Hawthorn has held its second time trial for the 2018 pre-season, with a number of new faces impressing across the 2.2km course.
Two of the Hawks’ 2017 draftees cemented top five finishes in an impressive display, with Pick 67 Dylan Moore placing fourth and Category B Rookie Changkuoth Jiath crossing the line in fifth. Mature-age recruit David Mirra also performed well, finishing in a respectable 12th place.
Isaac Smith once again proved why he is considered Hawthorn’s endurance specialist. The speedy wingman led for much of the 2.2km course before crossing the line in a comfortable first place to lock in his second time trial victory for the summer.
In fact, the top two went unchanged since November’s instalment, with Harry Morrison also cementing his second ‘runner up’ finish in as many months. Ben Stratton rounded out the top three in another encouraging sign for Hawks fans, as the premiership defender continues his ascent back to form after recovering from knee surgery.
According to Director of High Performance Andrew Russell, it was not just those at the front that impressed coaching staff, with the strong performances extending throughout the playing group.
“Luke Breust ran the fastest he’s ever run, James Cousins achieved a five second PB, Conor Nash has wiped off about 20 seconds since last year, and Harry Morrison was again a stand out,” said Russell.
“The players were quite fatigued as we ran our endurance tests after a heavy training week, so to achieve as many strong runs as we did, and the number of PBs that we did, is really encouraging.”
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The aerobic repeat effort test was also held the same day as an alternative to the 2.2km course. Jaeger O’Meara took out the event for the second time this pre-season, in an effort that thoroughly impressed Russell.
“Jaeger’s strong performance matches the way he has been moving across the course of the pre-season.
“He’s been really consistent and he’s been working extremely hard.
“He was the best performer in our repeat effort test, followed closely by Ryan Schoenmakers and Paul Puopolo, both of whom really impressed.”
2.2km time trial results
1st – Isaac Smith
2nd – Harry Morrison
3rd – Ben Stratton
4th – Dylan Moore
5th – Changkuoth Jiath
6th – Jonathan O’Rourke
7th – Liam Shiels
8th – Conor Nash
9th - Dallas Willsmore
10th – Dan Howe
