Australia Sends Biggest Track Team to Glasgow
Australia will send its biggest-ever track and field team to a championships outside its shores at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games next month.
The 103-strong squad, headlined by Olympic and world 100m hurdles champion Sally Pearson, includes 44 athletes making their major championships debut and 12 para-athletes.
The team is second only in size to the 120 athletes who competed at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.
The Glasgow team easily outnumbers the 86 that travelled in the squad to the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.
Pearson will contest the 100m flat and hurdles and the 4x100m relay at the Glasgow Games.
Among those added to the squad on Thursday were US collegiate stars Steve Solomon (400m and 4x400m relay) and discus thrower Julian Wruck.
"It's fantastic to see such large numbers and that comes first from the sport giving the athletes the opportunity and second from the athletes taking advantage of the opportunity," Australian team chef de mission and former marathon champion Steve Moneghetti said.
"The Commonwealth Games has often been the first multi-sport team experience for young athletes and many of those selected fall into that category."
A 66-strong Australia team finished a close second behind Kenya on the athletics medals table at the 2010 Games in Delhi.
Australia
Men -
200m: Jarrod Geddes.
400m: Steven Solomon.
800m: Josh Ralph, Jeff Riseley, Alex Rowe.
1,500m: Jeff Riseley, Ryan Gregson, Collis Birmingham.
5,000m: Collis Birmingham, Ben St Lawrence.
10,000m: Ben St Lawrence, Harry Summers, Chris Hamer.
Marathon: Martin Dent, Michael Shelley, Liam Adams.
110m hurdles: Nicholas Hough, Sam Baines.
400m hurdles: Ian Dewhurst, Tristan Thomas.
3,000m steeplechase: James Nipperess.
High jump: Nik Bojic, Brandon Starc.
Pole vault: Joel Pocklington, Matt Boyd.
Long jump: Robbie Crowther, Henry Frayne, Fabrice Lapierre.
Shot put: Damien Birkinhead.
Discus: Benn Harradine, Julian Wruck.
Hammer: Tim Driesen, Huw Peacock.
Javelin: Joshua Robinson, Hamish Peacock, Luke Cann.
Decathlon: Jake Stein, Stephen Cain.
4x100m relay: Tim Leathart, Jarrod Geddes, Jake Hammond, Alex Hartmann, Joel Bee, Jin Su Jung.
4x400m relay: Steven Solomon, Alex Beck, Craig Burns, Dylan Grant, John Steffensen, Tristan Thomas.
Women -
100m: Sally Pearson, Melissa Breen.
200m: Ella Nelson, Ashleigh Whittaker.
400m: Morgan Mitchell, Anneliese Rubie.
800m: Brittany McGowan, Kelly Hetherington.
1,500m: Zoe Buckman, Kaila McKnight, Melissa Duncan.
5,000m: Emily Brichacek, Eloise Wellings.
Marathon: Jess Trengove, Melanie Panayiotou, Sarah Klein.
3,000m steeplechase: Victoria Mitchell, Genevieve LaCaze, Madeline Heiner.
100m hurdles: Sally Pearson, Shannon McCann, Michelle Jenneke.
400m hurdles: Lauren Wells, Lyndsay Pekin.
High jump: Eleanor Patterson, Zoe Timmers, Hannah Joye.
Pole vault: Liz Parnov, Alana Boyd, Vicky Parnov.
Long jump: Brooke Stratton, Jessica Penney, Margaret Gayen.
Triple jump: Linda Leverton, Ellen Pettitt.
Shot put: Dani Samuels, Kim Mulhall.
Discus: Dani Samuels, Christie Chamberlain, Taryn Gollshewsky.
Hammer Lara Neilsen, Gabrielle Neighbour.
Javelin: Kim Mickle, Kathryn Mitchell, Kelsey-Lee Roberts.
Heptathlon: Sophie Stanwell.
4x100m relay: Sally Pearson, Melissa Breen, Ashleigh Whittaker, Ella Nelson, Margaret Gayen, Michelle Cutmore.
4x400m relay: Morgan Mitchell, Anneleise Rubie, Caitlin Sargent, Lauren Wells, Lyndsay Pekin, Jess Gulli.
Photo Credit: https://nz.sports.yahoo.com
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://mobile.naharnet.com/stories/en/133648 |