Adelaide Track Classic
The South Australian Athletics Stadium played host to the opening leg of the Summer Series, giving athletes a taste of the 2024 National Championships venue following recent upgrades. Our club had strong representation across multiple events, particularly in the sprints where our women continue to show their depth.

The women's 100m provided exciting racing across both divisions. In the B race, Bronte Pickering clocked a season-best 11.78s. The A race saw our athletes feature prominently with Kristie Edwards surging to second place in a season-best 11.43s, while Olivia Rose Inkster equalled her personal best with 11.69s for fifth.

The 800m races delivered incredibly tight competition. The women's race was particularly thrilling with just fractions separating second through seventh place, all recording times in the 2:03 range. Our international-based junior protege Carley Thomas, now training in Washington, finished sixth in 2:03.78, while Bendere Oboya claimed the final podium spot in 2:03.11. In the men's race, Mason Cohen produced a strong finish to secure sixth place in 1:49.48 chasing Peter Bol in 1:46 shape.

Backing up from their 100m performances, both Edwards and Inkster returned for the 200m where they faced challenging -3.1 headwind conditions. Edwards improved on her earlier podium with victory in 23.85, while Inkster fought hard for fifth in 24.78.

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High Velocity Meet IV
Our latest club meet at Barden Ridge saw impressive participation with 37 athletes competing across 11 events, resulting in 30 new season or personal bests being added to the rankings.

The competition began promisingly at midday with favourable conditions for the field events and hurdles. Masters athlete Matteo Passerini improved on his 6m jump at the Combined Events going out to 6.17m on his last attempt and building nicely towards State Champs.

Sarah Lovell improved on her 4kg Shot best and chased another PB in the 100mH with Alexandra Richards finishing 3rd in a new season best of 14.40. Women's Masters hurdling is also in fine form as Maryann Hearn opened her long awaited outdoor race breaking a 33 year old club record in the 80mH (W55). The race was won by Nicki Drinkwater (W45) as she has her goals set on State and National honours.

As the day progressed through 28 men's and 19 women's heats of the 100m, changing wind conditions began to impact performances. Pengfei Zhao claimed a Top 8 result in 10.92 with Gabby Taylor finishing 3rd in 11.81 becoming the fourth women in the club to go sub 12 with a host of others chasing.

The 200m segment, starting at 4pm, proved particularly challenging with the wind direction rather than speed being the main adversary. This resulted in significant withdrawals - 30 men and 18 women opted not to start their 200m heats. Some athletes were not done yet.

Despite the challenging conditions, we witnessed a standout performance from Mali Lovell in the T36 100m. Continuing her impressive form following Paralympic success, Mali broke her own Australian Record with a time of 14.38 (0.0), improving on her previous mark of 14.57.

Next Up

• The Summer Series continues in Perth on March 1st. Athletes are encouraged to check the Athletics Australia website for early entry opportunities.
• Closer to home, Albie Thomas Mile, the midweek Milers meets have proven to produce great results and while we are not sure of the field sizes yet it is hyped to be exciting.
• Starting Friday night, the NSW Masters State Championships get underway with Late Nominations been extended to Tuesday 18 February.