Ballarat high jumper Yual Reath is now ranked inside the world's top 30 and sprint star Cooper Sherman could be on his way to the World Relay Championships in the Bahamas after they both put their name in lights at the Sydney Track Classic on Saturday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Despite jumping off a shortened run up due to the length of the Sydney field, Reath jumped to within one centimetre of his personal best in defeating all of Australia's best jumpers, including Joel Baden.
Reath's 2.27m jump has given him a big chance to earn Olympic selection with the top 32 in the world among those set for selection for the Olympics. Australia's depth in high jump could still prove an obstacle with only two athletes per country likely to get the call.
Reath said he was thrilled to get the win against a host of Australia's best jumpers on Saturday night.
"You always want to go higher, but the track was a bit smaller than I'm used to, so everything felt a bit squished," he said.
"I was definitely thrilled to only be one centimetre off my personal best.
"I've got nationals to come in a few weeks, but I've got a 'Rare Air' competition in Melbourne on April 6, and that's what I'm really aiming at. That's a world athletics certified, has some points in it. On the 6th to be back in Melbourne, I'm definitely chasing that 2.30m mark."
For Sherman, who ran a personal best of 45.71 in his win against all but one of Australia's best 400m runners, it has put his name in front of national selectors for the first time
While winning the Victorian championships and breaking 46 seconds for the first time was one thing, setting a personal best against most of Australia's best was in another league.
As a 100m and 200m runner, He relaxed in his first 200m in 21.4 seconds, but it was his last 50m that really proved his strength as he raced away from the field.
"I was in third place coming into the last corner and I just thought, 'this race isn't over yet, I've got plenty left, I can get in front of them'," he said.
"That's probably the first big competitive 400m I've ever done. I hope that shows the Australian relay people and the selection committees that I'm competitive against the best.
"Rather than the time on this occasion, I think where I finished was very crucial."
Sherman and his coach Neville Down will now need to weigh up whether he runs in Stawell or focuses on the national championships in Adelaide in three weeks,.
Sherman has been given the back marker in the Stawell Gift. Down said a decision would not be made on that until later in the week.
Sherman's immediate goal is to try and earn selection for the World Relay Games in the Bahamas where it is likely Australia will send up to six competitors in the 400m. The top 16 ranked countries from that will earn automatic Olympic Games qualification.
Down said there was a very real possibility that Ballarat could end up with four athletes at the Olympic Games.
"You've got Sam Rizzo, you've got Kathryn Mitchell, plus Yual, and maybe Cooper, it's just the most exciting time for athletics in Ballarat." he said.
