Offereins Hits A-Qualifier in Canberra Meet
WAIS sprinter Ben Offereins has sent an ominous warning to his 400m rivals after setting a new personal best and Commonwealth Games A-Qualifying mark at the weekend’s Australia Cup meet in Canberra.
Part of the five meet Australian Athletics Tour for 2010, Offereins stopped the clock at 45.32secs which also broke the meet record which had stood at 45.87sces (Sean Wroe 2001).
Running in lane seven Offereins stormed down the back straight and never looked back, holding off a late charge by Clay Watkins (SA) in a Commonwealth Games B-qualifier and personal best time of 45.92 and New South Wales athlete Joel Milburn (46.63) to take out the win.
Since bursting onto the scene as a member of the bronze medal-winning 4x400m relay team at the Berlin world championships in August, Offereins has cemented himself as a force to be reckoned with on the national athletics circuit.
“There was a lot of competition out there today which was good,” Offereins said.
“It makes you run scared, usually I don’t have anyone keeping up behind me but I had Joel (Milburn) and Clay (Watkins) and all those sort of guys right on my bum so it helps bring that extra bit out and it’s always good running with those sort of guys.”
Offereins said he took confidence in his ability to match it with the country’s top runners from today’s race, his sights already set on cracking the elusive 45-second barrier.
“Everyone wants to crack 45 (seconds), everyone wants to be a 44-second runner. Joel’s lucky enough to be there and hopefully I can join him pretty soon.”
Offereins’ WAIS training partner Jody Henry also posted a strong result at the AIS based competition, taking second place and setting a B-Qualifying time in the women’s 400m event.
Henry – who has only switched to the 400m event in recent times – clocked 52.44secs behind Tamsyn Lewis (52.41secs).
In other WAIS results; Ellen Pettitt missed out on gold in the women’s high jump competition on a countback to NSW’s Petrina Price. Both women cleared 1.85m but after failing to leap higher marks, Price was granted the win for her earlier clearance.
WAIS IASP athlete Madison DeRozario (18.85.3secs) finished second in the women’s 100m wheelchair race, with Jemima Moore (18.76.2secs) of New South Wales taking first.
The result capped a busy week for DeRozario, who also competed in the recent Summer Down Under Track Series in Sydney, featuring in 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 10km events.
With the National Championships being held in Perth this April, DeRozario is looking to impress on home soil. The 16 year-old is on the comeback trail after missing a large part of 2009 recovering from successful back surgery.
– With Athletics Australia