Browning at Best as Hull and Denny Pass Budapest Test | Australian Track and Field Championships Day Three

It was a day of triumph for Australian athletics as Rohan Browning stunned crowds with scorching form at the 100th edition of the Australian Track and Field Championships, while Jessica Hull and Matthew Denny punched their tickets to the Budapest World Athletics Championships.

The man known as the Flying Mullet, Rohan Browning (NSW, Andrew Murphy) made a statement when running the fastest time by an Australian on home soil, clocking 10.02 (0.0) to reclaim the throne as Australia’s fastest man.

“It felt good. It is one of those bittersweet ones where, flat wind and I was so close to sub (10 seconds). I was hoping to maybe round down but I’ll take 10.02,” Browning said.

His second fastest performance of his career, Browning’s win is further proof that this Summer has been his best domestic season yet with times of 10.18, 10.14 and 10.25 under his belt.

“This has been my best domestic season ever and in the past I have really struggled to run through the rounds. It’s got me hungry for the rest of the year on the international circuitm” Browning said.

“After last year, I’m a lot more robust now; just a little bit older and more mature. I understand my body a lot better and I want to be a threat on the global scene. I’ve got to go sub-10. It’s bittersweet today, but it’s not far off.”

18-year-old Torrie Lewis (QLD, Gerard Keating) became the second youngest athlete to win the Women’s 100m title after Debbie Wells in 1977, aged just 17. Storming down the straight in 11.38 (-0.4), Lewis was only defeated by Singaporean Veronica Shanti Pereira, but edged out Australian sprinting heavyweight Bree Masters (11.41, QLD, Ryan Hoffman) for the title.

“I try not to let milestones define me, it’s really great and such an honour but I want to be able to keep moving forward. To be able to do it this young is more fuel for the future,” Lewis said.

“I wasn’t relaxed but I was trying to trick my brain into saying I was just doing another training run and just doing what I do in training. I’m really happy with that, if all goes great I would love to get on that World Championships team.”

Touted as the event of the championships, the Women’s 1500m Final delivered everything and more as Jessica Hull (Pete Julian and Sonia O’Sullivan) and Abbey Caldwell (Gavin Burren) lit up the final 100m, with Hull prevailing in a new meet record of 4:04.19.

Edging out Caldwell (4:04.68) by less than half a second as Linden Hall (Ned Brophy-Williams) claimed bronze in 4:05.65, Hull was forced to earn her Australian title in a world-class field.

“That was definitely the most nerve wracking one. It’s definitely different when you bring it to a championships. It was fun racing this Summer, and I was trying to keep it fun racing today but with a national title on the line and a spot to Budapest, it was a little bit more stressful,” Hull said.

“I thought it could be fast, it could be slow and the idea of racing a little more tactically excited me. When my coach brought me the race plan, I thought, let’s give it a try.

“I knew someone was going to go out at 600m. If it wasn’t Linden, it was going to be me. Once she did it, I thought, get on it”

In a high jump competition for the ages, Joel Baden (Sandro Bisetto) soared higher than all with a 2.32m clearance to defeat Australian record holder at 2.36m Brandon Starc (Alex Stewart), before raising the bar to 2.37m in an attempt to claim the outright record.

Securing his second 2023 World Athletics Championships qualifier of the year after four-years between personal bests, the 27-year-old has reinvigorated his career after his first Olympic appearance in 2016.

“I’m not quite sure if I am physically there yet [2.37m], but mentally I feel like I have got it. It was the perfect opportunity to give 2.37m a try, we couldn’t have asked for better conditions.”

“Since I got the auto qualifier at 2.33m, the pressure has been off. It just feels good to solidify that World Championships qualifier, my strength levels have been really good and the ambition to just do something exciting,” Baden said.

In an equally thrilling Men’s 1500m, hometown hero Callum Davies (Collis Birmingham) inked his name into Australian athletics history at the 100th edition of the Nationals, clocking 3:37.92 to defeat 16-year-old sensation Cameron Myers (3:38.02, Lee Bobbin) and World Championships representative Matthew Ramsden (3:38.34, Nic Bideau). Myers’ time is the fastest ever by a 16-year-old, eclipsing Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

17-year-old Angus Hincksman (Simon Moran) cemented his status as a rising star of the Para middle-distance ranks when making history on Day Three in Brisbane, setting a new T38 world 800m record of 1:57.33 for a score of 100.38.

While the distance is not on the World Para Athletics Championships or Paralympic Games program, the result bolsters the confidence of Hincksman whose rapid rise has now witnessed him eclipse a world record of Canadian legend Nate Reich.

“It’s just all of my hard work coming together and culminating in my biggest goal, which is to do the best I can do and inspire others. It’s hard to put into words, I want to go to the World Champs [Para], put experience under my belt and get to race the best,” Hincksman said.

Olympic finalist Matthew Denny (Dale Stevenson) locked in his place on the Australian team for the Budapest World Athletics Championships with a throw of 63.20m to secure gold. His win coupled with his qualifying throw of 67.26m at the Commonwealth Games sees him meet Athletics Australia’s selection criteria for the major championships.

In the women’s javelin Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mackenzie Little (Angus McEntyre) defeated back-to-back world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber (Mike Barber) with a throw of 61.46m, over Barber’s 57.05m. While Little has competed once prior this season, Barber’s appearance was her first for the year.

Australia’s triple jumpers delivered one of the shows of the day as 19-year-old Aiden Hinson (Chloe Stevens) left a troublesome start in his wake to win on countback, as he and Connor Murphy (Andrew Murphy) could not be separated at 16.61m. Hinson’s sixth-round effort of 16.54m proved the difference as he landed himself on the national scene.

Adding to the sprinting frenzy at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre were Jessie Andrew (John Nicolosi) and Luke Van Ratingen (Ben Liddy) over 400m, clocking times of 52.62 and 45.88 respectively. Meanwhile in the Under 20 ranks, Jessica Milat (Cathy Woodruff) set a scorching 23.26 (-0.8) over 200m to claim the title, while Sebastian Sultana (Greg Smith) capped off his breakthrough season with a personal best of 20.79 (-0.3).

World record holder James Turner (T36, Iryna Dvoskina) continued his golden run in the Para sprints, sprinting to his second gold of the weekend when taking out the Men’s Ambulant 100m in a time of 11.99 (-1.2) for a score of 97.74 on the BASELINE system.

Defeating five-time Paralympic champion Evan O’Hanlon (T38, Iryna Dvoskina) in 11.46 (93.71) and the white-hot Jaydon Page (T47, Sebastian Kuzminski) in 11.12 (93.70), turner backed up his Men’s Ambulant 400m title with ease as he sets his eyes on the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships.

Rhiannon Clarke (T38, Danny Kevan) sizzled her way to a swift 12.91 (-0.7) for the fastest run of her established career, scoring 95.89 to secure the Women’s Ambulant 100m Australian title. Beating home teammate Ella Pardy (T38, Danny Kevan) in 13.07 (94.72) and the emerging Mali Lovell (T36, Katie Edwards) 14.92 (91.68). Both Clarke and Pardy punched B-qualifiers to July’s World Para Athletics Championships in Paris. The event was won by visitor Danielle Aitchison (New Zealand) in 14.21 (96.27).

Back-to-back world champion Cameron Crombie (F38, Hamish McDonald) posted an A-qualifier for the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, leading the Men’s Ambulant Shot Put with a 15.22m effort (95.42) to surpass the 15.10m standard.

After the first day of multi-event action, Tori West (Eric Brown) and Alec Diamond (Zsuzsana Olgyay-Zsabo) lead the Heptathlon and Decathlon action, with scores of 3527 and 4006 respectively. While Diamond holds a 50-point advantage over Christian Paynter (Zach Nelson), Commonwealth Games representative Taneille Crase (Glynis Nunn) is hot on the heels of West - only trailing by eight-points.

By Sascha Ryner and Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 1/4/2023