Riley’s best days ahead

Local medal hopes growing after shock blitz run

RILEY Day’s “surprise’’ 100m personal best time on Saturday night allows her to look towards a swifter 200m performance at the Commonwealth Games next month.

In her first race since devoting the time since her national sprint-double heist last month to training, Day clocked 11.50 sec in her second to England’s Dina Asher-Smith (11.24) in Sydney.

Day’s remaining individual race before her first Commonwealth Games are a 200m, also against Asher-Smith, on Wednesday week at Nathan’s State Athletics Facility.

The 18-year-old from Beaudesert also plans to race with Australian 4x100m relay teammates at a meet at the SAF on Thursday night and again on Wednesday week.

“(The 200m) will be a good lead-up race for the games,’’ Day’s coach Donna Thomas said.

“Her PB was a nice surprise. We wanted to get in a couple of relaxed runs as part of a couple of weeks of intense training.

“The next few weeks will also include some relay sessions.’’

Day’s only individual event at the Games is the 200m.

Day’s personal best of 22.97 in the 200m, set in the national final last month under the pressure of needing a qualifying time to make the team, would have comfortably been enough to have made the 2014 Commonwealth Games final in Glasgow. The bronze medal at those Games was taken with a time of 22.58.

Athletics Australia has high hopes for the women’s 4x100m relay, in which Day, Sally Pearson, Melissa Breen and Sydney’s Maddie Coates have been named for the Games.

AA would not say yesterday which women would be in the relay on Thursday night.

Pearson, the Commonwealth 100m hurdles defending champion, plans to race in both Brisbane meets.

Victorian Brooke Stratton is more firmly in Games long jump medal calculations after a winning 6.74m leap.