Matthew Ramsden will be his own athlete

Significant talent, long legs and an endless supply of confidence has seen teenage distance runner Matthew Ramsden (WA) compared to former Australian track great Craig Mottram.

The similarities go further to how the 19-year-old boldly attacks a race, which he highlighted while competing for the Bolt All-Stars at the Coles Nitro Athletics Melbourne series.

He surprised six-time national champion Jeff Riseley (Vic) in the first ever elimination mile at Nitro Athletics Melbourne, winning with a strong kick and the next week went toe-to-toe with Melbourne Track Club training partner Ryan Gregson (Vic) in a showdown that rocked Lakeside Stadium.

Ramsden recently added to the momentum he has created this summer winning the Western Australian Open 1500m championship in a time of 3:48.85 ahead of Christopher Dale and Joshua Tedesco.

“I had two of my biggest weeks of training leading up to the WA state championships so I was high on confidence but unfortunately my body just wasn't ready for racing,” Ramsden said.

“I still went out there with intent and won the open 1500m title, which I always expected.”

Short-term expectations have only become bigger in recent times for Ramsden, who has set bold goals for himself after making significant gains as a junior last season.

“This season I'll be hunting down a world championships qualifier, either in the US or Europe,” he explained.

“I'm going to PB regardless because of the steps I've taken in upping my training since last season.

“I guess the question is 'how much will I bring down my PB?'

“I'll be racing at nationals and want to finish this domestic season with a medal – it will be a huge effort from me but I'll put myself up there and do everything I can to win in Sydney.”

With personal bests of 14:01.89 over 5000m and 3:42.97 in the 1500m there is no doubt that expectations are high for Ramsden who placed sixth in the 1500m at the world U20 championships in Poland last year.

The comparisons with Mottram have not fazed Ramsden, who acknowledges how much of a compliment such an evaluation is, but at the same time is aiming to create his own name.

“I've been compared to Mottram for a little over a year now,” he said.

“He was a great athlete so I take it as a big compliment but I prefer to be my own athlete rather than be compared to one from the past.”

Kennedy gets early London qualifier, eyes PB at nationals

The highlight of the state championships in the west came from Nina Kennedy (WA) who won the open pole vault title while recording a world championships qualifying mark of 4.55m at the WA Athletics Stadium.

She also competed for the Bolt All-Stars in the Nitro series, captained by the fastest man in the world Usain Bolt himself, and helped the team to victory in the inaugural competition.

On the weekend the 19-year-old got the win ahead of training partner and three-time national champion Liz Parnov who cleared a season’s best 4.40m for the silver medal.

“I definitely knew the qualifier was within me, I just didn't know when it would come,” Kennedy explained.

“It was my first competition off a full run up so I was excited to see what I could do, I tried not to think about the qualifier and focus on what I've been working on in training.”

Following the clearance, which was just four centimetres below her personal best of 4.59m set in 2015, Kennedy was quite emotional while hugging her coach and support team.

“Yes, I was very emotional,” she recalled.

“A lot has happened over the past year, and jumping the qualifier definitely made me remember the past but also brought a wave of happiness.

“So, many emotions all came together in one moment meaning it was very surreal.”

Earlier in the month she also put on a winning performance for the Bolt All-Stars in front of a sell-out crowd at Lakeside Stadium in the Nitro Athletics final, finishing equal first with Japan’s Ayako Aoshima and helping the Bolt All-Stars confirm a series win.

If Kennedy now places first at the national championships next month in Sydney she will compete at the world championships in London later this year, two years after failing to clear a height in Beijing.

“I'm really hoping a PB is on the cards,” Kennedy said of nationals.

“We'll just have to wait and see, I'd love to take out the national title, but Liz is training super hard and she's a great competitor.”