Alex Hulley is looking to throw big; she would have been watching over the last few weeks, what has been happening in New Zealand. In her first major outing of she is looking to capitilise on her good start to the season, already throwing 69.13m this year.
The Women’s Long Jump sees area Champion Rellie Kaputin jumping against some of Australia’s up and comers in Annie McGuire, Jessie Harper and Tay Clark, whilst also in the field is Para World Record Holder Vanessa Low.
Argubably the best event on paper, the Men’s High Jump sees Area Record Holder Brandon Starc, his training partner Marco Fassinotti and 2016 Olympian Joel Baden all jumping. The next wave of Australian high jumpers, will be looking to take advantage of a quality field and venue for jumping, with Oscar Mier and Sean Szalek both having PBs of 2.20 or above.
Always a big drawcard of Canberra meetings is the para events, and the Summer Super Series event is packed full of the best para talent in Australia. The Men’s ambulant 100m, with Chad Perris, Jaydon Page and James Turner will be fast, whilst Isis Holt has been running well since relocating to Brisbane to train under Paul Pearce, and will be looking to continue her good form.
Arguably one of the finds of the season so far, is the return of Hana Basic. A representative of Australia at Junior Level in 2014, she has spent the best part of the last 5 years struggling with injuries and the transition to senior athletics. She has never lost the faith, and this year it is showing that her talent hadn’t gone away. With a dominating performance at the Victorian Championships, winning in a Championships Record of 11.37, is a phenomenal performance when looking at the honor roll of champions that include Cathy Freeman amongst others.
In what is going to be a developing head to head match up over this season, Damien Birkenhead who has been Australia’s dominant Male Shot Putter in recent times, will throw against Alex Kolesnikoff, who has thrown a personal best of 19.51m this year. Hopefully the competition will bring out the best in both Men.
Liz Clay has shown what she produced last year in Melbourne, wasn’t a fluke, and has taken all before her this year to go to 2nd All time and produce a number of Olympic Qualifiers. She will be wanting to continue her win streak of 7 races here.
The Men’s and Women’s 800m will both be great races, with both Australian Record Holders in their respective Fields in Joseph Deng and Catriona Bisset. They wont have it their own way, with Deng facing off against training partner Peter Bol, Jeff Riseley and Brad Mathas, whilst Jack Lunn and Jye Perrott will be looking to mix it for the win. In the Women’s, Australian representatives Georgia Griffith, Brittany Kaan, and Youth Olympic Champion Keely Small will be hoping for a fast first lap, as 1500m runner Linden Hall is also in the field, and will be looking to come home strongly in a race she has barely run in her career.
