08.12.2007

Trychelle triumphs

Live results

Day 3 field report

In a stellar effort in today's under-18 800m event, Trychelle Kingdom made Sydney Olympic Park her own castle, achieving a World Junior qualifying time of 2.06.87 at the 2007 Telstra All Schools & Youth Athletics Championships.

Kingdom is now looking towards the IAAF World Junior Championships to be held in Bydgoszcz, Poland in July next year.

"I’ve been practising how to pronounce it (Bydgoszcz) and been looking at the map. Mum’s getting me a book on Polish language for Christmas. But I’m not getting ahead of myself just yet; I need to make the team," Kingdom said shortly after her win.

Her plans for the rest of the season include competing at the Sydney Track Classic and a range of meets in Canberra. Hailing from Turlinjah on the New South Wales coast, the trip to Sydney takes about four-and-a-half to five hours, making it a little difficult to travel to Sydney to compete.

From a talented sports family, Kingdom has also represented NSW at the Australian Touch Football Championships. Her father was a water polo player for NSW and her brother is a "hot little surfer" in the family.

Seventeen year-old James Kaan of New South Wales also impressed the spectators at Sydney Olympic Park today with an astounding run in the 800m under-18 event. Stopping the clock at 1.49.29, Kaan was inside the qualifying standard required for consideration onto the World Junior Championships team.

After the race, Kaan predicted how fast he can go in the future, "1.49 for my first race, hopefully low 1.47, maybe mid 1.46. If I’m going to do well at World Juniors, I’ve got to do around that time.

"It would be good to get qualifiers for Beijing, but I might be too young. The big goal is London 2012."

The other highlight on the track in day three of the championships included a stellar effort by athletes from the Australian Capital Territory, the nation’s capital laying claim to three gold medals on the track.

Melissa Breen won gold in a personal best time of 24.12 for the 200m under-18 event, Liam Dwyer came home with first place after a time of 4.15.49 in the 1500m under-15 event and Brett Robinson achieved a time of 6.20.78 in the 2000m under-17 steeplechase, permitting him to take home a gold medal around his neck.

Breen overcame stress fractures in 2006 and has been in solid training since April this year without any injuries. A member of the Woden Harriers Athletics Club, Breen mentioned that her change of coach was "the best move" she ever made and it looks like her persistence through injury is finally starting to pay off.

In the preliminaries of the under-16 girls 100m event, Lauren O’Sullivan (QLD) crossed the line in 12.00, 11 hundredths-of-a-second off the meet record of 11.89 set in 2000.

In the final of the event, O’Sullivan improved on her earlier time, posting an impressive 11.94 on the board, only five hundredths off the meet record.

Sasha Alexeenko (QLD) impressed those in attendance today with a meet record finish of 53.44 in the under-17 400m hurdles event. Although slightly lower than his PB performance at this year’s Queensland State Championships (53.36), the 16 year-old finished ahead of teammates Dominic Shipperley (QLD, 55.51) and Elliott Ramage (QLD, 55.99).

With a vocal Tasmanian crowd supporting him, 17 year-old Josh Harris finished the 2000m steeplechase in a time of 5.59.05. The first gold medal for Tasmania on the track, Harris held the lead for the final couple of laps and finished solidly with over 22 seconds between him and second place.

Jenny Blundell of the Cherrybrook Athletics Club in New South Wales came home strongly in her under-14 800m event. With a time of 2.13.44, Blundell finished with a new meet record, beating the 2003 mark of 2.13.64.

Other winners on the track today were:

William McNamara (NSW) - 400m under-15 (50.41) and 100m under-15 hurdles (11.45)
Ian Dewhurst (NSW) - 400m under-18 hurdles (53.45)
Lucy Frayne (SA) - 400m under-17 hurdles (62.73)
Bianca Mignot (VIC) - 400m under-18 hurdles (62.63)
Karlie Morton (NSW) - 100m under-15 (12.15)
Sam Jewell (VIC) - 100m under-16 (11.28)
Catherine Van Der Walt (WA) - 1500m under-15 (4.42.53)
Bronte Gange (VIC) - 1500m under-16 (4.28.44)
James Connor (NSW) - 1500m under-16 (3.58.94)
Tracey Morton (NSW) - 200m under-17 (24.89)
Zac Walpole (NSW) - 200m under-17 (22.08)
Ray Williams (WA) - 200m under-18 (21.82)
Ella Nelson (NSW) - 200m under-14 (24.93)
Jarrod Watson (QLD) - 200m under-14 (23.40)
Selma Kajan (NSW) - 800m under-17 (2.08.37)
Johnny Rayner (VIC) - 800m under-17 (1.53.85)
James Kann (NSW) - 800m under-18 (1.49.29)
Timas Harik (VIC) - 800m under-14 (2.03.99)
Keana Tour-May (VIC) - 400m under-15 (56.50)
Zoe Riikonen (QLD) - 400m under-16 (55.82)
Matthew Bailey (QLD) - 400m under-16 (49.50)
Kristie Goznik (SA) - 3000m under-15 (14.40.28)
Paige Hooper (SA) - 3000m walk under-16 (14.36.66)
Alyce McKenzie (QLD) - 2000m steeplechase under-18 (6.53.71)
Josh Harris (TAS) - 2000m steeplechase under-18 (5.59.05)
Blake Steele (SA) - 3000m walk under-15 (14.02.53)
Dane Bird-Smith (QLD) - 3000m walk under-16 (13.51.60)
NSW - 4 x 100m relay boys under-14 (45.97)
NSW - 4 x 100m relay girls under-14 (48.69)

The final day of the championships features a number of exciting events on the program. The blue-riband under-18 100m event for both boys and girls will be held just after midday. Ryan Gregson (NSW) will be taking part in the under-18 1500m event and the day will finish with a series of relays including the under-18 4 x 400m relays and the 4 x 100m schools relay.

Individual athlete photos from ‘Photos in a Flash’ can be found here