Henry Wins 400m Sprint in Brisbane Classic

A strong performance from WAIS athlete Jody Henry on the weekend at the Brisbane Athletics Classic has boosted the WA stars’ preparations for the up-coming Nationals.

Winning the 400m in a time of 52.76secs, 24 year-old Henry fought off strong competition from Lauren Boden and fellow 4x400m relay teammate Pirrenee Steinert.

Henry has been in superb form recently setting a new personal best and recording a string of B-qualifying times. Whilst a win against her relay teammates increases Henry’s chances for selection at the Commonwealth Games, it also reinforces her claims for the title of Australia’s 400m specialist.

Henry’s immediate focus is on the National Championships in April, which will be held in Perth. Henry will be hoping for a strong performance on home soil to increase her chances of making the trip to India.

WAIS sprinter Ben Offereins finished an encouraging fourth in the fiercely contested 200m event in brisbane. With a time of 21.13secs, Offereins was narrowly defeated by fellow World Championship representatives.

The result bodes well for Offereins in his favoured 400m event, with the world champ bronze medallist currently the man to beat heading towards nationals.

The wet and wild conditions did the WAIS pole vault contingent no favours, with all four WA competitors reverting to shorter run ups.

Liz Parnov captured the win with Amanda Bisk, Vicky Parnov and Alana Boyd rounding the top four and confirming WA’s pole vault dominance in Australia.

– Emily Raynor