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Stratton sixth in long jump decider
Young gun Brooke Stratton has recorded the Australian Spark’s sixth top-eight finish of the 13th IAAF world junior championships in Moncton, Canada, placing sixth in the final of the women’s long jump tonight.
Stratton was joined in the action on the
second session of day five by the Spark’s men’s and women’s 4x100m
relay teams on a night of mixed fortunes for Australia.
One of six co-captains on the Australian team Stratton came out
firing in tonight’s deciding round of the long jump, opening her
account with a leap of 6.01m (w:-0.1) and stringing together a
consistent series that saw her post a measure on every one of her
six trips down the runway.
Following her first round effort with leaps of 5.94m (w:0.2), 5.82m
(w:0.3) and 5.83m (w:0.6), Stratton again exceeded the six-metre
mark in the penultimate round of competition, recording her best
mark of the night with a leap of 6.05m (w:0.4) before rounding out
her series with a measure of 5.90m (w:0.1).
“I was coming into these championships mainly to do a PB but also
to get a top-eight performance and I have so it’s pretty amazing
and I’m glad I did it,” the Victorian said.
“I didn’t know what to expect since it was raining yesterday, I
didn’t know what the others were going to jump today and although I
didn’t jump a PB I’m still happy with 6.05m and sixth place.
“It’s always good to be consistent so I’m happy with each jump, I
think in the end my legs started to die a bit but overall I’m
pretty happy.”
Seventeen-year-old Stratton will now aim to return to the world
stage for the 2012 edition of the world junior titles in Barcelona,
Spain, bigger and better than ever before.
“I’m really looking forward to it, this is just a stepping stone
towards that meet and hopefully in two years’ time I can come back
bigger and stronger,” she said.
Cuba’s Irisdaymi Herrera took out the event with a personal best
leap of 6.41m.
Stratton joins teammates Regan Lamble (eighth -
10,000m walk), Patrick Fakiye (eighth - 100m),
Kim Mulhall (fourth - discus throw), Brett
Robinson (eighth – 1500m) and Dane
Bird-Smith (fifth – 10,000m walk) in posting top-eight
performances for the Spark with two days of competition now
remaining.
On the track Australia’s women’s 4x100m relay team, featuring 100m
hurdles gun Rosie Lawson, 200m specialists
Ella Nelson and Karlie Morton and
all-round sprinter Caitlin Sargent, qualified for
tomorrow’s medal round with a run of 45.41 to snatch the final
place in the decider.
Queenslander Lawson, who contested the semi-finals of the 100m
hurdles on day three of the world junior meet, took the team out
strong at the gun before handing the baton to Nelson, who charged
down the back straight to keep the team in contention midway
through the race.
A strong turn from Karlie Morton and
determined run home by anchor Caitlin Sargent saw the team into
fifth place in the quicker of two heats, the girls moving through
to the final by just .04 ahead of the Bahamas.
Sargent said the team was pushed all the way by the strong
international competition on the track tonight.
“I was a little bit nervous, I thought we would have been a little
bit more in the mix by the time I got the baton so it put a bit of
pressure on, I’m meant to be the 100m runner of the team so I’m
meant to be the fastest and I’m not sure if I was but relays are
always really fun and exciting and there are always a few less
nerves because you’re sharing the load with the team so it’s just
really great to get out there and have a run with the girls,”
Sargent said.
“Germany had the world-leading time of the season and Jamaica was
in there too so it was a pretty strong field we had to compete
against today but it’s great we made it through.”
In the men’s heats the Australian team of Patrick Fakiye, a
finalist in the men’s 100m on Wednesday night, 200m semi-finalists
Jake Hammond and Mathew Turk and
relay specialist Tom Gamble came unstuck in the
fourth and final leg of the event, Gamble suffering an agonising
injury to his left hamstring.
In contention until the home straight, Gamble was gallant in
hitting the track for today’s heat after entering a race against
time to regain full fitness from an injury he sustained to his
hamstring just 10 weeks out from the world junior meet.
Following the race Gamble’s teammates applauded the
18-year-old’s efforts in getting himself to the start line for
tonight’s run, the Queenslander undertaking a rigorous
rehabilitation program prior to his departure for the world junior
titles and continuing his recovery efforts with team medical staff
in the fortnight since touching down on Canadian soil.
“We almost got there, it’s a shame Tom
couldn’t finish but I’m really glad he did all the work he did, he
deserved to run that relay and there’s nothing you can do about bad
luck,” Turk said.
The action continues at Stade Moncton tomorrow on what will be a
blockbuster day for the Australian Spark, with pole vaulter
Amanda Bartrim, 5000m runner Kevin
Batt, discus thrower Julian Wruck and the
women’s 4x100m relay team all lining up in finals of their
respective events.
Also set to hit the stage are Sam Baines and
Mitchell Tysoe in the semi-finals of the 110m
hurdles and Australia’s top one-lap runners in the heats of the
men’s and women’s 4x400m relays.
This morning 10 members of the Australian Spark lined up at Stade
Moncton with a top-eight finish, three new personal bests and seven
athletes moving through the qualifying rounds the highlights of the
action. For all the news from the first session of day five, click
here.
To check out all the action from day five at
the world junior championships, click
here.
Photo courtesy of Jodi Lambert
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