11.07.2009

Aussies advance in Bressanone

Australian long jumper Brooke Stratton and javelin thrower Luanga Andria have today moved through to world youth finals in their respective events, booking berths in tomorrow's final day of competition in Bressanone, Italy. 

Also moving through was the Australian boys’ medley relay team, qualifying for the final in sixth position with a new Australian best time at a world youth meet.

Stratton was first to progress on day four, gaining automatic qualification for tomorrow’s decider with a second-round leap of 6.13m.

The result marks a new personal best for Stratton, adding three centimetres to the mark she recorded in Brisbane in March.

Fouling her first jump the youngest member of the Australian team, who turns 16 tomorrow, quickly rebounded to clear the six-metre automatic qualifying distance on her second attempt.

Stratton has now set her sights on setting a second personal best in as many days, the ultimate birthday present for the gun long jumper.

“”My first jump was a no-jump and when the official held up the red flag I was pretty nervous but as soon as I got my second jump out, which was a PB, I was pretty happy,” Stratton said.

“I was very happy with the jump, hopefully I can get another PB tomorrow and seeing as it’s my birthday it would be a pretty great surprise so I’ll hope for the best.

“I definitely felt like I had it in me today, I felt really good in the warm-up and I was just raring to go on my first jump.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for a few months and it was great to get out there.”

Andria will also enter the final day of competition as an automatic starter, throwing a season best distance of 71.23m to advance through the qualifying round.

“You don’t how excited I am right now, I’m in great shape and I’m so excited to be in the final,” Andria said.

“The second throw was 71.23m and that’s what I was looking for, I wanted to get into the final and I’ve made it.

“I’m so confident right now, I couldn’t be happier. I’ll be looking for a throw of 74-75m tomorrow, which should put me in contention for a medal so I hope I can pull that out in the final.”

Kicking off his qualifying campaign with a throw of 63.15m, Andria steadied his nerve to clear the 68-metre automatic qualifying line on his second attempt.

“I was kind of nervous with my first throw and then on the second throw Huw Peacock’s dad told me to calm down and I calmed down and did a huge throw and I couldn’t be happier.”

In track action, the boys’ medley relay team stopped the clock at 1:54.49 to shave almost a full second off Australia’s previous best mark of 1:55.42, set at the 2001 world youth championships, and advance to tomorrow’s final.

The team of Mitchell Tysoe (100m), Cameron Hyde (200m), Alex Beck (300m) and Jordan Williamsz (400m) will return to the action tomorrow.

Race walkers Paige Hooper and Shannon Jennings had a tough morning on the track, Hooper disqualified from competition and Jennings placing twentieth in a time of 25:47.76.

“I’m proud just to get here, it was tough to be selected and I wish I could have done a lot better but obviously it wasn’t my day to do a PB or come a top-eight finish for the team but that happens,” Jennings said.

“It was overwhelming, seeing all the other athletes in the call room for the first time was a bit intense but once I got out there it was just like a normal race, you just have to calm down and do your best.”

The New South Wales athlete said the meet was a huge learning curve in her athletics career.

“I think I would have had a bit more confidence in myself If I’d done a little bit better but at least I can learn from it, it’s a good learning experience to be better prepared next time and I’ll know what it takes if I make another team,” she said.

“Looking at the start list I knew it was going to be very close because a lot of times were around the same and I was sort of hoping to be able to stick onto the front pack but they were pretty quick, there were a lot of PB’s and that’s a really big achievement for everyone in the field.”

Hooper, who finished fourth in the same event at the 2007 world youth championships in Ostrava in the Czech Republic, was disappointed with her result.

“From the start the aim was to go out hard, a 4:20 first kilometre wasn’t as quick as I wanted it to be but I was feeling good, I was in a good position and then a couple of kilometres after that I started to get a bit short of breath,” Hooper said.

“I’m not using that as an excuse, it just happened, and with two kilometres to go it was a bit more than I expected.”

In a race that saw 14 personal bests recorded, including a new world youth leading time, Hooper was pragmatic about the result.

“It wasn’t as fast as two years ago but it’s disappointing that my PB is only two seconds behind the gold medal,” she said.

“I knew more than most of the athletes in the team what to expect, I didn’t go out there thinking I knew everything, I just went with it and it wasn’t my day.”

This afternoon sees Andrew Neville line up in the high jump final, Taryn Gollshewsky take on the deciding round of the discus throw and Alexander Rowe in the final of the 800m.

For all the latest news and results from the world youth track and field titles, click here.