Talented 17-year-old junior Cooper Sherman from Ballarat Harriers Athletics Club broke the long standing 200m Open Men’s record at Llanberris Athletics Reserve during Round 9 of the Athletics Victoria Shield League (AVSL) in style finishing in a blistering time of 21.24s!
This time broke the 38-year-old Open record held by Michael Benoit set in 1984 and pushes Cooper into an elite field of sprinters within Ballarat Athletics history. Cooper’s time also broke the existing U20 record held by the legendary sprinter Gerrald Keating! The new time of 21.24s set by Cooper qualifies as a World Junior Qualifying result and will make Cooper a must watch athlete at the Australian Track and Field Championships in April. Already a Ballarat Regional Athletic Centre (BRAC) U20 record holder in the 100m, Cooper now closes in on the Open record held by the Gerrald Keating himself set in 1980.
Along with his recent BRAC record, Cooper has been celebrating an impressive Track and Field season accompanied by three gold medals at the most recent Victorian Country Championships within the 100m, 200m & 400m U20 field. To add to this, Cooper posted another World Junior Qualifying result in the 400m finishing in a time of 47.20s in the Bendigo heat! Continuing to improve his times dramatically over the course of the season, Cooper is starting to attract attention from some of the most famous Australian sprinters including Gerrald Keating who congratulated Cooper on breaking his record over the weekend.
Currently coached by Neville Down, Cooper has managed to juggle his athletic ability with school and part-time work as he continues to grow as an athlete. An exemptional young talent, Cooper is well respected within the Ballarat athletics community as a humble and polite athlete who is always committed to helping other athletes and respecting officials.
An exemptional athlete who only turned his attention full-time to athletics 18 months ago, Cooper is quickly making a name for himself on both the National and International stage. A recent write up by Tommy Connolly, an athletics journalist at national level has further boosted Cooper’s potential on the big stage. Currently ranked as the #2 U20 athlete in Australia over the 200m and the #3 ranked U20 in the 400m, Cooper only has more room to grow as he continues to etch himself in Ballarat sprinting history.
