JACK WHO?

A "Hale Storm" struck Australian track and field recently ... in the shape of 16-year-old Jack Hale. The youngster launched himself into the limelight last September when he ran 10.44 over 100 metres to beat the national under-18 record, which had stood for 23 years. He soon followed that up with another personal best of 10.42. He was then clocked at 21.29 for the 200 metres during last December’s 2014 Australian All Schools Championships; no junior Australian male ran faster over 200 metres in 2014. At the same meet he ran a wind-assisted 100 metres in 10.13 – a time that was the world’s fastest recorded under any conditions by a youth athlete.

The irony was that both sprints had been until recently mere afterthoughts behind his favourite event, the long jump: Hale had the leading U18s jump of 2014 of 7.66m. “When Jack was younger I could see he was quick, but he wasn’t confident in his own ability, except in long jump,” Athletics Tasmania’s state team manager, Rosemary Coleman, says. “He was capable, but he wouldn’t allow himself to commit to these events. Asking him to run 200 metres was like asking him to run 3000 metres."

Even though it’s early days, Hale’s coach, Rex Morriss, reckons nobody could have confidently predicted Hale’s future sprinting success from a young age. “I saw he had potential as a sprinter and long jumper, but it was hard to tell at that time how good he would become because athletics was only a half-time interest for him,” he said.

With the 2015 IAAF World Youth Championships looming in Colombia this July, Hale’s serious pursuit of athletics is stirring the track and field cognoscenti.

WHAT’S HIS STORY?

A Claremont Little Athletics product, Hale’s sporting childhood consisted of athletics, soccer and futsal. It’s his dalliance with the latter that Morriss believes made him a speedster. “Futsal is in fact the reason Jack’s become so quick on his feet now,” he says. “It’s a sport that requires a huge degree of brain and feet coordination to ensure muscles are moving in the right way.”

And the evidence suggests the teenager’s feet are doing just that. Focusing solely on athletics as of 2014, early results came during St Virgil’s College’s school carnival at Domain Athletics Centre. “Out of the blue at our school carnival, Jack ran a 10.23 handheld time, but of course nobody believed it ... except for those who saw him do it,” Coleman says.

Doubters were soon silenced during Hale’s much-publicised end to 2014, which culminated in him taking out the coveted 100m and 200m double at the 2014 Australian All Schools Championships meet.

“Jack now realises he’s got the ability to go to much higher levels,” Morriss said proudly at the time. “The fact he’s broken all of these records is an indication he’s on top of his game.”

WHO’S HE LIKE?

According to coach Morriss, athletes so young with Jack Hale's prowess are extremely rare.

“The only guys comparable that come to mind are [Athletics Australia Hall of Famer] Gary Honey and Steven Knott,” Morriss says. “Gary was a very good long jumper and was one of Australia’s top athletes in the ’80s. Steven was an outstanding runner and he held most of the records that Jack’s broken.”

With a promising future ahead of him, that Hale Storm is on a path to conquer everything in sight.

WHAT DO THEY SAY?

“He’s easy-going and he doesn’t get upset when things go wrong. It’s the ideal personality for an athlete who wants to get to the top. The sky’s the limit for him.”

‒ Rex Morriss, coach

“Jack’s got the confidence of a lion and he can be anything he wants to be.”

‒ Rosemary Coleman, Athletics Tasmania’s state team manager

By Taku Taneka