Aussie treble on the track

The second day of track and field events has been marked by Australian trebles in both the women’s and men’s marathons held in Melbourne today.

In Games record time, Australian sisters Jane and Natalie Saville began the day in fine fashion, taking out the Gold and Silver Medals respectively in the women’s 20km race, with the eldest Saville winning in 1 hour 32 minutes and 46 seconds, breaking her own Games record set in Manchester 2002.

Fellow Aussie Cheryl Webb held on to ensure a hometown trifecta, taking out the Bronze in finishing just four minutes later than Saville, who buried the demons of the Sydney Olympics, where she was infamously disqualified from her race, when leading with the finish line in sight; her victory on home soil a just reward for a great name in Australian athletics.

The men did not let down their side of the bargain, with Nathan Deakes cruising to victory in 1 hour 19 minutes and 55 seconds. The boy from Geelong leading fellow countrymen Luke Adams and Jared Tallent home, ensuring that the Australians would take out all 6 medals on offer for the day’s walking events.

It was the second time that Deakes and Adams took out the quinella in the Commonwealth Games, the two combining for top two berths in Manchester four years ago.

In other athletics news, Australian skipper Clinton Hill breezed through to the semi finals of the 400m at the MCG this afternoon.

Hill, 25, managed to knock off Bahaman Chris Brown, stopping the clock at 46.18 seconds.

After his race, Hill told the media that it was good to get the heats out of the way.

"Now that's over you can focus on the semis and then the final on Wednesday," the Australian captain said.

"The time doesn't matter.

The Australian captain will be joined by fellow countrymen John Steffenson and Sean Wroe.

Wroe finished 4th in his heats – having the misfortune to be drawn alongside leading lights in Alleyne Francique and Avard Moncur – both of West Indian origin.

Despite his 4th placing, Wroe was still fast enough in 46.17 seconds to book his place in the semi finals.

In more good news for Australian athletics, Lisa Corrigan, Suzy Walsham and Sarah Jamieson all qualified for the 1500m final to be staged tomorrow night; the trio finishing behind Welsh women Hayley Tullett, who stopped the clock in a tick over four minutes.

Related Articles:

Deakes leads home local trio of Walkers (Mon Mar 20)
Saville's Golden Walk (Mon Mar 20)

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