Watt and Offereins on fire in season opener PDF Print E-mail

World championships teammates and fellow bronze medallists Ben Offereins and Mitchell Watt were the standout performers in yesterday's Australia Cup meet at the AIS track in Canberra.

Offereins, who earnt his medal in Berlin as a member of the Australian 4 x 400m relay team, smashed his personal best with a time of 45.32 seconds in the men's 400m, taking victory ahead of South Australian Clay Watkins (45.92s) in second. The time was a Commonwealth Games A qualifying performance for the West Australian and in the process perhaps turned the 400m into the event of the season, with no less that 5 athletes in contention for team selection.

“Usually I don’t have anyone keeping up behind me but I had Joel (Milburn) and Clay and all those sort of guys right on my bum so it helps bring that extra bit out and it’s always good running with those sort of guys.” said Offereins.

Only three individual spots in the team for New Dehli are up for grabs and with the likes of Sean Wroe, Joel Milburn,  and John Steffensen, all former semi-finalists at world level, an exciting final awaits at the Australian Championships and Commonwealth Games Selection Trials to be held in Perth in April.

Queenslander Mitchell Watt, the find of the 2009 season, thrilled the crowd in the long jump with a huge foul in the opening round and a behind-the-board winning jump of 8.13m on his next attempt. "Megawatt Mitch", who owns a personal best of 8.43m, has been tipped to eclipse the  Australian record of 8.49m set by Olympic silver medallist Jai Taurima in 2000, but is not getting too carried away with the thought.

“It's not really my focus at the moment, I’ve got a long season and obviously I want to jump a lot further and if the record comes it comes.” said Watt.

Six Commonwealth Games B qualifying standards were set during the meet with the local highlight being in-form Lauren Boden's win in the 400m hurdles. The 21-year-old won with ease in 56.48, her third fastest ever time over the distance.

In other events Jared and Claire Tallent made it a family double in the men's and women's 5000m walk, both winning easily. World championships semi-finalist Brendan Cole opened his season with a win of 50.96 in the 400m hurdles and Canberra sprint queen Melissa Breen was surprisingly beaten in the women's 100m by the fast finishing Laura Whaler.

Victoria took out the Australia Cup teams competition, the event decided in the final event the men's 4 x 100m relay with the Victorians finishing 3 positions ahead of New South Wales to claim the $5000 prize.

Australia Cup Results 

30/01/2010AIS

Athletics Track, Bruce, ACT  Team

Scores - Open Place      Team                           Points      

1      Vic                                      VIC                         70.50     

 2      Nsw                                    NSW                      67     

3      Qld                                      QLD                       65     

4      Nt/Wa                                 NTWA                    57     

5      Sa/Tas                               SATA                      53     

6      Act                                      ACT                       31.50     

 7      Nzl                                      NZL                        29     

8      Best of the Rest                 BOR                       26     

9      Jump Start to London         JSL                       17 

Little Athletics Place              Team                         Points      

1      Qldla                                    QLDL                      81     

2      Nswla                                  NSWL                     73     

 3      Wala                                    WALA                     58     

4      Actla                                    ACTL                      56     

5      Tasla                                   TASL                      54 

Results Mixed 1500 Metres Open Finals 1, Julian Dent, AACT, 4:01.67. 2, Brad White, AACT, 4:01.95. 3, Michael  Roeger, AACT, 4:03.21. 4, Bradley Scott, AACT, 4:26.24. 5, Andrew Whyte, AACT,  4:28.57. 6, Anna Neumier, AACT, 4:35.20. 7, Sophie Greig, AACT, 4:50.29.  

Boys Long Jump Little Athletics 1, Jonathon Legos, Nswla, 5.86m, w:NWI. 2, Robert Gray-Kaumbuthu, Actla,  5.78m, w:NWI. 3, Jaden Williams, Qldla, 5.72m, w:NWI. 4, Tongchai  Quartermaine, WALA, 5.51m, w:NWI. 5, Jordan Bennett, Tasla, 5.11m, w:NWI.  

Girls Shot Put Little Athletics 1, Mia Cunningham, Qldla, 11.21m. 2, Claire McClenaghan, Tasla, 10.58m. 3,  Laura Andreazza, Nswla, 8.78m. 4, Jessica McPherson, Actla, 7.73m. 5, Lauren  Plati, WALA, 7.40m.  

Mixed Javelin Throw Ambulant 1, Kelsey-Lee Roberts, ACT, 44.23m. 2, Wade McMahon F37, AIS, 38.01m. 3,  Jayden Sawyer F38, ACT, 35.27m. 4, Madeleine Hogan F46, VIS, 27.92m. 5, Brent  Todd F42, NSW, 26.70m. 

Men 200 Metres Ambulant (w: -2.8) 1, Evan O’hanlon T38, AIS, 22.76. 2, Heath Francis T46, AIS, 23.25.  3, Gabriel Cole T46, SA, 24.14. 4, Jon Bernard T12, QLD, 24.51. 5, Chris  Mullins T38, VIC, 25.65. 6, Mitchell Pink T38, NSW, 27.09. 7, Adam Cunningham  T37, ACT, 28.40.  

Girls High Jump Little Athletics 1, Shannon O’dempsey, Qldla, 1.64m. 2, Erika Vredenbregt, Actla, 1.61m. 3,  Becky Clark, Nswla, 1.55m. 4, Amelia Cairns, WALA, 1.45m. 5, Rachelle Taylor,  Tasla, 1.25m. 

Girls 400 Metres Little Athletics 1, Hannah Joye, Qldla, 60.63. 2, Andrea Berrell, Nswla, 60.99. 3, Breanna  Dixon, WALA, 61.12. 4, Tiffany Henricks, Tasla, 63.26. 5, Anthea Hoshovsky,  Actla, 68.38. 

Boys 400 Metres Little Athletics 1, Alex Mould, Qldla, 52.68. 2, Christian Fobister, Actla, 54.12. 3, William  Richardson, Nswla, 54.34. 4, Jesse Way, WALA, 55.12. 5, Jordan Bennett, Tasla,  55.98.  

Women 400 Metres Open 1, Tamsyn Lewis, VIC, 52.41. 2, Jody Henry, Nt/Wa, 52.44. 3, Pirrenee  Steinert, NSW, 52.81. 4, Caitlin Pincott, QLD, 53.43. 5, Danielle Taylor,  Sa/Tas, 54.19. 6, Angeline Blacburn, ACT, 58.66. --, Olivia Tauro, Best of the  Rest, DNF. 

Men 400 Metres Open 1, Ben Offereins, Nt/Wa, 45.32. 2, Clay Watkins, Sa/Tas, 45.95. 3, Joel  Milburn, NSW, 46.63. 4, David Burke, VIC, 46.74. 5, Nick Boylett, QLD, 47.23.  6, James Dolphin, NZL, 47.50. 7, Derek Collinge, ACT, 49.23. 

Mixed 800 Metres   Handicap Open 1, Bob Chapman, AACT, 3:29.77. 2, Gary Maher, AACT, 3:33.14. 3, Tony Booth,  AACT, 3:38.21. 4, Greg Stretton, AACT, 3:38.31. 5, Amanda Walker, AACT,  3:39.56. 6, Paul Archer, AACT, 3:39.76. 7, Emma Adams, AACT, 3:40.66. 8, Heidi  Johnston, AACT, 3:41.09. 9, Bruce Graham, AACT, 3:41.75. 10, Rachelle  Ellis-Brownlee, AACT, 3:42.19. 11, Jim White, AACT, 3:42.47. 12, John Lamb,  AACT, 3:42.67. 13, Katie Forestier, AACT, 3:42.86. 14, Geoff Sims, AACT,  3:43.41. 15, Ken White, AACT, 3:44.57. 

Men 800 Metres Open 1, Lachlan Renshaw, NSW, 1:49.18. 2, Alex Rowe, VIC, 1:50.54. 3, Werner Botha,  QLD, 1:51.35. 4, James Boden, Sa/Tas, 1:51.43. 5, Kale Symons, ACT, 1:52.20.  6, Richard Olsen, NZL, 1:52.28. 7, Justin Evans, JSL, 1:52.77. 8, Chris  deBoer, Nt/Wa, 1:53.47 

Women Long Jump Open 1, Jacinta Boyd, QLD, 6.46m, w:4.9. 2, Jess Penney, ACT, 6.14m, w:3.4. 2,  Brooke Stratton, VIC, 6.14m, w:3.5. 4, Lauren Foote, Sa/Tas, 5.87m, w:1.9. 5,  Talissa Scott, NSW, 5.77m, w:-1.4. 6, Caryn Brett, Best of the Rest, 5.75m,  w:3.0. 7, Loughlyn Webb, Nt/Wa, 5.59m, w:1.6. 

Women 100 Metres Wheelchair (w: -1.1) 1, Jemima Moore, VIC, 18.76. 2, Madison DeRozario, WA, 18.85. 3,  Angie Ballard, Nswis, 19.10. 4, Sara Tait, QLD, 21.37. 

Men 100 Metres Wheelchair (w: -1.6) 1, Richard Nicholson, ACT, 15.56. 2, Sam Carter, QLD, 15.76. 3,  Alex  Dupont , CAN, 15.86. 4, Jake Lappin, VIC, 16.34. 5, Kyle Shaw, CAN,  16.59. 6, Declan Young, NSW, 17.62. 7, Sam MacIntosh, VIC, 19.53. 

Mixed Shot Put Ambulant 1, Jo Mirtshin Tba, ACT, 15.28m. 2, Russell Short F12, VIS, 14.50m. 3, Jayden  Sawyer F38, ACT, 9.96m. 4, Jodi Willis-Roberts F12, VIS, 9.67m. 5, Brent Todd  F42, NSW, 9.09m. 6, Katherine Proudfoot F36, AIS, 8.29m. 7, Noni Thompson F36,  VIC, 6.83m.  B

oys Javelin Throw Little Athletics 1, Michael Taylor, Nswla, 44.90m. 2, Tarwyn Filipek, WALA, 41.56m. 3, Liam  Spannenburg, Qldla, 38.93m. 4, Thomas Gravina, Tasla, 37.90m. 5, Jacob  Mitchell, Actla, 26.53m.  

Men 100 Metres Ambulant (w: -5.6) 1, Evan O’hanlon T38, AIS, 11.81. 2, Heath Francis T46, AIS, 11.94.  3, Gabriel Cole T46, SA, 12.48. 4, Jon Bernard T12, QLD, 12.98. 5, Chris  Mullins T38, VIC, 13.31. 6, Mitchell Pink T38, NSW, 14.05. 7, Scott Reardon  T42, AIS, 14.57. 8, Adam Cunningham T37, ACT, 14.58. 

Women 100 Metres   C Race Open (w: -0.2) 1, Jessica Knox, NSW, 11.96. 2, Angela Byrt, VIC, 12.15. 3, Bessie  Hayes, QLD, 12.26. 4, Shannon McCann, Nt/Wa, 12.30. 5, Stephanie Pollard, ACT,  12.36. 6, Bridgid Connolly, Sa/Tas, 12.76. 

Women 100 Metres   B Race Open (w: -2.4) 1, Eloise Graf, Best of the Rest, 12.30. 2, Virginia Trad, QLD,  12.33. 3, Emma Freer, Sa/Tas, 12.43. 4, Ashleigh Whittaker, VIC, 12.49. 5,  Laura Verlinden, NSW, 12.53.  

Girls 100 Metres Little Athletics (w: -2.1) 1, Larissa Chambers, Qldla, 13.09. 2, Breanna Dixon, WALA, 13.11. 3,  Caitlin Newson, Tasla, 13.73. 4, Laura Andreazza, Nswla, 14.17. 5, Taylah  Allan, Actla, 14.50.  

Men 100 Metres   C Race Open (w: -1.8) 1, Mathew Turk, VIC, 10.77. 2, Aaron Stubbs, QLD, 10.97. 3, Robbie  James, Sa/Tas, 11.03. 4, Jeffrey Thumath, NZL, 11.05. 5, Jared Bizoudenhout,  Nt/Wa, 11.20. 6, Ben Jaworski, Best of the Rest, 11.26.  

Men 100 Metres   B Race Open (w: -0.8) 1, Keith Sheehy, NSW, 10.50. 2, Jake Hammond, Best of the Rest,  10.59. 3, Daniel Martin, VIC, 10.63. 4, Craig Bearda, NZL, 10.73. 5, Ray  Williams, JSL, 10.77. 6, Mitchell Zilm, Nt/Wa, 11.10. 7, Luke Storta, ACT,  11.26. --, Mark Ormrod, Sa/Tas, DNF. --, Matt Davies, QLD, DQ. 

 Boys 100 Metres Little Athletics (w: -2.5) 1, James Quinn, Qldla, 11.85. 2, Jonathon Legos, Nswla, 12.42. 3,  Nicholas Laidler, WALA, 12.55. 4, Jake Dodge, Tasla, 12.76. 5, Harry Ingram,  Actla, 12.80.  

Women High Jump Open 1, Petrina Price, NSW, 1.85m. 2, Ellen Pettitt, Nt/Wa, 1.85m. 3, Amy Pejkovic,  Best of the Rest, 1.76m. 4, Kaitlin Morgan, Sa/Tas, 1.65m. 5, Gabrielle  Howard, VIC, 1.65m. 6, Erika Vredenbregt, ACT, 1.60m. --, Kristen Truscott,  QLD, NH.  

Women 100 Metres Open (w: -2.6) 1, Laura Whaler, JSL, 11.71. 2, Melissa Breen, ACT, 11.74. 3,  Charlotte vanVeenendaal, NSW, 11.75. 4, Crystal Attenborough, Nt/Wa, 11.95. 5,  Caitlin Sargent, QLD, 11.99. 6, Jess Gulli, VIC, 12.00. 7, Larissa  Pasternatsky, Best of the Rest, 12.12. 8, Leanne Hodge, Sa/Tas, 12.38.  

Men Triple Jump Open 1, Henry Frayne, VIC, 15.88m, w:0.2. 2, Josh Lumley, QLD, 15.59m, w:3.1. 3,  Tim McGuire, Sa/Tas, 14.81m, w:2.0. 4, Alex Jacenko, NSW, 14.53m, w:1.6. 5,  Vayios Koudamakis, Nt/Wa, 13.87m, w:2.3. 6, Ambrose Kilian, JSL, 13.52m,  w:2.7. 7, Robert Gray-Kambuthu, ACT, 11.98m, w:6.1.  

Men 100 Metres Open (w: -1.8) 1, Bola Lawal, VIC, 10.46. 2, Carl VanDerSpeck, NZL, 10.74. 3,  Patrick Johnson, QLD, 10.76. 4, Patrick Fakiye, NSW, 10.78. 5, Liam Gander,  JSL, 10.85. 6, Todd Bateman, Sa/Tas, 10.86. 7, Lucas Mata, Nt/Wa, 11.00. 8,  Sean Wroe, Best of the Rest, 11.02. 9, Brendan Matthews, ACT, 11.13. 

Mixed Shot Put Seated 1, Hamish MacDonald F34, ACT, 8.71m. 2, Damien Bowen F34, Actas, 8.56m. 3,  Louise Ellery F32, Actas, 6.09m.  

Men 5000 Metres Race Walk Invitation Open 1, Jared Tallent, AIS, 19:08.81. 2, Adam Rutter, AIS, 19:52.10. 3, David  Mejia, MEX, 19:56.23. 4, Adrian Herrera, MEX, 19:59.41. 5, Ato Ibáñez, SWE,  20:12.16. 6, Dane Bird - Smith, QRWC, 20:21.69. 7, Ian Rayson, Nswis,  20:46.15. 8, Brendon Reading, ACT, 21:11.87. 9, Darren Bown, SA, 21:14.05. 10,  Sean Fitzsimons, AIS, 21:36.51. 11, Derek Mulhearn, NSW, 21:42.67. 12, Rhydian  Cowley, VIC, 21:46.95. 13, Blake Steele, SA, 22:06.09. 14, Michael Reading,  AIS, 24:05.64. 15, Steven Washburn, NSW, 25:10.31.  

Women 5000 Metres Race Walk Invitation Open 1, Claire Tallent, AIS, 22:22.58. 2, Jillian Hosking, ACT, 22:35.15. 3, Kellie  Wapshott, AIS, 22:54.91. 4, Cheryl Webb, Nswis, 23:04.26. 5, Beki Lee, JSL,  23:36.56. 6, Nicole Fagan, NSW, 23:49.70. 7, Beth Alexander, VIC, 24:36.84.  --, Amy Burren, VIC, DNF. --, Regan Lamble, AIS, DNF. 

Men Javelin Throw Open 1, Stuart Farquhar, NZL, 81.11m. 2, Matt Outzen, Best of the Rest, 71.77m. 3,  Hamish Peacock, Sa/Tas, 71.57m. 4, Ben Baker, NSW, 71.25m. 5, Ashley Hollins,  QLD, 67.91m. 6, Mark Sheehan, Nt/Wa, 65.49m. 7, Iain Simmons, VIC, 64.47m. 8,  Jari Talka, ACT, 59.76m. 9, Dylan Risk, JSL, 56.83m.  

Girls 1500 Metres Little Athletics 1, Naomi Fitzpatrick, Qldla, 5:07.10. 2, Katherine Audsley, WALA, 5:15.19. 3,  Naomi Stewart, Actla, 5:22.70. 4, Riana Drake, Nswla, 5:38.32. 5, Rachelle  Taylor, Tasla, 5:53.57. 

Boys 1500 Metres Little Athletics 1, Charlie Hunter, Nswla, 4:39.73. 2, Reuben Caley, Actla, 4:43.60. 3, Matt  Albert, Qldla, 4:54.99. 4, Elliot Goldstone, WALA, 4:55.22. 5, Nicholas  Bennett, Tasla, 5:21.60. 

Women 1500 Metres Open 1, Kaila McKnight, VIC, 4:21.07. 2, Holly Noack, Nt/Wa, 4:24.50. 3, Margie  Atthow, QLD, 4:25.90. 4, Jenny Blundell, NSW, 4:27.85. 5, Melanie Daniels,  Sa/Tas, 4:29.06. 6, Andrea Ilakovac, ACT, 4:35.53. --, Noni Cooper, Best of  the Rest, DNF.  

Men Long Jump Invitation Open 1, Mitchell Watt, QLD, 8.13m, w:1.4. 2, Chris Noffke, QLD, 7.75m, w:0.5. 3,  Mark Howard, NSW, 7.69m, w:1.2. 4, Shaun Fletcher, QLD, 7.60m, w:3.0. 5, Zane  Leonard, VIC, 7.53m, w:2.4. 6, Ryan Roselli, NZL, 7.30m, w:1.1. 7, Jeffrey  Thumath, NZL, 7.14m, w:1.8. 8, Daniel Egan, NSW, 6.94m, w:2.1. 9, Thomas  Soliman, NSW, 6.68m, w:1.4.  Women 400 Metres Hurdles Invitation Open 1, Lauren Boden, ACT, 56.48. 2, Jess Gulli, VIC, 61.37. 3, Lisa Celi, NSW,  61.66. 4, Bianca Mignot, VIC, 62.25. 5, Catherine Brown, QLD, 62.82. 6, Tarin  Nevin, ACT, 63.46.  

Men 400 Metres Hurdles Invitation Open 1, Brendan Cole, ACT, 50.96. 2, Sasha Alexeenko, QLD, 52.43. 3, Danny  Brandwood, Best of the Rest, 52.96. 4, Felipe De Castro Cruz, WAIS, 53.59. 5,  Daniel O'Shea, NZL, 54.00. 6, Alex Carew, VIC, 55.01. 7, Nick Kalivati, NZL,  56.22.  

Mixed Discus Throw Ambulant 1, Russell Short F12, VIS, 41.53m. 2, Jodi Willis-Roberts F12, VIS, 33.66m. 3,  Shayne Allen F12, NSW, 23.56m. 4, Katherine Proudfoot F36, AIS, 22.50m. 5,  Noni Thompson F36, VIC, 17.37m. 

Girls 4x100 Metres Relay Little Athletics 1, Qldla 'A' (Hannah Joye , Mia Cunningham , Shannon O’dempsey , Larissa  Chambers ), 52.26. 2, Nswla 'A' (Becky Clark , Riana Drake , Andrea Berrell ,  Laura Andreazza ), 52.85. 3, Tasla 'A' (Claire McClenaghan , Caitlin Newson ,  Rachelle Taylor , Tiffany Henricks ), 55.06. 4, Actla 'A' (Anthea Hoshovsky ,  Naomi Stewart , Erika Vredenbregt , Taylah Allan ), 56.04. --, Wala 'A'  (Amelia Cairns , Lauren Plati , Katherine Audsley , Breanna Dixon ), DQ. 

Boys 4x100 Metres Relay Little Athletics 1, Wala 'A' (Jesse Way , Nicholas Laidler , Tongchai Quartermaine , Tarwyn  Filipek ), 47.16. 2, Qldla 'A' (Alex Mould , Jaden Williams , Liam Spannenburg  , James Quinn ), 48.58. 3, Tasla 'A' (Nicholas Bennett , Jake Dodge , Thomas  Gravina , Jordan Bennett ), 49.11. 4, Nswla 'A' (Michael Taylor , William  Richardson , Charlie Hunter , Jonathon Legos ), 49.65. --, Actla 'A' (Harry  Ingram , Robert Gray-Kaumbuthu , Jacob Mitchell , Christian Fobister ), DQ.  

Men 400 Metres Wheelchair 1, Alex  Dupont , CAN, 50.17. 2, Richard Nicholson, ACT, 50.48. 3, Matthew  Cameron, QLD, 52.18. 4, Kyle Shaw, CAN, 52.47. 5, Sam Carter, QLD, 53.42. 6,  Jake Lappin, VIC, 53.44. 7, Declan Young, NSW, 64.18. 8, Sam MacIntosh, VIC,  77.42. 

 Women 4x100 Metres Relay Open 1, Qld 'A' (Jacinta Boyd , Caitlin Sargent , Virginia Trad , Bessie Hayes ),  45.64. 2, Nsw 'A' (Laura Verlinden , Jessica Knox , Talissa Scott , Charlotte  vanVeenendaal ), 46.24. 3, Nt/Wa 'A' (Loughlyn Webb , Shannon McCann , Jody  Henry , Crystal Attenborough ), 46.91. 4, Vic 'A' (Angela Byrt , Tamsyn Lewis  , Jess Gulli , Ashleigh Whittaker ), 46.95. 5, Sa/Tas 'A' (Emma Freer , Leanne  Hodge , Lauren Foote , Bridgid Connolly ), 47.44. 6, Best of the Rest 'A'  (Larissa Pasternatsky , Eloise Graf , Caryn Brett , Amy Pejkovic ), 48.14. 

Men 4x100 Metres Relay Open 1, Nzl 'A' (Carl VanDerSpeck , Craig Bearda , Jeffrey Thumath , James Dolphin  ), 40.04. 2, Qld 'A' (Patrick Johnson , Matt Davies , Nick Boylett , Aaron  Stubbs ), 40.41. 3, Vic 'A' (Bola Lawal , Mathew Turk , Daniel Martin , David  Burke ), 40.58. 4, Nt/Wa 'A' (Lucas Mata , Mitchell Zilm , Jared Bizoudenhout  , Ben Offereins ), 41.27. 5, Best of the Rest 'A' 41.49. 6, Sa/Tas 'A' (Todd  Bateman , James Boden , Robbie James , Clay Watkins ), 41.68. 7, Nsw 'A'  (Keith Sheehy , Alex Jacenko , Joel Milburn , Patrick Fakiye ), 42.83.  

Mixed Javelin Throw Seated 1, Damien Bowen F34, Actas, 24.16m. 2, Louise Ellery F32, Actas, 10.87m.