South Australian sprinter Tom Sclanders backed to claim Bay Sheffield
Heavy backing for South Australian sprinter Tom Sclanders to win Bay Sheffield and give coach Paul Young a second successive triumph as Olympian Alex Hartmann starts from scratch.
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South Australian sprinter Tom Sclanders has been backed into favouritism to give coach Paul Young a second successive Bay Sheffield triumph at Colley Reserve on Saturday.
Sclanders, the 70m winner at the 2016 Stawell carnival who finished sixth in the state’s richest footrace in 2012 and third 2015, was the only runner the punters wanted when betting opened.
The 30-year old will be aiming to repeat the effort of training partner Harrison Hunt in winning last year’s Gift.
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Calum Scrivens tuned up for the Gift with victory in the 70m men’s sprint at Colley Reserve on Friday, beating Ashley Brooke and Clay Watkins.
Cloe Griffiths claimed the women’s 70m from Helena Schwerdt and Kayla Lemm.
Adelaide-born Olympian Alex Hartmann intends to go “hammer and tongs” from the start and just see what happens when he confronts the daunting challenge from scratch in the Gift.
Hartmann has yet to gauge his form this summer, having been focused on a highly productive off-season as he prepares to chase a berth at the Tokyo Olympic next year.
And this will be just his second start in pro running. Although his debut was 10 years ago, as a 16-year old in Ipswich when he struggles to recall the details.
“Pro running has never lined up with what I had in the mind for the season,” Hartmann said.
“This year it work in a little better and I’ll have a crack and see what happens.
“I always go in with the intention to win, but it will be tough and it will take a good run to even make the final. It won’t be to different from training, given I’ve trained on grass for the past few years and use a couple of athletes as rabbits.”
The Bay Sheffield is just a warm up for Hartmann. His season will get serious in a couple of weeks with a meet in Brisbane. Then he will be on a mission to achieve the challenging qualifying 200m time of 20.24secs for Tokyo when he contest the Australian and New Zealand circuit.
Hartmann is desperate for a trip to Japan, and to make amends for his efforts at the 2016 Rio Olympics when he failed to advance beyond the heats. Redemption is the word he used.
“Rio was a huge learning curve for me,” he said. “Absolutely, I want a crack at Tokyo, there are still things left undone.
“My intention is always to be the best, I’ve had high ambitions and that had not changed. I’m confident I can get the qualifying time if I put a race together, you have got to have that confidence.”