Going The Distance | Breakthrough Runs Headline Weekend

Australia’s distance athletes continued their impressive form from the domestic season at the Sound Running meet in California on Saturday, with Natalie Rule (Tim O’Shaughnessy) and Rose Davies (Scott Westcott) stamping their presence in the USA, with World Athletics Championships qualifiers for Oregon also holding the duo in good stead for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Having narrowly missed out on the world standard at the Australian Track & Field Championships last month, Rule was determined to make the first stop of her international track campaign count -doing just that when she clocking 15:06.50 in the 5000m to notch her first qualifier in the senior ranks.

“It’s so crazy being around so many professional athletes, it’s really inspiring. It was great to be in such a quality field where everyone is getting the standard, I knew I had a chance to do well in the race but I also surprised myself by coming third,” Rule says.  

Up against a slick line up of distance stars, Rule remained composed, keeping amongst the front of the pack as the start gun went off. Most impressive was the Melbourne athlete’s last 800m, running her final lap in 1:04.53, with a huge kick in the last 200m to secure her third-place finish. The time takes Rule to number seven on the Australian all-time list.

“I had a plan with my coaches to sit comfortably for four laps, then to pick it up for the next four and start moving up to kick home. It was one of the most challenging and tactical 5k’s I’ve been in, but I tried to be as strong as possible,” Rule says.  

Paige Campbell (Philo Saunders) competed in the 5000m B-race, placing sixth with a time of 15.36.38.

Dual 2022 Australian champion Rose Davies continued the qualification theme, running 31:18.54 to become the first Australian female to qualify for the 10,000m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games. The 22-year-old, who already holds a 5000m qualifying time, now skyrockets to number four on the Australian all-time list after lowering her previous personal best by an impressive 21 seconds.  South Australian and fellow Olympian Izzi Batt-Doyle (Nic Bideau) eyed off the qualifier in the same race, but was unable to keep up with the pace, finishing in 31:58.25.

“I’m realy happy with how the race turned out. To have that auto qualifier for the 10k now is a huge relief. I have just spent five weeks up at Flagstaff for this event so I think the altitude training has paid off,” Davies says.

The work of Brett Robinson (Nic Bideau) in the men’s 10,000m cannot be discounted as he battled it out with Morrocoan Zouthair Talbi. The pair broke out from the main pack of competitors with 4000m left to go, with the Australian staving off Talbi until the final lap. Though it was Morrocan that asserted his dominance with a kick in the final 100m, Robinson’s impressive performance was rewarded with a new personal best of 27:51.51.

Abbey Caldwell (Gavin Burren) had one goal in mind when toeing the line in California; to chase down the 4:04.2 standard needed to qualify for the World Athletics Championships. Having come painfully close in March, with a 4:04.79 performance, all eyes were on the Australian champion.

Up against a world class field, with the first three women across the line all dipping under the standard, Caldwell was strong in her approach, even pushing eventual winner Gabriela DeBues-Stafford in the final lap. Caldwell was just shy of the mark, but recorded her second fastest time across the distance, finishing in 4:05.55.

In other results at the Sound Running Meet, Rio Olympian Sam McEntee (Nic Bideau) was valiant in the 5000m, but found himself up against Olympic champion Jacob Ingebrigsten and many of the USA’s established distance stars. Paced by Australian 1500m champion Oliver Hoare (Dathan Ritzenhein), the race saw the first eight across the line all meet the qualifying standard, with McEntee being outpaced. The Australian finished in 11^th place, in a time of 13:24.

A trio of Australians also featured in the Men’s B-race. Melbourne Track Club’s Jack Bruce (Nic Bideau) was the fastest of the three, finishing in 13:51.93, while John Landy Mile winner Mick Stanosvek (Mark Rowland), placed 10^th in 13:57.73 for his debut over the distance. Isaac Heyne (Adam Didyk) registered a DNF.

Rounding out the results for the Australians in California was Carley Thomas (University of Washington) who delivered a strong run of 2:03.58 over two laps to register her best result of the season. Thomas placed fifth in the field of rising middle-distance talent, finishing just over one second behind USA’s Anna Camp Bennett who clinched the win in 2:02.57.

Meanwhile at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix, 11 Australians took to the Tokyo Olympic Stadium to contest the Continental Tour Gold meet, with Georgia Griffith (Nic Bideau) recording the result of the day with her run of 4:06.04 to win the 1500m.

The patient Griffith sat poised on the back of the leaders throughout the affair, before surging to the lead in the final straight to dismantle the field, which included Japanese record holder Nozomi Tanaka – a top-eight finisher in last year’s Olympic final.

“It’s so great to feel like I am building momentum with each race. I definitely feel like I am a little closer each time I step on the track towards getting a personal best, which is a nice spot to be in because my time is from 2018!” Griffith says.

Nick Hough (Anthony Benn) continues to enjoy a rich vein of form, setting a new seasons best of 13.49 (0.1) to finish equal second in the 110m hurdles at Tokyo, just one week after running 13.50 – his fastest time in four years. The seven-time national champion appears set to close in on his 13.38 personal best from 2018.

The 100m saw Rohan Browning (Andrew Murphy) make his long-awaited return to the track after missing the bulk of the domestic season due to injury, with Browning bursting out of the blocks to win his heat in 10.29 (-0.4) before finishing third in the final in 10.23 (0.1). Reigning Australian Champion Jake Doran (Paul di Bella) clocked 10.32 (0.1) to finish in sixth place of the final. The race was won in 10.09 by the USA's Christian Coleman - a 9.76-man. 

Kelsey-Lee Barber (Mike Barber) took another step forward when finishing third in the javelin, recording a best distance of 61.00m during the sequence which included three 60-metre plus throws. Barber holds a wildcard entry to this year’s World Athletics Championships as the reigning champion from the 2019 edition.

Fresh off last week’s 22.70 personal best, Jacinta Beecher (Gary Bourne) registered another podium finish in Japan over 200m – this time a run of 23.24 (-0.1) to finish in second place. Beecher’s rapid progression in recent weeks places her in strong contention for the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Henry Frayne (Gary Bourne) delivered a seasons best of 7.93m (0.3) to clinch bronze in the long jump, finishing ahead of fellow Australian and in-form man Chris Mitrevski (John Boas) who was sixth with 7.75m (0.2). Frayne fouled on four of his six attempts but his 7.93m effort was good enough for third place on the day.

Alex Beck (Mark Ladbrook) clocked a seasons best of his own when tearing around 400m in a time of 45.79, finishing in fourth place of the quality encounter. The mark sees Beck close in on his 45.54 personal best recorded in the same stadium at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, setting up a successful international campaign in 2022 for the 30-year-old.

Brandon Starc (Alex Stewart) and Ben Buckingham (Nic Bideau) rounded out the action in Tokyo, with Starc clearing 2.20m for fifth place and Buckingham clocking 8:40.34 for ninth in the 3000m steeplechase.

By Sascha Ryner and Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 9/5/2022