There are plenty of ways to measure a successful day at the track.
Sometimes it is a personal best. Sometimes it is stepping into the blocks for an event you have never raced before. Sometimes it is simply getting through the nerves of your first athletics competition and discovering that you belong there.
For FAST athletes competing at the latest High Noon meet, there was a little of all of that.
Held at the AIS on Father’s Day, the meet provided another valuable early-season competition opportunity as athletes continue the transition from winter preparation towards the main summer athletics season. For some, it was another chance to test their development. For others, Sunday represented something completely new.
A First 110m Hurdles for Brooklyn
One of the performances we were particularly interested to see was Brooklyn Montana’s first race over the 110m hurdles.
Brooklyn has spent considerable time developing the technical skills and rhythm required for hurdling, but training an event and racing it are two very different experiences. Competition introduces the start, eight-stride approach, the pressure of maintaining rhythm and the need to respond when things don’t happen exactly as they do in training.
Brooklyn completed his first U18 110m hurdles race in 16.47 seconds.
The +2.7 m/s following wind means the performance cannot be treated as a wind-legal benchmark, but that really wasn’t the most important number on Sunday.
He now has something much more useful: his first complete 110m hurdles race behind him.
There is video to analyse, a competition rhythm to understand and a genuine starting point from which we can continue developing the event.
Annabelle Keeps Getting Faster
For Annabelle Renda, High Noon delivered two new sprint benchmarks.
Annabelle ran 13.09 (+1.8) for 100m before returning to record 27.46 (+1.5) over 200m. Both performances were achieved within the allowable wind limit and represent another step forward in her sprint development.
The numbers become particularly interesting when viewed alongside her recent racing. At High Noon on 23 August, Annabelle ran 13.57 for 100m and a wind-assisted 28.62 for 200m.
We are always cautious about drawing conclusions from one competition. Conditions change, athletes develop at different rates and no single race tells the whole story. But repeated competition gives us more information, and Annabelle is beginning to establish some encouraging new performance markers as the season approaches.
She also competed in the long jump, recording a best of 4.69m (+0.7).
Aqlan’s First Competition
At the other end of the competition-experience spectrum was Aqlan Taufik.
This was Aqlan’s first athletics competition.
Ever.
That makes his first trip to the start line significant regardless of what appeared on the clock. Aqlan ran 12.06 for 100m, with a +2.3 m/s following wind.
Because the wind exceeded the allowable limit, 12.06 cannot be considered a wind-legal performance. But it gives Aqlan and his coaches a first competition reference and, more importantly, his first experience of taking the work we do at training into an actual race environment.
There will be plenty more opportunities for times.
You only get one first race.
Racing on Your Birthday
Isabelle Jeffs found another way to spend a birthday: racing 200 metres.
Isabelle stopped the clock at 27.91 (+1.6), adding another legal sub-28-second performance to what has already been a productive period of racing.
Perhaps just as importantly, she enjoyed herself.
It is easy in performance sport to become consumed by times, rankings and outcomes. We want our athletes to care about their performances, but we also want them to continue enjoying the experiences athletics creates.
Friends, teammates, competition — and occasionally a birthday spent at the track — are part of that too.
Plenty More Happening Around the Track
There were FAST athletes competing throughout the program.
Ellie Barrett ran 1:02.51 for 400m, while Leo McKinley recorded 1:09.86 for 400m and 31.24 for 200m.
Thivai Ariyadasa produced a 29.71 200m and also competed across the 100m, long jump and shot put. Clare Rice combined hurdles and jumping, recording 37.98 in the 200m hurdles and a 4.23m (+1.1) long jump.
There were also sprint appearances from Lewin Ainsworth and Nel Ganesalingam, adding to a FAST presence that stretched across different ages, events and stages of development.
Not every result needs to be a personal best to be useful. Every competition gives us another opportunity to observe, measure and learn.
Why We Compete
High Noon meets have become valuable checkpoints within the FAST program.
Training tells us a great deal. We electronically measure flying sprints, acceleration and longer efforts throughout the year, and those numbers help us understand whether the physical qualities underneath race performance are developing.
Competition asks a different question.
Can you put it together when somebody else fires the gun?
For Brooklyn, Sunday provided his first answer over 110m hurdles. For Aqlan, it was his first answer in athletics competition at all. Annabelle produced two new legal sprint PBs. Isabelle got to race on her birthday. Others collected another set of performances that we can take back into training.
And because it was Father’s Day, there were also plenty of dads spending part of their Sunday exactly where athletics parents so often find themselves — beside a track, carrying bags, watching races, encouraging athletes and helping make all of this possible.
That’s worth recognising too.
The summer season is still ahead of us. There will be faster races, bigger competitions and plenty of challenges to come.
For now, we take what Sunday gave us, learn from it and get back to work.
Running Excellence grows. 🖤❤️
Notable Performances
Ellie Barrett lowered her 400m PB from 62.53 to 62.51, continuing her progress towards breaking 62 seconds. Annabelle Renda ran 13.09 (+1.8) for 100m and a new 200m PB of 27.46 (+1.5), with both performances achieved in legal conditions. Ellie’s PB also improves her position within the FAST all-time women’s 400m Top 10, while Annabelle continues to close on the FAST age-group rankings across both sprint events.
Event 1018 Mixed 10-99 100 Metre Sprint AACT Pool 1
================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Points
================================================================================
Section 1 Wind: 3.8
3 # 2691 Ainsworth, Lewin M11 Gungahlin At-AUS 11.68 11.78
Section 2 Wind: 2.3
1 # 2842 Taufik, Aqlan M08 Gungahlin At-AUS 13.31 12.06
3 # 1773 Lindner, Archer M13 Corroboree A-AUS 13.80 13.50
7 # 2235 Ariyadasa, Thivai M14 Ginninderra-AUS 13.49 14.83
Section 4 Wind: 1.8
4 # 3619 Renda, Annabelle W10 Tuggeranong-AUS 13.13 13.09
Section 5 Wind: 2.8
5 # 4271 Ganesalingam, Nel W15 Woden Athlet-AUS 15.01 14.44
Event 1019 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 27.30 27.46 1.5 3
1 # 2248 Jeffs, Isabelle W13 Ginninderra-AUS 27.65 27.91 1.6 5
5 # 2235 Ariyadasa, Thivai M14 Ginninderra-AUS 30.82 29.71 1.8 4
10 # 2258 McKinley, Leo M16 Ginninderra-AUS 32.09 31.24 1.7 6
Event 1020 Mixed 10-99 400 Metre Sprint AACT Pool 1
===================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals H# Points
===================================================================================
Finals
2 # 2258 McKinley, Leo M16 Ginninderra-AUS 1:11.00 1:09.86 4
3 # 3260 Barrett, Ellie W90 North Canber-AUS 1:02.53 1:02.51 2
Event 1004 Men 16-17 110 Metre Hurdles 91.4cm Under 18
=====================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind Points
=====================================================================================
Finals
1 # 2329 Montana, Brooklyn 09 Ginninderra-AUS 16.00 16.47 2.7
Event 1021 Girls 11-13 200 Metre Hurdles 76.2cm AA Spec 3
==============================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind
==============================================================================
Finals
3 # 1573 Rice, Clare 13 Capital Athl-AUS 50.00 37.98 2.5
Event 2021 Boys 10-13 Long Jump < 5.00 Metre AACT Pool 2
=====================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind Points
=====================================================================================
2 # 1773 Lindner, Archer 13 Corroboree A-AUS 4.70m 4.60m +0.0
FOUL(1.8) 4.60m(+0.0) 4.30m(+0.0)
4 # 2235 Ariyadasa, Thivai 14 Ginninderra-AUS 4.23m 3.90m 3.4
3.85m(1.1) FOUL(+0.0) 3.90m(3.4)
5 # 3618 Joby, Cyriac 16 Tuggeranong-AUS 3.99m 3.69m 0.7
3.69m(0.7) 3.43m(+0.0) 2.67m(2.1)
Event 2019 Women 16-17 Long Jump >= 5 Metres AACT Pool 1
=====================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind Points
=====================================================================================
1 # 3619 Renda, Annabelle 10 Tuggeranong-AUS 5.05m 4.69m 0.7
4.66m(2.8) 4.50m(+0.0) 4.69m(0.7) 4.53m(1.9)
Event 2021 Girls 10-13 Long Jump < 5.00 Metre AACT Pool 2
=====================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Wind Points
=====================================================================================
Finals
2 # 1573 Rice, Clare 13 Capital Athl-AUS 4.18m 4.23m 1.1
4.09m(3.4) 4.10m(0.9) 4.23m(1.1)
Event 2009 Men 11-13 Shot Put 3kg Under 14
================================================================================
Comp# Name Year Team Seed Finals Points
================================================================================
Finals
2 # 2235 Ariyadasa, Thivai 14 Ginninderra-AUS 8.08m 6.73m
6.73m 6.49m 6.21m
Comments are closed