Grange's Tjimarri Sanderson-Milera among local hopes for this month's Bay Sheffield Gift
A YEAR ago, Colley Reserve's head wind put pay to Tjimarri Sanderson-Milera's hopes of winning the Bay Sheffield - now he is among the race favourites.
A YEAR ago, Colley Reserve's notorious head wind put pay to Tjimarri Sanderson-Milera's hopes of winning the Bay Sheffield.
Lacking the explosiveness of some of his rivals, Sanderson-Milera struggled into the strong breeze and was run out in the semi-finals.
This year he will return knowing that if the traditional south-westerly breeze springs up on December 28 he has the strength to power through it.
"I've done my first ever pre-season,'' says Sanderson-Milera, who is rated by some as SA's leading hope of winning this year's sprint.
"I spent a lot of the pre-season getting a bit more muscle on me and strength, and I think that has made me a better runner."
Sanderson-Milera's pre-season included a trip to Jamaica early in the year, where he trained with their national team and received a shirt signed by Usain Bolt.
Training twice daily while he was there, Sanderon-Milera came back inspired and applied what he learnt.
The Grange flyer has had impressive results in the SA Athletic League this season including a close second-place behind Alex Saliu at the Pre-Bay Sheffield Gift last week.
"I already knew before I went to Jamaica how hard you needed to train to make it to the top but to actually go over there and do it was an eye opener,'' he says.
"It definitely inspired me to train hard when I got back."
Sanderson-Milera's coach Peter Burdett says his protege is a different athlete this year and believes he is capable of having a serious tilt at the state's richest footrace.
Burdett knows a thing or two about training Bay Sheffield winners, having masterminded Jordan Caldow's wins in 2010 and 2011.
"He (Sanderson-Milera) has improved 3m or 4m maybe 5m from last year,'' Grange-based Burdett says.
"We've implemented a lot of what he brought back from Jamaica in our squad trainings and implemented some of the gym sessions, and he has just come on in leaps and bounds.
"I believe at the moment he's in about 10.8 (sec) form for a straight 100m."