large solo and totally self-paced run, the Commonwealth steeple bronze medallist ran an impressive 9.04.51 on the flat for the same distance to indicate a personal best over the barriers may be just around the corner. Sydney runner Lara Tamsett, who is just out of junior ranks, held on well for a personal best of 9.25.41 in second place.

The Briggs Classic as always was a big attraction for Australia’s top throwers and the big men did not disappoint in 2008.

Benn Harradine (QAS) was the dominant force in the men’s discus, sending the plate out to 61.62m, just shy of Werner Reiterer’s meet record of 61.96m set 15 years ago.

Scott Martin (VIS), who was the star of the same meet 12 months ago, failed to reproduce his personal best form of Sydney seven days earlier in 2008, but was still impressive in taking the shot put with a best effort of 19.80m.

Queensland leg amputee athlete Paul Raison, competing alongside Martin, set an Australian F44 class record with the 6kg shot of 15.46m.

The conditions were perhaps too perfect for the javelin throwers with what little wind there was disappearing by the time they took their turn to perform at the end of the program.

Nonetheless, Australian No. 1 Jarrod Bannister still managed to propel the 800g spear out to 76.92m, whilst young Tasmanian Hamish Peacock showed why he was the World Youth silver medallist in 2007 by setting a new personal best of 70.66m in finishing third.

It was a good night for Australia’s younger talent, with three others joining Peacock in bettering their respective qualifying standards for this year’s World Junior (under 20) Championships in Poland.

Henry Frayne (Vic) and Robert Falchi (NSW) both bettered the much sought after mark in finishing in the top two places in the men’s triple jump, revelling in the conditions to record personal bests of 15.77m and 15.62m respectively.

But the junior performance of the night might well have come from 18-year-old Craig Huffer who, in finishing an impressive sixth behind Kealey, produced a time of 3.43.89 to smash his own best and the WJ qualifying by more than three seconds.

In other events, Collis Birmingham again toiled hard in pursuit of an Olympic qualifier at 5000 metres, winning in 13.38.11, just over 10 seconds shy of the B standard, whilst Tamsyn Lewis was likewise left to do it on her own in the women’s 800m, taking first in 2.03.17.

With hopefully greater competition in coming weeks, both athletes look more than capable of achieving their domestic season goals, given the form they demonstrated this evening.

Karyne Di Marco indicated that she might be heading back towards her best form which took her to a Commonwealth medal in 2002, with a win in the women’s hammer with a best of 60.42m. Another youngster, James Kaan was an encouraging winner of the men’s 800m, dashing past his rivals in the home straight to win in 1.50.26.

And in the support program, the Tassie Devils had their first win of the season, taking out the 4 x 100m relay for other sports in 48.08.

Courtesy of Brian Roe (Athletics Tasmania)

2008 Briggs Athletics Classic results

Domain Athletic Centre, Hobart, Tasmania

Girls Under 13 4 x 100 Metres Relay Finals
1, Kingborough Little Aths 'A' 56.58. 2, Clarence Little Aths 'B' 57.99. 3, East Derwent Little Aths 'A' 58.76. 4, Kingborough Little Aths 'B' 60.16. 5, Claremont Little Aths 'A' 62.08. 6, Clarence Little Aths 'A' 62.64. 7, Combined TLAA Team 'A' 64.25.

Women 100 Metres
(w: NWI) 1, April Brough, New Zealand, 11.99. 2, Angela Byrt, Victoria, 12.13. 3, Katrina Steward, Victoria, 12.32. 4, Jessica Peris, Australian Capit, 12.48. 5, Hannah Chapman, Eastern Subs, 13.12.

Women 400 Metres
1, Katrina Steward, Victoria, 55.06. 2, Morgan Whiley, Tasmanian Instit, 55.44. 3, April Brough, New Zealand, 56.34. 4, Sheena Steinert, South Australia, 57.49. 5, Hannah West, Sandy Bay, 58.99. 6, Kiara Chambers, Eastern Subs, 60.17.

Women 800 Metres
1, Tamsyn Lewis, Victoria, 2:03.17. 2, Katherine Katsanevakis, Victoria, 2:10.20. 3, Kate Pedley, Tasmanian Instit, 2:10.51. 4, Renee Vandenberg, NSW, 2:12.21. 5, Alexandra Lavale, Victoria, 2:12.31. 6, Lisa Stanton-Smith, Victoria, 2:15.26. 7, Nicole Perry, North West, 2:15.65. 8, Allie Britton, Sandy Bay, 2:18.19. 9, Jessica Morey, OVA, 2:20.62. 10, Miranda Allender, Sandy Bay, 2:25.03. 11, Jillian Lyall, North West, 2:26.89.

Women 3000 Metres
1, Donna MacFarlane, Tasmanian Instit, 9:04.51. 2, Lara Tamsett, NSW, 9:25.41. 3, Lee Furst, Victoria, 9:30.48. 4, Anna Worland, Victoria, 9:41.08. 5, Camilla Wishaw, North Launceston, 9:57.50. 6, Kristen Wyatt, Victoria, 10:18.23. 7, Sarah Browning, OVA, 10:53.36.

Women 4 x 100 Metres Relay
1, North West AC 'A' 49.73.

Women 4 x 400 Metres Relay
1, North West AC 'A' 4:13.03.

Women Triple Jump
1, Jeanette Bowles, Victoria, 12.70m, w:-0.1. 2, Carmen Miller, North Launceston, 12.38m, w:1.5. 3, Hannah Turnbull, Victoria, 11.40m, w:-0. 1. 4, Lauren Free, OVA, 11.33m, w:0.3. 5, Mel Street, Eastern Subs, 11.30m, w:0.2.

Women Hammer Throw
1, Karyne Di Marco, NSWIS, 60.42m. 2, Sharyne Angel, Queensland, 56.82m. 3, Breanne Clement, NSWIS, 55.25m. 4, Anita Millington, North Launceston, 42.75m. 5, Rhiannon Maher, North West, 33.97m. 6, Danielle McConnell, Eastern Subs, 33.41m.

Boys Under 13 4 x 100 Metres Relay
1, Kingborough Little Aths 'A' 54.30. 2, Kingborough Little Aths 'B' 56.70. 3, Clarence Little Aths 'A' 58.00. 4, Clarence Little Aths 'B' 61.60.

Men 100 Metres
(w: 1.7) 1, Rhett Medford, Victoria, 10.70. 2, Liam Gander, NSW, 10.93. 3, Clay Watkins, South Australia, 11.05. 4, Rodney Blair, NSW, 11.08. 5, Mark Cooper, OVA, 11.46. 6, James Hay, Sandy Bay, 11.47. 7, Cameron Cranfield, Sandy Bay, 11.58. 8, Joshua Ross#2, Victoria, 11.62.

Men 800 Metres
1, James Kaan, NSW, 1:50.26. 2, Matt Gibney, Victoria, 1:50.82. 3, Joshua Schmidt, Victoria, 1:50.84. 4, Simon Fitzpatrick, Victoria, 1:50.89. 5, Matt Griffin, Victoria, 1:53.00. 6, Johnny Rayner, Victoria, 1:53.01. 7, Nathan Morey, OVA, 1:53.72. 8, Dominic Anastasio, OVA, 1:55.15. 9, Michael Bond, Victoria, 1:56.35. --, Adam Byles, Victoria, DNF.

Men 1500 Metres
1, Mitch Kealey, QAS, 3:39.70. 2, David Campbell, Ireland, 3:40.25. 3, Lachlan Chisholm, NSW, 3:40.44. 4, Nick Bromley, NSWIS, 3:41.20. 5, Michael Shelley, Queensland, 3:43.83. 6, Craig Huffer, Victoria, 3:43.89. 7, Matt Coloe, Victoria, 3:45.46. 8, Grant Page, Northern Subs, 3:46.50. 9, Daniel Clark, Victoria, 3:46.51. 10, Bouchaib Chefnaoui, Morocco, 3:53.32. 11, Adam Byles, Victoria, 3:53.62. 12, Stephen Dinneen, Victoria, 3:53.80. 13, Ryan Foster, Tasmanian Instit, 3:55.38. 14, Tom Beard, OVA, 3:58.19. 15, Alex Spinks, Sandy Bay, 4:11.48.

Men 5000 Metres
1, Collis Birmingham, VIS, 13:38.11. 2, Toby Rayner, Victoria, 13:58.77. 3, Lee Troop, Victoria, 14:03.40. 4, Liam Adams, Victoria, 14:06.17. 5, Clint Perrett, Victoria, 14:11.02. 6, Benjamin Toomey, Victoria, 14:12.01. 7, Chris Hamer, Victoria, 14:28.11. 8, Marcus Brown, Queensland, 14:33.13. 9, Sam Crowther, Victoria, 14:33.31. 10, Alan Craigie, Victoria, 14:58.01. 11, Josh Harris, Tamar, 15:26.86. 12, Benjamin Norman, Victoria, 15:27.98. 13, Sam Ferguson, North West, 15:35.99. 14, Andrew Ferris, Queensland, 15:48.35. --, David Campbell, Ireland, DNF. --, Nick Bromley, NSWIS, DNF. --, Mark Tucker, Victoria, DNF.

Men 400 Metres Hurdles
1, Brendan Cole, ACT Academy, 50.59. 2, Chris Watson, Queensland, 53.11. 3, Ian Dewhurst, NSW, 53.92. 4, Luke Hart, Victoria, 54.14. 5, Mark Watts, NSW, 55.59. 6, Sam Carson, Queensland, 56.58. 7, Chris McConnell, Eastern Subs, 62.07.

Men 4 x 100 Metres Relay Sports
1, Tassie Devils FC 'A' 48.08. 2, Hobart FC 'A' 48.81. 3, Glenorchy FC 'A' 49.23. 4, Brighton FC 'A' 49.43. 5, Footy Umpires 'A' 49.67. 6, North Hobart FC 'A' 49.94.

Men 4 x 100 Metres Relay
1, Box Hill AC 'A' 43.30. 2, Eastern Suburbs 'A' 44.96.

Men 4 x 400 Metres Relay
1, Box Hill AC 'A' 3:23.30. 2, Old Virgilians 'A' 3:23.99. 3, Eastern Suburbs 'A' 3:24.68.

Men Triple Jump
1, Henry Frayne, South Australia, 15.77m, w:0.2. 2, Robert Falchi, NSW, 15.62m, w:1.2. 3, Adam Rabone, Victoria, 15.26m, w:-0.1. 4, Aidan Mol, South Australia, 15.04m, w:-0.1. 5, Joshua Lumley, Queensland, 14.76m, w:0.3. 6, Alex Lorraway, Australian Capit, 14.65m, w:0.2. 7, Jared Hunter, Victoria, 14.31m, w:-0.1.

Men Shot Put
1, Scott Martin, VIS, 19.67m. 2, Chris Gaviglio, Queensland, 18.73m. 3, Stuart Gyngell, NSW, 18.17m. 4, Todd Hodgetts, Newstead, 16.00m. 5, Wayne Willis, South Australia, 15.32m. 6, Matt Cherry, Queensland, 14.99m. 7, Russell Short, AIS, 14.32m.

Men AWD Shot Put
1. Paul Raison (F44-6kg), Ais-Qas, 15.46m NR

Men Discus Throw
1, Benn Harradine, VIS, 61.62m. 2, Aaron Neighbour, Victoria, 58.53m. 3, Graham Hicks, Tasmanian Instit, 54.84m. 4, Tim Driesen, AIS, 52.62m.

Men AWD Discus Throw
1, Paul Raison (F44-1.5kg), AIS-QAS, 47.04m.

Men Javelin Throw
1, Jarrod Bannister, QAS, 76.92m. 2, Will Hamlyn-Harris, NSW, 72.75m. 3, Hamish Peacock, Eastern Subs, 70.56m. 4, Jamal Idris, NSW, 70.21m. 5, Luke Bissett, Victoria, 62.01m.

Men AWD Javelin Throw
1, Wade McMahon (F37-600gm), AIS, 41.39m.

Mixed 1 Mile Handicap
1, Michael Sullivan (0:0), Sandy Bay, 5:54.75. 2, John Jago (1:25), TAS Masters, 5:58.52. 3, Paul Bidgood (1:13), Sandy Bay, 5:58.58. 4, Henry West (0:54), Sandy Bay, 5:59.06. 5, Phil McConnon (1:21), Northern Subs, 5:59.87. 6, Melanie Daniels (0:47), Northern Subs, 6:00.19. 7, Oliver Stanesby (1:13), Tamar, 6:01.77. 8, Paul Luttrell (1:10), Northern Subs, 6:02.68. 9, Daniel Smee (1:21), Sandy Bay, 6:04.50. 10, Chris Sullivan (1:05), Sandy Bay, 6:07.25. 11, Jayden Hey (0:54), OVA, 6:07.86. 12, Jacob Birtwhistle (0:59), North Launceston, 6:08.04. 13, Louis Coad (0:23), Eastern Subs, 6:08.12. 14, Freya Wilson (0:31), Tamar, 6:11.31. 15, Jonathon Sansom Gower (1:24), Eastern Subs, 6:14.13. 16, William Yee (1:18), TAS Masters, 6:18.97.

Mixed 35+ 200 Metres Run Handicap
(w: NWI) 1, Adele Lucas (55m), Tas Masters, 23.05. 2, Daniel Lemoto (0:0m), Tas Masters, 23.29. 3, Greg Mann (24m), TAS Masters, 23.64. 4, Jacqui Patiniotis (37m), TAS Masters, 23.78. 5, Alan Coleman (15m), TAS Masters, 23.94. 6, Julie Tinker (24m), TAS Masters, 24.25. 7, Amy Hanek (25m), TAS Masters, 24.63.

Mixed Under 16 1000 Sprint Medley Swedish
 1, Eastern Suburbs 'A' 2:20.05. 2, Northern Suburbs 'A' 2:22.86. 3, Old Virgilians 'A' 2:30.19. 4, Eastern Suburbs 'B' 2:45.77.