MUAC News Roundup

Irie Hill is back on form after returning from a stint training with 6m German pole vaulter Tim Lobinger, now a resident of Munich. Irie, who competes for the Regensburg club, set a new world indoor record for W40 with 3.65m whilst in Germany, and had Malte Mohr also as a training partner.

Irie jumped 3.60m twice since returning, well below her indoor form, but knew that some of the tips and techniques she learnt whilst in Germany would be useful to her in her quest to break the outdoor record before the end of the current Australian season.

Competing on Saturday in the Rare Air Club meeting held at Melbourne University, where Irie trains, she took all the knowledge and her previous capabilities and sailed over a new world record mark of 3.75m.

Having had a confident two solid weeks of training Irie felt she was ready to start entering competitions higher than she had been, and so started this competition 4cm above her previous world record of 3.71m, and smashed the record on her first jump.

She then waited until the bar was raised to 3.95m and had 3 further attempts at that height, narrowly failing on each occasion but knowing how close she was that this height too will not prove a barrier in the coming weeks.

Following her pole vaulting exploits Irie went to off to Murrumbeena, another suburb of Melbourne, and confidently jumped 1.55m to set a new W40 state high jump record, and followed it with a shot put of 9.01m to take gold in the Victorian Masters in both events.

Sunday she returned to Murrumbeena, with swirling winds and heavy showers haven taken over from the previous day’s perfect conditions and jumped 9.80m in the Triple Jump to take that crown, and followed it with a comfortable 3.20m pole vault.

“It’s been good to finally see some of the benefit out of the winter training”, said Irie shortly after her marathon weekend, “I am not yet back to my full copetition run-up and know that once I add a few more steps I can move up to longer poles and thus increase my heights, especially knowing that I could have jumped higher already. I have some great competition opportunities coming up, and I am especially looking forward to training and competing in Perth next month, after all if you train with one 6m pole vaulter you should always train with them, right?”

Irie is of course referring to World Indoor, Outdoor, Olympic and Commonwealth Gold Medallist, Steve Hooker.

Vic Master Champs

Also at the Victorian Masters Championship, Paul Kennedy won both the 1500m and 3000m walk titles to continue the form that saw him win eleven of twelve rounds at interclub.  He will now focus on training for the winter season and his eagerly anticipated showdown with Theo Tsichrintzis.

Vic Milers Club 5

At Victorian Milers Club 5 at Olympic Park, there were some solid results for MUAC atheltes leading up to the Victorian Championships.  Emil Gundesen won the Men’s C 800m race in 1:58.18 with Jordan Mayston close behind in 3rd.  Kat Sutton ran 2:23.43, a pb, in the Women’s C 800m.  Michael Wong claimed silver in the Men’s D 800m race in 1:59.02 and Will Vigors ran a pb of 2:02.83 to finish fourth in the Men’s E 800m race.  In the rarely raced mile, Hamish Beaumont ran 4:30.69, a pb, in the Men’s B Mile.

ACT Champs

MUAC's Team Bisetto at the AIS

A bevy of MUAC athletes travelled to Canberra in search of PB’s, SB’s and National Qualifying performances at the AIS for the ACT Track and Field Championships with some impressive results.   Conditions were ideal with tailwinds for the sprinters and a warm fast runway for the jumpers.

Highlights of the weekend included:
– Dr Emma Zalcman’s big PB in the 400m, running a very strong last 200m to clinch a medal.
– Lauren Jauncey continued her excellent season to post her fastest 200m time since moving up from Tasmania. Lauren finished 3rd in a fast final that was won by the in form Melissa Breen (ACT).
– Hannah Alderton taking out the Women’s HJ with a 1.70m clearance
– Silver Medals went to Jarrod Pageot in the Men’s LJ and Mitch Mackenzie in the Men’s HJ

Results
Track Results
Women’s 100m
6 Jauncey, Lauren Victoria 12.12 1.0

Women’s 400m
3 Zalcman, Emma Victoria 56.71 (PB)

Women’s 200m Heats
3 2417 Jauncey, Lauren Victoria 24.41Q 3.3 1
6 2140 Zalcman, Emma Victoria 25.69Q 2.4 2

Women’s 200m FINAL
3 2417 Jauncey, Lauren Victoria 24.61 1.5
4 2140 Zalcman, Emma Victoria 25.99 1.5

Field Results
Men’s TJ
3 Edwards, Stephen Victoria 14.11m 1.4

Men’s HJ
2 Mackenzie, Mitchell Victoria 1.90m

Women’s HJ
1 Alderton, Hannah Victoria 1.70m

Men’s LJ
2 136 Pageot, Jarrod Victoria 7.00m 1.0
4 2865 Edwards, Stephen Victoria 6.12m 3.2