An Outstanding Week For AT Athletes at 2022 Australian Track and Field Championships

Tasmania’s fastest athletes made themselves right at home at SOPAC late on Thursday afternoon at the 2022 Australian Track and Field Championships. All but one moved into Friday’s semi-finals of the Open 100m events.

Leading the way for the men was Jack Hale (10.28s, and 3rd fastest overall), followed by Jacob Despard (10.30s, 5th fastest) and Jagga Pybus (10.40s, 13th fastest), with Morgan Gaffney through to the women’s semis with a time of 12.02s (23rd fastest overall). At the same time, Bec Kovic (12.35, 35th overall) has missed out on a semis berth.

The Team Tasmania medal count may have slowed, but the records, qualifiers and PBs at the championships roll on unabated.

On Thursday (Day 6), Emily Aichberger finished 8th in the final of the U20 para 100m in a time of 15.97s after qualifying earlier in the day with a State record run of 15.86s.

Thomas Watters finished 6th in the final of the U17 110m hurdles in 15.89s after a PB in his hurdles heat. Samuel Plapp secured himself a spot in the final of the U17 men’s 400m on Friday with a PB performance of 50.54 to finish second in his heat.

Day 6 was also a busy one for our 1500m runners. In the women’s U17 final, Avalon Forbes finished 7th, while in the U18 final, Sophie Connolly recovered from a mid-race fall to finish in 9th place. In the U17 men, Henry Diggle put in a massive PB of 4.27.66 to finish 13th, just one spot behind teammate Riley Simpson.

Jayden Eldershaw cleared 1.85m to place 7th in the final of the U18 high jump.

Jackson Mellor has qualified for the final of the Open discus on Friday with a throw of 39.82m, and Hamish Peacock will contest the final of the Open javelin after qualifying with a throw of 64.68m.

Late in the day, Deon Kenzie claimed a bronze medal for Tasmania, finishing third in the Open 1500m (ambulant) in a time of 4:06.39. Steeplechaser Abbie Butler finished 8th in a field of 18 in the Open 3000m steeplechase final with a time of 10:45.63.

To finish off the day for Tasmania in the men’s Open hammer, Huw Peacock finished 6th with a throw of 55.50m, and Caleb Kirkpatrick threw a PB of 53.88m to place 9th.

On Wednesday, Day 5 of the competition, Rebecca Mather(F20) bettered her State record in the Open (Ambulant) discus 1kg with a throw of 20.84m, while Raph Corney (3.75m) qualified for the Open pole vault final on Friday night.

Open women’s hammer throwers Isabella Hippell (46.37m) and Rachel Hosie (50.17m) both made their way through qualifications to make the group of 10 for Friday afternoon’s final.

Jaxson Stone was 8th in the final of the U18 shot put with a throw of 14.32m.

On Tuesday, track dynamo Violet Owen claimed gold with a win in the U14 800m and, in the process, claimed both a PB and a Tasmanian record. While Violet’s medal was the only addition to the Tasmanian tally, the relay team of Bailey Van Den Broek, Evie Bingham, Isobel Gray and Isabella Wing bagged a Tasmanian record with their 6th place in the U16 4x200m women’s relay in a time of 1:44.75.