Wise heads in Stawell chase
A COACH who has been there three times and a teammate who was runner-up last year provide the perfect equation for Jason Bailey.
Bailey goes into today’s Stawell Gift semi-finals as one of the favourites after an impressive heat victory on Saturday off the luxury mark of 10m.
If he needs any advice about how to handle the big occasion he has some handy sounding boards in coach Todd Ireland and teammate Hamish Adams.
Ireland is a Stawell legend – he was inducted into the event’s Hall of Fame in 2015 – and a three-time finalist who had another victory at Central Park last year in the Masters 100m event.
Adams finished second off 9.5m to Jacob Despard in last year’s Gift final. Watching his mate go so close last year has been good motivation for Bailey who clocked 12.228 sec in his heat. His main rival is Dhruv Rodrigues-Chico, the only one to break a 12-second barrier in his heat win (11.913).
Two-time winner Josh Ross (12.668) says he has more to give after overcoming a stumble in his heat.
The women’s Gift looks like an open affair with only three runners breaking the 14-second barrier in Saturday’s heats.
Alexia Loizou was the fastest clocking 13.856 sec from Sophie Fighera (13.925) and Gold Coast beach sprinter Bree Masters (13.976).