WA ATHLETES IGNITE THE EAST COAST FOR A LONG WEEKEND OF COMPETITION
Published Tue 28 Jan 2025
The East Coast came alive with athletics over the Australia Day long weekend, as some of WA’s leading athletes flew across the country to take on the Supernova, Brisbane Throws Classic, and Capital Athletics Championships.
The second stop of the World Athletics Race Walking Tour saw two-time Olympian Declan Tingay (Brent Vallance) lead majority of the Men’s Supernova race with Canadian Evan Dunfee before Dunfee pulled away with the lead with 10 laps to go. Tingay’s stellar performance resulted in a second-place finish, crossing the line with his third fastest time ever of 38:31.24 in the 10,000m Race Walk.
World Under 20 Athlete Alexandra Griffin (Jared Talent) started her season in style, also producing her third fastest time ever in the 10,000m Race Walk. Facing a tough field of competition in the Women’s Supernova event, Griffin pushed through to cross the line in ninth with a time of 46:05.37.
Seven of WA’s up and coming throwers produced a slew of impressive performances in Brisbane across the weekend while competing in the Brisbane Throws Classic – World Athletics Challenger.
It was Mia Gordon (Ben Thomson) who stole the show in the final event of the weekend with a huge throw in the Open Women’s Javelin sealing a second-place finish on her third attempt, with a personal best of 54.47m. Tiana Pavlovich (Morgan Ward) also slotted her way into sixth place with a season best throw of 48.18m.
UWA duo Robert Marchesi-Scott (Leanne Marchesi) and Etienne Rousseau (Didier Poppe) once again battled it out in the Men’s Discus and Shot Put events, with Rousseau pulling out a season best throw of 54.46m in the Discus to finish third meanwhile Marchesi-Scott slotted into fifth place with a final attempt of 47.54m.
Results were reversed in the Shot Put event with Marchesi-Scott launching the shot put 17.28m to place third, only a mere 0.05m off his personal best while Rousseau delivered another season best performance of 16.09m on his first attempt to finish fifth.
Lauren Kelly (Luke Cann) stepped up to the open age group for the first time in the Women’s Shot Put on Day Two of the competition, delivering an impressive personal best throw of 12.32m to finish in fifth place. Meanwhile Anika Gosling (Allana Wignall) also claimed fifth in the Women’s Discus after pulling out a solid final attempt of 50.39m to lock away the position.
The Capital Athletics Under 20 and Open Championships in Canberra highlighted the rising talent in athletics across the nation, with an intense three days of athletics action that saw five of WA’s young guns take on the rest of the Countries best.
Niamh Mac Alasdair (Danny Kevan) flew the flag in Canberra for WA’s para-athletes, with the rising star securing the bronze medal in the Open Women’s Ambulant 100m and Long Jump events. Mac Alasdair leaped to an impressive 3.97m (1.0) in the Long Jump before storming down the 100m straight to cross the line in 15.75 (-1.2).
Olivia Dodd’s (Lyn Foreman) delivered a solid start to her 2025 season by claiming gold with a super speedy 7.33 (1.7) in the Under 20 Women’s 60m final while Taylah Cruttenden (Russell Mathanda) backed up last week's record-breaking run by securing silver in the Open Women’s 60m final with an impressive 7.26 (1.2).
The pair backed up their efforts in the Open Women’s 100m heats on Day Two, with Dodds qualifying first in her heat with a time of 11.75 (-0.7) while Cruttenden sealed second in her heat with a qualifying time of 11.68 (-0.8). The final will be one to remember with Dodds crossing the line in 11.90 (-1.2) to place seventh among a field of Paris Olympians including Bree Masters (QLD), Mia Gross (VIC), Kristie Edwards (NSW) and Ella Connolley (NSW). Unfortunately, Cruttenden did not start in the final.
There was more tough competition in the Open Women’s 200m heats with 43 athletes all vying for a spot in the top eight to contest the final. Piper Cornelius (Aaron Bresland) put in a valiant effort in heat one to come away with a season best of 25.08 (0.7) and fifth place however with just over 2 seconds splitting her and the number one seed, Cornelius’ time landed her in 27th overall, missing out on a spot in the final.
On the field Abigail Dargan (Stacey Taurima) hopped, skipped and jumped her way onto the podium in the Open Women’s Triple Jump final, producing a huge personal best of 12.36m to claim the silver medal.
The annual Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race was held at The Rocks, Sydney on Sunday with five time Paralympian Madison de Rozario (Louise Sauvage) taking the honours in the Women's Division for the 11th time. The event sees some of the world's best wheelchair track and road athletes race through The Rocks as they battle it out for the honours. De Rozario's 11th title win places her alongside Australian legend Kurt Fearnley, equaling the record for the most Oz Day 10K titles.
For more information on how you can get involved in athletics, contact Athletics West on 08 6272 0480 or via admin@athleticswest.com.au.
By Imogen McDonald, Athletics West
Published 28 January 2025
Photograph: Athletics Australia
