Lauren Boden lead the way for the MattyB DEPT crew at the La Trobe Gift taking victory in the Women’s 400m. Running from the back off 9m she rounded up the field to take victory by 2m in a dominating display.

When asked about the run Boden said “I’m really excited about the victory today it shows that training is going really well and I am looking forward to the season ahead.”

Her only disappointment from the day was not receiving a sash for the win. “I love getting sashes so was a bit surprised that there wasn’t one for this gift. The sash is almost better than the money as it gives me a momento of the day that I can proudly display.”

Brendan Cole also ran extremely well to finish second in the Men’s 400m off 9m. Cole charged home but just couldn’t close the gap on the winner Mark Nichols running off 33m.

In the Women’s 120m gift Melissa Breen ran some very quick times into the headwind off a tight mark of 0.25m. A time of 14.29 in the heats showed the crowds that Breen is in great shape and she finished a close fourth in the final behind local girl, Carmen Oakley, who ran very well of her mark of 11m.

Next stop on the Tasmanian circuit is Devonport which will feature the show down between Lauren Boden and Jana Pittman. Lauren may have to give Jana even more start now after her fantastic win at La Trobe but she is really looking forward to the challenge.

Full results and photo from TAL website

Congratulations to Lauren Boden who competed in her first World Championships in the Women’s 400m Hurdles, and top twenty in the world as a result!On Monday morning she placed 4th in her heat to automatically qualify through to the Semi Finals in a season best time of 55.78. An excellent start, ‘I ran a very controlled race and executed my race plan exactly the way I had discussed with Matty. I can’t wait to give it everything tomorrow night in the semi finals, I have nothing to lose.’

On Tuesday night it was Semi Final time in the Women’s 400 Hurdles here at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. Lauren placed 7th in her Semi Final in a time of 56.68, tough windy conditions out there, ‘Overall I was actually quite happy with my run and unfortunately there was a massive headwind to battle for the last 100m! But that is racing and often there are things that you can’t control! Tonight was an amazing and invaluable experience, especially as I look ahead now to 2012 London Olympics.’

Next on the program is the 4x 400m relay which Lauren will be running the third leg the heats begin on Thursday at 12.10pm  (1.10pm AEST).

MattyB DEPT. will be proudly represented by Lauren Boden and Melissa Breen at the up coming World Championships in Daegu. Brendan Cole had a “B” standard but was unfortunately not given the same discrectionary selection as Boden. We wish him all the best and know he will be on the team for the 2012 Olympic games.

Lauren will run in the 400m Hurdles and is part of the 4 x 400m relay team.

Melissa will run in the 4 x 100m relay team. 

All 3 have been competing in Europe over the past few months. All 3 athletes have their own website with video footage and blogs that make for great reading so please click on each of the athletes under the links section to check them out.