McDermott opens season with a 1.96m jump

Published Sat 15 Feb 2020

14 Feb 2020

McDermott opens season with a 1.96m jump

A heavy down pour of rain just prior to the start of competition didn’t dampen the athletes resolve to perform at the Canberra Track Classic on Thursday night with many quality performances and some thrilling events, highlighted by an extraordinary women’s high jump competition.

In the leap-up it was tipped to be a close battle, but the women’s high jump more than lived up to expectations with Eleanor Patterson and Nicola McDermott both clearing equal personal bests and Olympic qualifying heights of 1.96m. In the end just one extra miss by McDermott, handed the win on countback to Patterson.

It was the second consecutive 1.96m jump by Patterson this year.

“I’m happy to be consistent and to jump 1.96m twice and start the season consistently and be able to back up performances and know that a 1.96m Olympic qualifier is not just a one-off performance,” said Sydney-based Victorian Eleanor Patterson.

After a highly successful 2019, McDermott’s preparation for 2020 has been well on track.

“We have done all the blocks of training, my technique feels sharper and the training we have been doing is coming together.”

Patterson has provided an extra spur that McDermott is grateful for.

“I’m going out with faith that I’ve seen Eleanor do it and I know she is going to push me to that height, so she is just a gift and I’m so thankful that she is jumping so high. To be honest I probably would have retired from the competition early, but I thought ‘alright next attempt”.

Men 400m

Despite a late decision to run in Canberra and in heavy training, that didn’t stop Steve Solomon clocking a very quick winning time of 45.37, his fastest time in Australia for six years and his seventh fastest ever time.

“This time last week I didn’t know if I was going to be competing here or in a couple of indoor meets in Europe,” said Solomon.

“We are training really hard at the moment and not coming down for these meets. We are using these meets as a pulse check to see how the training is working - and I’m very happy with how it is going.”

With this result, and his 45.65 season debut three weeks ago, the season is building nicely.

“I’m really motivated, excited and confident for the next meets and season to come.

It appears the work-sport-life balance has been the key for Solomon.

“Things are super stable, I’ve got a great routine, including a wonder employer at Uber Eats who are very benevolent and supportive. Obviously, it’s wonderful being back with my family who are very supportive, loving and caring. Also back with friends. I’m in the environment where I succeed, and I think that is starting to show on the track already.”

In the race he led home two significant personal bests for second placed Alex Beck (45.82) and junior Reece Holder (46.44).

“I was so thrilled for Alex. He is my best friend in athletics. It has been five years for him and seven years for me and hopefully he has tipped the domino on PBs. I’ll enjoy celebrations with him tonight and hopefully he can reciprocate with me in a couple of weeks,” said Solomon hinting at lowering his own personal best of 44.97 this summer.

Women 100m Hurdles

Liz Clay confirmed her Melbourne breakthrough performance was no fluke with a good win in Canberra, leading home Perth’s Brianna Beahan who also looks to be in the best shape of her career.

Clay clocked 13.17 running into a 1.5m/s wind, ahead of Beahan’s 13.27.

Did Clay feel expectation after her Melbourne performance?

“I just wanted to come out and execute, get the win. The conditions weren’t great, so you can’t ask for much more. I’m happy with 13.1, just good to back up from last week and do it again the next week.”

But the race was not perfect for Clay.

“I drove too hard into the first hurdle and landed funny, so really had to fight to comeback from that.”

She admitted the Melbourne race took a bit of a toll.

“I didn’t sleep that night at all. I then got a bit sick after all the adrenalin.”

Women long jump – Sam Dale

Disappointingly, three weeks ago, Sam Dale won the under-20 long jump at the ACT Championships with a wind assisted 6.31m jump – exceeding the World U20 Championships standard, but the excessive wind disallowed it as a qualifying performance. But at the Canberra Track Classic, she resolved that situation with a wind-legal qualifying jump of 6.20m on her last attempt.

“I didn’t feel too good on the take-off and felt I wasn’t going anywhere. But I got one out on the last attempt which I was happy with,” she said. After a series of 5.90m jumps in the earlier rounds, the qualifying standard was not in her mind approaching the last jump.

“I didn’t even think about it, I just jumped and hoped for the best and it worked out.”

Other key NSW results were:

Rohan Browning won the 100m in 10.17 – his third quickest ever time.
Josh Clarke made more strides forward on his return this season running 10.36 for a strong third in the 100m.
Junior Zen Clark equalled his 100m PB of 10.56 and remains close to the World U20 standard of 10.50.
Brandon Starc comfortably won the high jump with a clearance at 2.25m. He then had two misses at 2.28m and interestingly one at 2.33m.
Para world champion James Turner (T36) clocked a Paralympic Games A qualifier of 11.82 in the 100m.
Canberra-based Sarah Walsh (T64) cleared 5.14m in the long jump for a B Paralympic Games qualifier.
Monique Quirk ran on a quick Australian junior 4x100m relay team which clocked the fastest ever time by an Australian U20 team on home soil – 45.07.
Lauren Reid ran a quick 800m time of 2:05.66 to place fifth.
Will Freyer continues to impress in the long jump with a leap of 7.63m.
James Nipperess defeated a strong field to win the 3000m steeplechase in 8:41.39.
17-year-old Liana Davidson launched the javelin to a PB of 50.68m, just short of the World U20 Championships standard of 51.10m.
World U20 Champs long jump qualified athlete, Tomysha Clark was close to the standard again with a leap of 6.12m.
World Championships representatives, Sarah Carli and Sara Klein ran solid times in the 400m hurdles of 56.15 and 56.49 respectively.