Distance dynamos Davies and Rayner reclaim Zatopek:10 titles

Jack Rayner is the undisputed king of Australian 10,000m running after claiming his fourth consecutive crown amongst a roaring crowd at On Track Nights: Zatopek:10, while Rose Davies clinched her third title over the distance in style.

Rayner (VIC, Nic Bideau) raced to victory in 28:26.12, extending his streak at the iconic event and joining Australian legend Steve Moneghetti as only the second male athlete to win four consecutive Australian titles over the distance.

With a commanding performance, Rayner made his mark early on in the race but it was his last lap that had distance fans in a frenzy as he took off from the pack to take the crown by almost three seconds, defeating Samuel Clifford (TAS, Gary Armstrong) and Brett Robinson (VIC, Nic Bideau) on his way to victory. 

While the Australian title was his fourth, Rayner said the win was particularly sweet after crossing the line second last year as Irishman Andrew Coscoran took line honours.

“Last year was bittersweet coming second but winning the Australian title, so it is nice to win the whole race. Hopefully I can add another one next year to make it five, I will do it for as long as I can,” Rayner said.

“This event has gone to another level worldwide and it just means we have to get better as well.” 

In the seesawing affair that was the Australian Women’s 10,000m championships of 2024, it was Olympic finalist Rose Davies (NSW, Scott Westcott) who prevailed with a finishing flourish in the run for home - securing her third national 10,000m title in 32:21.71.

The 24-year-old fended off defending champion Lauren Ryan (VIC, Lara Rogers) and former winner Leanne Pompeani (NSW, Des Proctor) in times of 32:23.30 and 32:32.51 respectively, rounding out her breakthrough year.

“I was pretty nervous coming into this. Obviously Lauren [Ryan] is the Australian record holder, Leanne [Pompeani] is running really well at the moment and I knew Holly [Campbell] would be sneaky out there,” Davies said.

“I feel like I have had a new found confidence this year and I’m really happy to finish with the best race of the season.”

A household name at 18-years-old, Cameron Myers (ACT, Dick Telford) continued his rise with classy victory in the Men’s 3000m, bypassing the Under 20 de Castella to topple the Open men in a new Australian Under 20 record of 7:41.11 - surpassing his own mark of 7:46.38.

Fending off Jude Thomas (QLD, Nic Bideau) and Jack Anstey (QLD, Stephen Haas) in a thrilling final lap, Myers set the tone for the Australian summer.“Distance running in Australia has gone to a new level and all athletics in general. It’s great to be a part of it and it’s great to have people actually wanting to come down and watch these sort of events. That’s something that is big for the sport, especially domestically,” Myers said.

Equally impressive in the Women’s 3000m was Olympic finalist Linden Hall (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams), who stretched away from the field to clock a swift 8:43.02.

With middle-distance booming in the Open ranks, Australia’s juniors followed suit with a pair of wins from South Australians Jonothan Harris (SA, Adam Didyk) and Tessa Ebert (SA, Adam Didyk) in the Under 20 Men’s De Castella and Women’s Ondieki 3000m races respectively.

While Harris produced a sprint finish to break the tape in 8:12.00, Ebert finished on top in a war of attrition, holding on strong in the fast affair which she won in 9:24.77.

In other results of the night, a pair of Paris Olympians took out the 60m showdowns, with Ella Connolly (QLD, Andrew Murphy) coming agonisingly close to her Australian record with a 7.27-second (-0.2) performance, while Tasmanian Jacob Despard (TAS, Rolf Ohman) edged out Tayleb Willis (VIC, Kyle Vander-Kuyp & Sam Leslie) for the men’s title by 0.02 seconds, crossing the line in 6.72 (+1.4).

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia 
Posted 14/12/2024