Episode 34: 4 March, 2020 featuring Mia Gross

With weekend one of the Victorian Track & Field Championships completed, there’s plenty to talk about in Episode 34 of Down the Track. Fresh off her Under 20 400m win in the Vic Champs, and a recent 100m PB of 11.70, Mia Gross joins Sean and Tim to discuss her performance and review other standout performances from the first weekend.  We get to hear from Dalton Di Medio, Emma Werner and Jake Penny who all took home Victorian State titles, a first for Dalton and Emma. The breaking news last Friday was Eleanor Patterson breaking the Australian High Jump record at the Capital Classic in Wellington, with a clearance of 1.99m.  After reaching 1.96m as a 17 year old, Eleanor’s foray back into top level jumping that has involved a number of critical changes behind the scenes, sees the 23 year old now in a position to challenge the best in the world. Already dubbed ‘Geelong’s finest’ by Sean, Mia then tells us her story that includes some amusing tales from the self confessed accident prone athlete who has faced numerous challenges in competition both home and abroad.  Mia describes her support network, the special bond in her family and the support she has received from Joe Gulli and Jess Gulli-Nance that has enabled her continued involvement in the sport. Sean enlightens us on a low key meet in Canberra that saw both Peter Bol and Joseph Deng record 1:45’s, with Mason Cohen and Dylan Stenson not far behind with sub 1:47’s.  For Stenson this was a new South Australian state record and first time under 1:47, after recording 18 sub 1:48’s in his career! Tasmanian junior sensation Sam Clifford also produced a top performance in his home state’s championships with a solo 14:05 in the 5000m. Continuing on the record breaking theme, Swede Armand Duplantis continues to extend his Pole Vault World Record run with am indoor clearance of 6.18m in Glasgow, another 1cm advancement on his own performance in Poland the week before. Meanwhile all distance running eyes were on the US Olympic Marathon trials in Atlanta where some expected and totally unexpected results occurred to shape the US team for Sapporo. Victoria’s own Amy Cashin recorded her first sub 9min 3000m track performance in the US, finishing just 1sec behind event winner Jess Hull in an Indoor meet in Boston.  Sean then explains the science behind the varied dynamics of indoor tracks in the US, a must listen for anyone of the nerdier types fascinated by centrifugal force!  And to round out the international news we talk Coronavirus and it’s potential impact on world sport. With weekend two of the Victorian Track & Field Championships upon us and all of our Specialist Groups in action the week after, there’s plenty to look forward to domestically as we head towards the Australian Championships later in the month. Timeline 0:00:00 to 0:01:14  Intro and welcome Sean & Mia Gross to Episode 34 0:01:15 to 0:46:04  Victorian T&F Championship Weekend 1 recap 0:46:05to 0:50:34  Eleanor Patterson claims the Australian High Jump record 0:50:35 to 1:23:55  In depth with Mia Gross 1:23:56 to 1:28:49  Interstate news 1:28:50 to 1:55:01   International update 1:55:02 to 2:00:27   What’s coming up – Vic Champs Weekend 2, RAC, VMC, AVT & HVC