BALLARAT sprinter Cooper Sherman will compete in the Stawell Gift over 120m this weekend, but he has pulled out of the 70m event, due to his preparations for the 400m at the Australian Athletics Championships in Adelaide next month.
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Sherman produced a personal best run of 45.71 seconds last weekend when he defeated a field of Australia's best 400m runners at the Sydney Track Classic.
While competing at Stawell for the first time had been his focus this year, that run in Sydney has him now very much in line for a spot on the Australian relay team which will compete in the Bahamas in May. The top 16 countries from that event will win automatic qualification for the Paris Olympics.
It is expected that Australia will name up to six runners for the Bahamas with those chosen likely to come from their positions over 400m at the Adelaide nationals.
The times that the Australians are currently running has them right on the cusp of Olympic qualification.
Sherman, who earlier this year won his home town Ballarat Gift for the first time has been given the backmarkers position at Stawell, off just .5 of a metre.
That position means he faces an uphill battle to make the final on Monday. However, even if he fails to make the final, he is likely to be able to secure a position in the invitational final for the fastest runners, which would give him up to three solid runs across the weekend.
Coach Neville Down confirmed late on Wednesday night that Sherman would compete at Stawell.
"He will do the 120m Gift, but he will be scratched from the 70," he said. "We hope he gets to run in the invitational on Monday if he doesn't make the final."
Speaking with The Courier earlier in the week, Down said his 20-year-old charge had improved out of sight this season.
"He's run a 45.9 to win the state championships, now he's run a 45.7. If he is able to go into the 45s at the nationals, he could be right in the mix," he said.
"We never went into this season thinking he would be running this quick. His improvement this season has been more than I've seen before or I expected."
Ballarat will send a large contingent of runners to the Stawell Gift including young sprinter Armani Anderson, last year's runner-up (and previous winner) Grace O'Dwyer and in-form runners including Halle Martin and Chloe Kinnersly set to light up the grass track.
