07.12.2009

Records fall on day four in Hobart

A further three meet records have capped the final day of competition at the UTAS Australian All Schools and Youth Athletics Championships in Hobart.

The fourth and final day of action saw Queenslander Lara Nielsen (under 18 girls hammer throw) and Victorians Jordan Williamsz (under 18 boys 1500m) and Damien Birkinhead (under 17 boys shot put) rewrite the record books both on the track and in the field.

Nielsen’s heave of 54.62m bettered her previous career-high mark by almost a metre, the hammer falling just short of the coveted world junior qualifying distance.

Smashing the previous meet record by over two metres, the Queenslander has already set her sights on qualifying for next year’s world junior championships in Moncton, Canada, in July.

“It’s really good to be able to come out here to a big competition and throw my best and show people what I’ve got,” Nielsen said.

“It’s good to see that I keep improving all the time and now I’m only about a foot away from a world junior qualifier and that’s gives me a lot of confidence for when I head into my next big meet.

“It’s my last nationals and it’s been great competition and now I'll go back and have a couple of weeks off and then get straight back into training and lots of hard work and hopefully I can come back to the next big meet and throw another PB and try to qualify for world juniors.”

Also with a meet record in today’s throws action was world youth championships shot putter Damien Birkinhead, who added six centimetres to the previous meet best with a throw of 19.89m to take gold in the under 17 boys shot put.

In track action it was Jordan Williamsz who stole the show, the world youth championships representative and winner of yesterday’s under 18 boys 800m surging ahead in the final stages of the 1500m to take gold in meet record time.

Hot on the heels of fellow world youth championships representative Kane Grimster (VIC) for much of the race, Williamsz stepped it up a gear coming into the home straight to stop the clock at 3:50.16, just .54 ahead of the previous meet best. Grimster took silver in 3:51.80.

In an equally impressive display, 14-year-old Kaitlin Morgan claimed gold in the under 15 girls triple jump (11.02m, w:-0.6) and just 30 minutes later took on the under 17 high jump event, recording an equal personal best height of 1.80m to win the title ahead of world youth championships silver medallist Amy Pejkovic (NSW) with 1.78m.

The result takes to three Morgan’s championships gold medal count after the Tasmanian local also won the under 15 girls high jump on day two of the meet.

Also ending the meet with multiple medals to his name, throws all-rounder Liam Speers (NSW) today claimed his third medal of the championships with gold in the under 18 boys shot put (18.75m).

The win follows Speers’ victory in the discus throw on Friday and bronze medal in the javelin throw on Saturday.

“It was good, I won the discus in wind and rain so I was happy with that and then in the javelin I managed to come third off a couple of steps and then I won the shot put today by a couple of metres so it's been good,” Speers said.

The world youth championships discus representative said he would continue his hectic throws program throughout the coming domestic season.

“I’m just waiting until one event really jumps out and then that’s the direction I’m going to take but at the moment I still seem to be able to compete well in all of them at a national level so I’m still just going to be training for all three and then seeing how it goes next year,” Speers said.

Today’s results bring to a close the UTAS Australian All Schools and Youth Athletics Championships, the meet ending with a total of 15 meet records across four days of track and field action.

Athletics Tasmania spokesperson Richard Welsh said as well as proving a windfall for the local economy, the championships had been an outstanding success for the 1400 athletes participating in the meet. 

“Athletics Tasmania was really pleased to secure the final edition of these championships in their current form and we’re just absolutely delighted with how we have presented the meet,” Welsh said.

“All the feedback we’ve received has been positive and it shows that little Tassie can deliver these big events.
 
“I think the most important thing is that the athletes have had a ball. The atmosphere has been great with music pumping non-stop and there is plenty of talk about tonight’s after-party.

“The support from the University of Tasmania has been stunning. We feel as though their product is the perfect fit for secondary student athletics and their involvement in the meet has helped ensure it was such a success.”

Australia’s best underage athletes will again go head-to-head at next year’s national junior championships, to be held in Sydney from March 11-14.

A full list of results from the UTAS Australian All Schools and Youth Athletics Championships is available here.