Briggs Athletics Classic - Meet Preview
29 Jan 2009
Tomorrow night’s Briggs Athletics Classic is set to be the most thrilling night of track & field seen in Tasmania this decade.
As an Oceania Area Permit event it is the first major meet of the World outdoor calendar and the line up of athletes is fitting of the season opener.
The stand out events on the punchy 2 ½ hour program, are without doubt the men’s sprint events, which boasts the quickest speedsters from across the country. While previous editions of the Briggs Athletics Classic had strong line ups across a mixture of events, in recent years it has lacked strong sprint fields. That issue has been addressed for 2009, with the new breed of Australia’s top sprinters all assembled.
Nigerian born Anthony Alozie and Bola Lawal have been in scintillating form in recent weeks, which suggests that the 100m meet record of 10.22sec set in 1994 by Damien Marsh will be under a serious threat. This month, Alozie, who has now received Australian citizenship ran a wind assisted time of 10.16sec and Lawal set a new personal best of 10.29sec.
However it may not be either of them who steals the show. With four time national champion Josh Ross returning to the form that saw him clock 10.08 in 2007, he will be one of the big guns to watch when the race goes at 7:40pm. The depth of sprinting is so strong this year, that two races are required for the men’s and women’s 100m and 200m dashes. Also in the field are current Australian champion Otis Gowa, along with Jacob Groth, Aaron Rouge-Serret, Matt Davies and Beijing Olympian Sean Wroe.
With the quality of fields assembled for the 100m and 200m, a 4 x 100m relay has also been added to this year’s program, providing Tasmanian sprinters with the opportunity to run against the country’s best as Australia seeks to re-establish itself as a top relay nation in 2009. Adding the relay line up will be Australia’s fastest man, Patrick Johnson, who will run in the Jump Start to London Indigenous team.
Dubbed the 2008 Australian distance runner of the year this week by Run For Your Life magazine, Donna MacFarlane is set to have her first race of the domestic season on the track. It will be a tough opener for the TIS athlete, as she will be up against Beijing Olympian and Australian mile record holder Lisa Corrigan, who has just finished a dose of altitude training at Falls Creek.
At the 2007 edition of the classic, Alwyn Jones leapt to a new personal best in the triple jump and is returning again this year, along with the nation’s best hop, step and jumpers, including world junior finalist and new Australian junior record holder, Henry Frayne.
Athletics Australia has also used the Briggs Athletics Classic to further two of its development programs, for under 20 athletes and Indigenous athletes. Both groups contain the finest young talents in the land and given many have already represented Australia in underage teams, their quality will add interesting depth to the fields.
One of the country’s most precocious talents is miler Jeff Riseley. He was a late call up for the Beijing Games last year in the 1500m, following an inspiring last ditch qualifier in Rome. After an impressive victory at last month’s Zatopek Classic in Melbourne, the Victorian will be looking to break the 12 month old Tasmanian Allcomers Record of 3:39.70. Pushing him through to the line will be dual national champion Lachlan Chisholm and world junior representative Craig Huffer.
The women’s 800m has long been a crowd favourite in Hobart. This year will see Madeleine Pape the star attraction over the 2 lap race. After making her first national team last year for Beijing, Pape will be looking to start the Australian summer season in winning form against former Australian champion Katherine Katsanevakis and Tasmanian slickster Nicole Perry.
One of the most intriguing events on the program, will be the final event, the men’s 5000m. It is a true race of attrition over 12 ½ laps, with a high quality field of 18, including internationals from Switzerland and New Zealand. Two time winner of the 5000m at the Briggs Athletics Classic, Collis Birmingham is returning to the Domain for a hat trick of victories. His past 12 months have been stellar for the Victorian, after becoming an Olympian and a victory over distance running superstar Craig Mottram at November’s Great Australian Run in Melbourne.
Birmingham will face some stiff competition from Queenslander Michael Shelley, who defeated Birmingham over 10,000m in December and the in-form Ben St Lawrence from Sydney who placed second in the recent Burnie Ten.
The Briggs Athletics Classic is on Friday January 30 from 6pm at the Domain Athletics Centre, Hobart and carries $25,000 in prize money plus record bonuses.