Jack Hale ready to deliver at Commonwealth Games trials

THE spotlight has been on Jack Hale since he started knocking off junior records for fun, but after laying low last year the 19-year-old faces one of the biggest races of his career at the Commonwealth Games selection trials.

FORMER St Kilda coach Grant Thomas once famously said that he ate pressure for breakfast.

Jack Hale isn’t quite as sensational with his words but the sentiment is similar for the sprinter who a few years back came out of nowhere to send Australia into a frenzy as our fastest school kid.

On Friday night he faces one of the biggest races of his career in the 100m final at the Commonwealth Games selection trials on the Gold Coast.

“I know how to go in with pressure on my shoulders because I’ve had it 20 times over before in the past,” Hale said.

The spotlight has been on him since late 2014 when he burst onto the scene and started to knock off junior records for fun, including Matt Shirvington’s under-20 record.

He was seriously quick for a 16-year-old. There was a wind-assisted 10.13 sec, semi-final appearances at world junior championships and the title of Tasmania’s hottest property.

But then he disappeared.

In what he describes as a calculated punt, Hale turned his life upside down and decided to lay low in 2017, ignoring the opportunity to be a part of his first senior Australian team at the world championships in London.

It was all geared towards being better prepared for the Commonwealth Games, being ready to run fast against the big boys.

Teen sensation Jack Hale running the 100m last month in Perth where he ran 10.10sec. Picture: Getty Images

Hale moved to Melbourne, got a new girlfriend, a new coach in Adam Larcom — former AFL club fitness boss who is the current Australian team relay coach — and transformed his body, adding 9kg onto his skinny frame.

“I think to take that big step forward, get out of my comfort zone in general and come over to Melbourne to train with Adam has been the best move I’ve ever made athletics wise,” he said.

“It could have been the biggest blunder I’d ever made if it didn’t pay off.”

The results suggest the move was certainly worth it with the new improved Hale putting down some quick times over the summer, including a hand-time 10.10 sec which didn’t go into the books because of an equipment malfunction in Perth.

How Hale handled that disappointment explains a lot about the teenager, according to his manager Richard Welsh.

“The whole Perth hoo-ha which happened with the timing, he was just like, ‘Oh well, I’ll get the next flight home and prepare for the next race’,” Welsh explains.

“You can’t teach someone that, he’s just got that attitude naturally.

Jack Hale taking part in the Nitro Athletics early last year. Picture: Alex Coppel

“The thing is no one can prepare you for what he went through. He went from just another

kid at the track to a guy getting the most hits on Fox Sports, ahead of debate over Shane Watson and who was going to bat at No.3 for Australia.”

Hale now sees that crazy time as an advantage over his rivals who have come out of the woodwork ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

“It wasn’t an easy gig for a 16-year-old,” he said.

“I think now being 19 I’m just so appreciative of the opportunity that I actually did have back then.

“I have a confidence because I know I have been through a lot already and it’s just taught me how to go in and just do my own thing instead of stressing about the others which I think is massive.”

The men’s 100m looms as the race of the selection trials given there are four legitimate players in the race to be Australia’s fastest man.

Three weeks ago in Canberra three of them — Hale, Rohan Browning and Trae Williams — crossed the line locked together on the same time.

It was a three-way dead heat before the judge wound it back to thousandths of a second to work out Browning was the winner (10.225sec) from Hale (10.228sec).

Apart from the obvious benefits for Australia’s 4x100m relay team — Josh Clarke with a PB of 10.15 sec is the other challenger — the healthy competition is motivating the new era of sprinters.

“I think the important thing is that everyone is willing to go out and race,” Hale says.

“We’re not scared to race each other which is just awesome for everyone’s improvement in general.

“I’m confident going into the trials as I know anything can happen.”

Hale clocked a comfortable 10.41sec (tailwind 0.1m/s) on Thursday night at Carrara Stadium to qualify for Friday’s second round of the 100m, with Trae Williams (10.20) and Rohan Browning (10.31) managing faster heat times at the national titles.

COMMONWEALTH GAME SELECTION TRIALS

Men’s 100m, 10pm Friday

A-Standard qualifying time — 10.15 sec

THE BIG FOUR

JACK HALE (Tas)

Age: 19

Personal Best: 10.21 sec.

ROHAN BROWNING (NSW)

Age: 20

PB: 10.19 sec

TRAE WILLIAMS (QLD)

Age: 20

PB: 10.23 sec

JOSH CLARKE (NSW)

Age: 22

PB: 10.15 sec