Diamond Valley Athletic Club sprint star, Monica Brennan, made the perfect transition from junior ranks to the nation's premier athletic series when she won the Women's 200m at the Brisbane Track Classic.
Brennan, 18, came out of the bend behind National relays representative, Charlotte Van Veenendaal but she able to take the lead half way down the straight and draw away a clear winner. Brennan's time for the 200m was 23.96. This was Brennan's first sub 24 seconds run over 200m for the current season. Her best time of 23.78 was clocked at the IAAF World Youth Championships in France in July 2011.
Brennan will have a busy schedule over the next two months. The Athletics Australia Track Classic series has four major meets around the nation that all feature a 200m on the Women's program. These meets are at Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. As well there will be the Victorian State Championships in March and the National Championships in mid April.
High Jumper, Chris Armet, competed at the Brisbane Track Classic where he finished in third place. Armet cleared a height of 1.99m.
DVAC Heptathlete, Ashleigh Hamilton, honed her skills at the Victorian Country Athletic Championships. Hamilton was placed first in the 100m Hurdles in a season best time of 14.94. Hamilton's form in the Shot Put was also close to her best effort, sending the shot a distance of 11.94m. In the Long Jump, Hamilton experienced difficulties in getting her take-off correctly positioned and had to settle for a leap that measured 5.63m. Hamilton will be defending her state heptathlon championship at the end of February.
Junior middle distance runner, Nicholas Phillips, continued his rapid improvement at the Victorian Country Athletics Championships. Phillips, 15, lowered his time for the 400m to 56.87 and took 5 seconds off his previous best time for the 800m to clock 2:11.84.
Rory Kelham, 17, collected medals in both the 5000m and the 1500m events. Racing in the Men's Under 20 age group, Kelham finished second in the 5000m in 16:41.93 and third in the 1500m in a time of 4:28.48.
Hurdler, Kyle Parkinson won the silver medal in the Men's Under 20 400m Hurdles. His time was 57.39
Junior Hammer Thrower, Amy Stirling, 17, took advantage of the AV Thrower's Meet, to get back to season best form when she landed a throw of 43.24m. Although Stirling had to be content with a two turn throw, she did enjoy the experience of competing on the same program as some of the best throwers in the country, including Gabrielle Neighbour.
Article and results compiled by Max Balchin.