Australian Championships Day 3: Three more Columbia bound

27 March 2022

Australian Championships Day 3: Three more Columbia bound

On day three of the Chemist Warehouse Australian Track and Field Championships, three more NSW athletes, Mitch Lightfoot, Jasmin Guthrie and Katie Gunn, achieved automatic selection for the World U20 Championships in Columbia.

Gunn and Guthrie Cali bound

Leading into the Australia under-20 championships, Central Coast’s Katie Gunn and Sydney’s Jasmin Guthrie were favourites to win the national junior long jump and 400m titles respectively. The pressure of expectation didn’t phase them both as they dominated their events to earn automatic selection for the World U20 Championships.

First to go, Jasmin in the 400m defended the title she won last year to secure a place in her second Australian team for the World U20 Championships. Her winning time has only been bettered twice in the last two decades. Team mate Paige Campbell was fifth, hopefully sufficient to place her on the relay team for the World U20s.

Katie Gunn was on fire from the first jump, leaping six metres. She extended her best to 6.09m on her second attempt, sufficient to hold up for a comfortable win. Victorian Alessia Wynne rallied late to go from fifth to second on the last attempt with jump of 5.94m. NSW’s Sienna Bond, in second for much of the competition, was unfortunately shuffled off the podium in the last round by Wynne and QLD’s Abbie French. Sienna finished fourth with 5.84m.

Lightfoot too nimble

After placing third last year in the national under-20 110m hurdles title Newcastle’s Mitch Lightfoot has been the revelation in the event this summer, taking his PB from 13.91 to 13.51, and clocking seven times under 13.75. But at nationals he faced defending champion, Victoria’s Tayleb Willis who with his 2021 winning time of 13.48 sat one place above Mitch on the Australian All-Time list. In different heats yesterday Mitch led Tayleb 13.72 to 13.82.

In the final Tayleb Willis came prepared to defend his national title, starting brilliantly he led all the way until the last few metres of the race where somehow Mitch Lightfoot snatched the win 13.59 to 13.61 and in taking the narrow win, Mitch booked his ticket to the World U20s.

Exciting clashes in horizontal jumps

In the many long jumps on day three, NSW athletes won five titles and were involved in some thrilling competitions.

In the under-14 boys long jump Kyros Ghadiali won by the narrowest of margins – just 1cm. Kyros had leapt 5.67m, but on his last attempt Victorian Harrison Dolman nearly took the title leaping 1cm less – 5.66m.

In the under-15 triple jump, NSW’s Mason McGroder blew away the competition with his opening leap of 13.28m – a 78cm PB. Winner of the NSW title, Liam Hayes, rallied well in the last round to leap a PB of 12.64m for the silver medal.

Another athlete to make significant progression was Daniel Okerenyang in the under-16 triple jump. Arriving at the event ranked in fifth with a best of 13.13m, he opened with a comfortable leap of 12.89m. But then set two enormous PBs of 13.43m, then 13.74m, to win my just 1cm. It matched his training partner Grace Krause who won the under-16 long jump by the same margin.

In the under-16 girls triple jump, NSW won another title courtesy of Izobelle Louison-Roe who leapt 12.24 on her opening attempt. It represented a significant PB for Izobelle with a previous best of 11.67m. Favourite for the event, Grace Krause leapt 11.91m, claiming her fourth medal at the meet.

Under the radar Chelsy Wayne continues to reign

One of the most underrated NSW athletes is Balgownie’s Chelsy Wayne. She just goes about her business in the discus, winning consistently. Today she won the under-16 event by five metres, with a throw of 45.31m, just short of her recent PB. She is coached by the very best, Denis Knowles, who masterminded the 19-year international career of Dani Stevens.

Doyle double

Sutherland coach Jacinta Doyle had twin wins in consecutive races on Monday. First up was Tammin Lampret who ran up to expectations to win the under-15 girls 90m hurdles in a big PB time of 13.17 second, into a headwind.

The following race, the under-16 90m hurdles, again featured a Jacinta Doyle-coached athlete, Jordan Moore. She arrived at the meet ranked third with a best of 13.17. But showed her intentions early winning her heat in the fastest time of the day 13.06 – a PB. After the heats her goal was primarily to go under 13 seconds, but a bonus was the gold medal.

“I’m so happy to win, but I also wanted to break 13 seconds, and I did with 12.98,” said Jordan.

She explained why she has had good progress this summer.

“I played representative soccer for five years (Under-8s to Under-14s), but then decided to concentrate on athletics. I do miss it (soccer). I have many friends there.”

Steeples no barrier for Matilda Richards
The Ben St Lawrence coached Matilda Richards won a challenging women’s under-15 2000m steeplechase in a seven seconds PB time of 7:23.62 minutes. She won by three seconds, with teammate Grace Beck in third in a time of 7:26.97 minutes. The athletes faced an added challenge with the water jump barrier at a higher than usual height. Grace is a growing trend of athletes who are competitive in a couple of endurance disciplines, for Grace it is race walking at steeplechasing.

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Image: Katie Gunn in the long jump (courtesy of Fred Etter)