Day 2 of 2009 Tasmanian Championships Review
02 Mar 2009
North Launceston’s Tao Baker took out a dramatic open men’s 400m final on day 2 of action at St Leonards today.
After an intimidating grunt just prior to assembling himself in the starting blocks, Baker took off in lane 4, rapidly drawing in his nearest rival, Tom Beard. At the midway mark, it was Baker, Stephen Rae and Callum James all in close proximity, as the sprint based athletes all got off to the quicker starts. Rounding the bend and entering the straight, it was still close between the trio, with OVA’s Tom Beard beginning to reel them in. However it was Baker who handled the lactic legs best, as he hung on to win the Norman Hutton Memorial 400m in 50.04sec, his fastest time this season. Beard flashed home to record a personal best in second place, with 50.20sec and Callum James taking third.
The women’s 1 lap race was won by Morgan Whiley, who defended her Lynne Mazey Memorial crown with a 55.65sec victory. It was made even more impressive after she only flew back in from Sydney this morning following her seasons best 54.68sec effort at the Sydney Track Classic last night. Danielle Taylor of Western Suburbs was impressive in second place, clocking 56.24sec while Hannah West of Sandy Bay claimed the bronze medal, just dipping under 60seconds.
Relay victories went to the Eastern Suburbs women and Sandy Bay men in the open 4 x 100m, but not without controversy. North Launceston men were the first over the line, but an obvious bungle at change one resulted in them being disqualified and the state title subsequently being handed to Sandy Bay.
Hamish Peacock showed his diversity once again, winning the open men triple jump title with a best leap of 13.14m, only 10cm ahead of fellow Eastern Suburbs athlete Tyler Bailey. It was a club double, with Mel Street setting a new personal best of 11.94m to win the women’s.
Tamar’s Josh Harris reversed yesterday’s 1500m result, with a commanding victory in the 3000m steeplechase over Sam Ferguson, who was making his debut over the distance. Suzy Cole of North Launceston won the women’s equivalent.
While in one of the final events at last nights Sydney Track Classic, TIS athlete Donna MacFarlane won the bronze medal in the Australian 5000m championships. The Sandy Bay athlete ran 16:00.43, behind Victorians Sarah Jamieson and Lisa Weightman. It was a gutsy run for the steeplechaser, who had to come from behind to run past 2008 Burnie Ten Champion Lara Tamsett in the final straight to clinch the medal.
