HOURS of training on the Jetty Flat turf have several south-west athletes confident of making waves at both the Warrnambool and Terang gifts.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But it won’t be a jog in the park.
The south-west contingent face a talent-packed national field, with some of the country’s best sprinters expected to descend on the region this weekend.
Despite the high-quality fields, sprinting coach Wayne Perry had faith the south-west athletes would be among the places.
“Paul (Frusher) should go well – he’s already made a final this season,” Perry said.
“I’d expect Jai and Josh to go quite well too. They’ve been training three or four times a week, and they’ve had specialised training programs to suit what they need.”
They’ve been training three or four times a week, and they’ve had special training programs to suit what they need.
- Wayne Perry
Perry said race simulation was a vital part of his athlete’s preparation.
“They’ve been doing race simulation, which is very similar to pro running in that Josh will be put out in front, and Jai will race to catch him,” he revealed.
“These guys will have a couple of heavy sessions, and we’ll look to freshen them towards the end of the week.”
The Standard understands the Terang Gift has just under 400 nominations.
Terang Athletics Club stalwart Richard Wearmouth was “very happy” with the response.
“To put it in perspective, a meeting at Epping last weekend had about 350, and metropolitan meetings always get more nominations than those in the country,” he said.
Wearmouth, a seasoned athlete still dominating masters’ classes, said athletes would fly in from around the country to partake in the Terang event.
“Most of the athletes come from Melbourne, they travel down,” he said.
“We’ve actually got entries from Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and all around Victoria.
“Most of the interstate guys are absolutely quality runners otherwise they wouldn’t make the effort.
“They’re people who have been highly fancied to do well at meetings like Stawell in the past but haven’t quite managed to get there.”
He expected the arrival of Luke Stevens, the Australian number two over the 400-metre distance, to generate the most interest among the athletics faithful.