The final day of Uni Nationals for 2019 arrived faster than anyone could have expected. Once again I am weeping furiously over an event I never wanted to end. These days have made me more excited than Travis Venema, after Alex Hartmann won 200m for a fifth time in a row. Like Travis, I have been jumping up and down. Over four fantastic days, our athletes have competed against several of the biggest universities in Australia. They have shown these uni's that QUT makes it's students tough, and that the track/field, with all their imposing features and players, will never compromise the resolve of our determined Tigers.
Everyone calm down. I know it's the last day of Uni Nationals.
Firstly, in the Open Men's 200m final Nicholas Bealle took off like a rocket. If Elon Musk had been watching, then I suspect that he would have taken groundbreaking notes for his Space-X company, particularly the rocket thrusters component. Nic ran a time of 23.23 against a furious 2.1 headwind, once again demonstrating resilience of makeup, like a good Tesla model. We'll get you in contact with Elon Nic. Congratulations.
Elon Musk just loves rocket propulsion in all it's guises.
In the Women's 5000m race walk, we had Sophie Hamann compete. Sophie became good friends with the track, which is only natural, considering how much time she spent "connecting" with it. Sophie walked a time of 30.20.18 to win the bronze medal for this event. Several onlookers were clapping so hard in response to this performance, that they now have hand calluses that may never be healed. It's all worth it though right? Good on you Sophie.
Sophie smiling at the great friendship she has now formed with the track.
The final event our Tigers participated in was the Open Women's 4X400m relay. QUT put up a fantastic effort, with Sophie Henderson taking charge in this relay. Today was Sophie's day, and both she and the crowd knew, nothing was going to stop her finishing her lap, least of all the lactic demons screaming inside her muscles. Sophie passed on the baton to Lily Richter, who also overcame the lactic hell hounds of death, calling on something deep within to push forward.
Casey ran the third leg, her face a mixture of pain and pleasure, gritting her teeth with determination. Our President finally knew what it felt like to be alive in this event, her eyes glowing a magnificent yellow colour, as she finished her leg, passing on the baton to Sophie Winter, and spilling her otherworldly yellow essence into the crowd . Sophie put in a great effort during the final leg to bring our Tigers home. Congrats ladies on a fantastic effort in your final relay.
"400m just feels so good. I wish I could do two in a row. Always 800 I guess" -Casey Sims 2019.