PREVIEW | Australian World Cross Country Trials

Headlined by 16 Olympians, this Sunday’s Australian World Cross Country Trials at Stromlo Forest promise to deliver unparalleled domestic competition as the race for the World Cross Country Championships selection heats up.

The first World Athletics Series event hosted in Australia in 25 years has lured out the nation’s best distance talent from world-class 800m runners to marathoners, all vying for elusive berths on the Australian team of 28 for the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst.

In the Women’s 10km, Men’s 10km, Under 20 Women’s 6km, and Under 20 Men’s 8km – athletes can secure automatic selection with a top-three finish among Australian competitors. In the Men’s and Women’s 2km event, the first of each gender to cross the line will be offered automatic selection. All other selections will be at the discretion of the Selection Committee.

START LIST | TIMETABLE | LIVE STREAM | SELECTION POLICY

Women's 10km: 

The only winner that can be guaranteed in the Women’s 10km is athletics. The star-studded start list is a roll call of the nation’s premier distance women, ranging from last month’s Zatopek:10 winner and two-time World Cross Country representative Leanne Pompeani (Des Proctor) to Commonwealth Games marathon champion Jessica Stenson (Adam Didyk) and reigning national champion Georgia Hansen (Stephen Ellinghaus).

After winning the Australian 10,000m title running away from the field, Pompeani was measured in her assessment of Sunday’s trial:

“I prefer to be the underdog than to have that pressure, I have had a lot of people talking as if I am already on the team but I still have to race against some amazing women. I want to be the best in Australia so at some point you are going to be the one that everyone is talking about,” Pompeani said.

“Nothing is guaranteed because the field is just so strong. If you go back a few years there was nowhere near the depth we have now. Nothing is certain in any race over any distance.”

The race is covered in storylines, led by feel-good Olympic mums Genevieve Gregson (Nic Bideau) and Ellie Pashley (Julian Spence) who return to high performance competition after childbirth in 2022, with genuine hopes and live chances of qualifying for the Australian team.

Looking to upgrade their silver and bronze respectively at Zatopek:10 are Isobel Batt-Doyle (Nic Bideau) and Rose Davies (Scott Westcott). The Olympic 5000m duo will be eager to strike back after being outclassed by Pompeani on the track in December, possessing proven records that suggest a return to the lead pack in Canberra is not only possible, but likely.

2019 World Cross Country representatives Caitlin Adams (Adam Didyk) and Paige Campbell (Philo Saunders), along with Olympian Amy Cashin (Sean Cleary) and the collegiate duo of Lauren Ryan (Bob Braman) and Amelia Mazza-Downie (Joe Franklin) round out the main contenders on paper for the six-woman team in Bathurst.

*Great Britain’s Charlotte Purdue and South Africa’s Aynslee Van Graan will race but will not be considered for Australian team selection.

Men's 10km:

Australian 10,000m record holder and champion Jack Rayner (Nic Bideau) was the in-form man in the back half of 2022 and will be determined to keep his winning streak alive in 2023, with the reward of attacking his third World Cross Country Championships in career-best shape awaiting if he can hold his nerve over 10km.

“I haven’t raced at Stromlo since the last cross trials in 2019 but I am really looking forward to it, I was second to Brett [Robinson] in that one. We should have a really good team if everyone runs well,” Rayner said.

“I’m feeling both excited and nervous. Obviously it’s the first time Australia is hosting the World Cross Country Championships which is exciting to have it on home ground. We can use that to our advantage with everyone else having to travel here, but I have to make the team in a pretty good field of 40 blokes.”

Training partners Brett Robinson (Nic Bideau) and Matthew Ramsden (Nic Bideau) have six World Cross Country appearances between them and will be out to add to that tally with top-three finishes alongside Rayner on Sunday, with their respective marathon and 1500m backgrounds demonstrating the unique nature of cross country.

Eight-time World Cross Country representative Liam Adams (Ken Hall) and his Commonwealth Games teammate Andy Buchanan (Scott Westcott) are accustomed to racing with bold tactics and will lay it all on the line in a bid for another Australian tracksuit, as will Jack Bruce (Collis Birmingham) who must be respected after a strong bronze at Zatopek:10 when beaten by Andre Waring (Steve Dineen).

Reigning Australian Cross Country champion Seth O’Donnell (Sean Williams) has put injury behind him to take to the start line alongside Olympian Sam McEntee (Collis Birmingham) and Isaac Heyne (Adam Didyk) who will fancy their chances of registering strong performances to be considered for selection.

Wisconsin’s Jackson Sharp (Mick Byrne) looms as a potential surprise, finding himself back on home soil after finishing in 16^th place at the NCAA Cross Country Championships last November, with the 2019 World Cross Country representative forging a strong transition to senior competition.

Men's and Women's 2km:

Blink and you might miss the likes of Stewart McSweyn (Nic Bideau) and Jessica Hull (Pete Julian) in the Men’s and Women’s 2km. Trialling for the unique Mixed 4x2km Relay at Bathurst where Australia will gun for gold on home soil, the national record holders are deserving favourites in quality fields.

McSweyn will be relentless in his pursuit of a ticket to the World Cross Country Championships, prepared to grind anyone brave enough to challenge him into the ground and flex his form as one of the world’s premier middle-distance men. The King Island product will welcome challenges from the likes of James Hansen and the emerging trio of 2018 World Under 20 finalist Callum Davies (Collis Birmingham), NCAA finalist Adam Spencer (Mick Byrne) and Australian 3000m champion Jude Thomas (Collis Birmingham).

Hull will have to fend off fellow Olympic duo Linden Hall (Ned Brophy-Williams) and Georgia Griffith (Nic Bideau) if she is to clinch the sole automatic spot, along with Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Abbey Caldwell (Gavin Burren). The Australian 1500m quartet go head-to-head for the first time ever, with it all to unfold over six-minutes and rolling hills at Stromlo Forest.

Other key contenders in the deep field include Jenny Blundell (James Fitzgerald), Sarah Billings (Collis Birmingham), Maudie Skyring (Craig Mottram) and Jaylah Hancock-Cameron (Andae Kalemusic).

Under 20 Men's 8km:

The Under 20 Men’s 8km continues the theme of hotly contested encounters at Stromlo Forest, with World Under 20 representative Archie Noakes (Charlotte Wilson) set to go toe-to-toe with reigning national champion Logan Janetzki (Tim O’Shaughnessy) and the man of the summer Cameron Myers (Lee Bobbin).

Both Noakes and Janetzki are renowned aerobic engines in the junior ranks and pose an intimidating threat to their competitors over the extended distance, while Myers’ credentials have been bolstered by titles at the Australian Mile Championships and De Castella 3000m at only 16-years-old.

The versatile Noakes competed in the 5000m at the World Under 20 Championships holding a 14:05.91 personal best, also contesting the 3000m steeplechase where he was joined by Flynn Pumpa (Jayden Russ). Emerging South Australian talent Cael Mulholland (Michael Nitschke) clinched bronze in an outstanding De Castella 3000m field to stamp his presence as one to watch in 2023.

Under 20 Women's 6km:

The Under 20 Women’s 6km will see 17-year-old sensation Amy Bunnage (Tim O’Shaughnessy) return to chase her maiden Australian tracksuit after withdrawing from last year’s World Under 20 Championships, having stormed to an Australian Under 18 record of 9:00.60 in December’s Ondieki 3000m at Zatopek:10.

Bunnage has demonstrated her front-running prowess with a reputation for gun-to-tape victories in recent years, and while Sunday’s trial may prove no different – a top-three finish will assure her the first opportunity of her career to spearhead the Australian junior women on the world stage.

The Victorian headlines a slick list of teenage talent assembled for the six-kilometre bout featuring World Under 20 representative Lucinda Rourke (Mike Holloway), whose cross country experience has been enhanced by her time in the NCAA system at Florida, along with the emerging Gold Coast duo of Aspen Anderson (Jackson Elliot) and Gabrielle Schmidt (Kerry Schreiber). Multiple time national junior medallist Gabrielle Vincent (Keith Fearnley) has also shown strong early season form to force her name into contention.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 12/1/2022