There are times during a season when a competition result matters for more than the number beside an athlete’s name.
Sunday’s High Noon meet was one of those occasions.
With the ACT 13 Years and Over Championships now just over a week away, FAST athletes used another valuable competition opportunity to test themselves across the track and field. There were personal bests, some encouraging consistency, a first attempt at an entirely new event and another significant name added to FAST history.
Nobody needed to produce their best performance of the season this weekend.
But quite a few athletes did anyway.
And collectively, there were signs that things are beginning to come together at a useful time.
Annabelle Moves Closer to Sub-13
Perhaps the clearest headline came from Annabelle Renda.
Annabelle ran 13.03 (+0.3) for the 100m, improving on the 13.09 she produced at High Noon only a week earlier.
Six hundredths of a second doesn’t sound like much.
In sprinting, it can mean quite a lot.
The performance takes Annabelle tantalisingly close to one of the milestones we have written about previously at FAST — breaking 13 seconds for 100m.
Our Road to Sub-13 story describes that barrier not as an exclusive club, but as a destination reached through consistency, patience and technical development. Different athletes arrive there at different times.
Annabelle is now knocking rather loudly on the door.
Her recent sequence also tells an encouraging story. At High Noon on 23 August she ran 13.57 (+1.7). On 6 September that became 13.09 (+1.8). Seven days later, in only a light +0.3 wind, she found another improvement with 13.03.
She backed Sunday’s 100m up with 27.47 (+2.0) over 200m, another performance in the same territory as her recent racing.
That consistency matters.
There is also now another distinction attached to her 13.03.
Annabelle Renda is a member of the FAST All-Time Women’s 100m Top Ten.
The recently launched FAST Top Ten Performances preserve the performances that have shaped FAST over more than a decade. They aren’t predictions of where an athlete will eventually finish; they recognise what has actually been achieved.
Annabelle has now earned her place in that history.
And at 13.03, there is an obvious next number to chase.
Afsa Finds Another Gear
Afsa Fatima Chowdhury also produced an important performance in the 100m.
Her 13.60 (+0.5) was a legal personal best and another step forward in a winter in which she has continued to combine sprinting with the horizontal jumps.
She followed with 29.07 (+1.3) in the 200m before heading to the triple jump runway.
There, the result sheet initially shows 10.85m, although that jump carried a +3.0 wind. More interesting from a performance perspective was her final-round 10.84m (+1.0) — a substantial legal jump and another indication of the progress she is making.
It is a good example of why we look beyond simply the largest number appearing at the top of a field result.
Conditions matter.
Seth Produces a Big Triple Jump PB
One of the largest improvements of the day belonged to Seth Samarakoon.
After running 12.43 (+1.1) in the 100m, Seth moved to the triple jump and produced 10.63m (+1.6).
His listed seed was 9.80m.
That’s an 83-centimetre improvement.
The series also included 10.21m and 10.32m, suggesting the 10.63m wasn’t simply an isolated jump appearing from nowhere.
That’s the sort of competition breakthrough athletes remember.
A First Steeplechase for Clare
Then there was something completely different.
Clare Rice competed in her first 2000m steeplechase.
Barriers, rhythm and, of course, the water jump make steeplechase a very different proposition from simply racing the same distance on the track.
Clare completed her first one in 10:27.14.
The time gives us a starting point, but for a first attempt the experience itself is arguably more valuable. You can practise components of an event in training, but eventually an athlete has to encounter the barriers, water and changing rhythm in an actual race.
Now Clare has.
She also had an extraordinarily varied afternoon, recording 20:01.56 in the 3000m race walk and 8.97m (+0.4) in the triple jump.
At this stage of athlete development, there is considerable value in experiencing different events rather than rushing to define exactly what sort of athlete someone must become.
More PBs and Useful Racing
There were encouraging performances elsewhere.
Leo McKinley improved his 800m to 2:48.63, another small step forward after his recent 2:49.34. He also contested the 400m, running 1:11.79.
Joby Cyriac broke three minutes for the 800m with 2:59.61, improving substantially on his listed 3:02.80 seed.
Lewin Ainsworth ran 11.82 (+1.4) in the 100m before completing the 400m in 56.73.
Isabelle Jeffs continued her recent racing with 13.46 (+0.3) for 100m and 28.23 (+1.3) for 200m.
Bree Madigan Wong ran 27.80 (+2.0) over 200m before producing a legal 9.97m (+1.6) in the triple jump.
Ellie Barrett completed another 400m in 1:04.12, while Blake Smith took on all three sprint distances, recording 15.41 for 100m, 32.34 for 200m and 1:13.34 for 400m.
Not every result was a PB.
Nor should it be.
What we’re seeing increasingly across the group is something that matters enormously as championship competition approaches:
consistency.
Now Comes the Championship
On Tuesday week, many of these athletes will return for the ACT 13 Years and Over Championships.
That changes the context.
Training provides opportunities to develop qualities. High Noon provides opportunities to rehearse competition. Championships ask athletes to put those pieces together when the result carries a little more weight.
There are encouraging signs.
Athletes are competing regularly. PBs are appearing. Technical changes are being tested under pressure. Some athletes are finding increasingly repeatable performances rather than relying on one exceptional race.
That doesn’t guarantee what happens at the Championships.
Competition never offers that guarantee.
But consistency gives an athlete more opportunities to produce the performance they are capable of when it matters.
And that is a pretty good place to be with a little over a week remaining.
For Annabelle, perhaps the clock will soon begin with 12.
For others, there will be different numbers, distances and milestones to chase.
High Noon gave us another snapshot of where everyone is today.
Now we get to see what comes next.
Running Excellence grows. 🖤❤️
Event 1003 Mixed 10-99 100 Metre Sprint AACT Pool 1
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Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind H# Points
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Finals
1 # 2691 Ainsworth, Lewin M11 Gungahlin At-AUS 11.68 11.82 1.4 1
1 # 3619 Renda, Annabelle W10 Tuggeranong-AUS 13.09 13.03 0.3 2
1 # 2254 Jeffs, Isabelle W13 Ginninderra-AUS 13.44 13.46 0.3 2
1 # 4167 Chowdhury, Afsa F W11 Woden Athlet-AUS 13.80 13.60 0.5 5
3 # 2338 Samarakoon, Don S M12 Ginninderra-AUS 12.46 12.43 1.1 3
4 # 4215 Smith, Blake Murr M16 Woden Athlet-AUS 15.18 15.41 1.1 4
Event 1007 Mixed 10-99 200 Metre Sprint AACT Pool 1
========================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind H# Points
========================================================================================
Finals
1 # 3619 Renda, Annabelle W10 Tuggeranong-AUS 27.33 27.47 2.0 3
2 # 2253 Madigan Wong, Bre W13 Ginninderra-AUS 27.31 27.80 2.0 3
2 # 4167 Chowdhury, Afsa F W11 Woden Athlet-AUS 28.32 29.07 1.3 4
3 # 2254 Jeffs, Isabelle W13 Ginninderra-AUS 27.71 28.23 1.3 4
4 # 4215 Smith, Blake Murr M16 Woden Athlet-AUS 31.29 32.34 1.8 2
Event 1008 Mixed 10-99 400 Metre Sprint AACT Pool 1
===================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals H# Points
===================================================================================
Finals
2 # 2691 Ainsworth, Lewin M11 Gungahlin At-AUS 54.16 56.73 1
2 # 3260 Barrett, Ellie W90 North Canber-AUS 1:02.53 1:04.12 2
2 # 2258 McKinley, Leo M16 Ginninderra-AUS 1:09.86 1:11.79 3
3 # 4215 Smith, Blake Murr M16 Woden Athlet-AUS 1:11.16 1:13.34 3
Event 1002 Boys 10-13 800 Metre Run AACT Pool 1
================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Points
================================================================================
2 # 2258 McKinley, Leo 16 Ginninderra-AUS 2:49.34 2:48.63
4 # 3618 Cyriac, Joby 16 Tuggeranong-AUS 3:02.80 2:59.61
Event 1004 Girls 10-13 3000 Metre Race Walk AACT Pool 1
================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Points
================================================================================
Finals
1 Rice, Clare 13 Corroboree A-AUS 17:18.01 20:01.56
Event 1009 Girls 11-13 2000 Metre Steeplechase 76.2cm AA Spec 3
========================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals
========================================================================
Finals
1 Rice, Clare 13 Corroboree A-AUS - 10:27.14
Event 2020 Mixed 10-99 Triple Jump 5/7 TO AACT Pool 1
==============================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind
==============================================================================
Flight 1
2 Rice, Clare W13 Corroboree A-AUS 9.29m 8.97m 0.4
5.48m(2.3) 8.97m(0.4) 8.94m(2.6) 8.91m(1.5)
vent 2017 Girls 10-13 Triple Jump 9/11/13 TO AACT Pool 2
==============================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind
==============================================================================
Finals
1 # 2253 Madigan Wong, Bre 13 Ginninderra-AUS 10.16m 9.97m 1.6
FOUL(2.1) FOUL(+0.0) FOUL(2.0) FOUL(0.7) 9.96m(1.0) 9.97m(1.6)
Event 2017 Women 14-15 Triple Jump 9/11/13 TO AACT Pool 2
==============================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind
==============================================================================
1 # 4167 Chowdhury, Afsa F 11 Woden Athlet-AUS 10.70m 10.85m 3.0
10.61m(+0.0) 10.60m(0.2) 10.56m(0.1) 10.45m(2.9) 10.85m(3.0) 10.84m(1.0)
Event 2017 Men 14-15 Triple Jump 9/11/13 TO AACT Pool 2
==============================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind
==============================================================================
1 # 2338 Samarakoon, Don S 12 Ginninderra-AUS 9.80m 10.63m 1.6
FOUL(1.2) 10.63m(1.6) 10.21m(+0.0) 10.26m(0.7) FOUL(1.2) 10.32m(1.2)
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