Sport
3 January, 2023
Shaw thing for Danielle after blitzing field
It was an historic day for the Maryborough Highland Gathering, with women’s runners competing for an expanded $10,000 prize pool, and Ringwood North’s Danielle Shaw reaped the rewards with a dominant victory in the Leech’s Mitsubishi and JM...
It was an historic day for the Maryborough Highland Gathering, with women’s runners competing for an expanded $10,000 prize pool, and Ringwood North’s Danielle Shaw reaped the rewards with a dominant victory in the Leech’s Mitsubishi and JM Leech Jewellers Women’s Gift.
Shaw blitzed her field throughout the afternoon, saving her best for the final, with her time of 13.392 enough to see her win by an incredible three tenths of a second.
Frontmarker Olivia May (13.702) put in a brave run to finish second, while Australian 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games runner Bree Masters (13.825) put in an impressive effort off scratch to finish third.
Shaw was surprised with her result, particularly given that she doesn’t partake in training on grass, instead preferring to focus on her sprint hurdles form.
“I surprised myself a little bit. I felt I was in good form, but I was running off a handicap that I haven’t run previously. I was a bit unsure how I was going to go, but I’m super stoked that all the hard work is now paying off,” she said.
“I mainly train on track as I’m a sprint hurdler, so I don’t do any grass training. It was different, but I’ve been able to get used to it.”
For Shaw, being able to cool down was something she believes was the difference on such a hot day for runners, relying on days of hydration to ensure she would be in the best shape possible for the final.
“I’ve got a great team behind me. My coach was here, and I came down with my physio, and they’ve helped me out a lot. I had everything to make sure I could cool down between heats, semi-finals and finals,” she said.
“I started my hydration a few days beforehand, so I had that sorted, got my Gatorades in the esky and had an ice vest which I popped on before the final. Cold drinks have been the main thing for me.”
Shaw was amazed at the ease of which she won the final, knowing the quality of the field that she competed against, which included Masters, 18-year-old star of the future Grace Kelly and Bella Pasquali.
“I have done heaps of work over the winter. Bree Masters is a gun, I knew she was behind me and she’s been in some really good form, but I just focus on myself. I don’t really think about anyone else in the race, I just race against the clock,” she said.
While Shaw is keen to run in some other Victorian Athletic League events in 2023, her first priority is in her beloved sprint hurdles.
“Stawell is in the plan this year, but it’s not really my focus, most of it is around the sprint hurdles and sprinting itself. The big one coming up is in Canberra with the ACT championships at the end of January, then I’ll go on to some track classics around Australia, then nationals, and I’ll see where it takes me from there,” she said.
