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Dent and Trengove crowned Australia's cross country champions
Australia’s cross country community descended on Bald Hills (Qld) today, with more than 600 athletes taking to the start line at the 2010 Australian Cross Country Championships as the event celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Stopping the clock at 36:49, Commonwealth Games nominee Martin Dent (ACT) was crowned national champion in the men’s open event (12km) edging out Victorian Liam Adams (second, 37:05) and New South Welshman Jeff Hunt (third, 37:20) in fine conditions.
Dent, a seven-time world cross country championships representative, will line up in the marathon in New Delhi, his win today the third time the 31-year-old has won the Australian championship.
“I’m really pleased, it’s always great to win but with a field like this it’s that little bit sweeter,” Dent said.
“I wanted to lead out and with the corners so tight and frequent it’s always good to get that inside lane, that was the plan and to get the result is a bonus.”
For the first time since 1981 when Desiree Letherby won gold, a South Australian has become Australian women’s open cross country (8km) champion, with Jessica Trengove clocking 28:00 to win ahead of Clare Geraghty (Qld) (second, 28:28) and Tamara Carvolth (Qld) (third, 28:38).
Recently selected to compete at the IAAF world half marathon championships in Nanning (CHN) this October, Trengove placed third in the Zatopek:10 last December before heading to the world university cross country championships earlier this year.
“It’s really exciting and I'm sure it won’t sink in for a while,” Trengove said.
“I’ve always loved running and since starting with my squad things have just improved and from here I’ll head home for the City-Bay as I continue to step things up for the world halfs (sic) in China.”
In the team competition, New South Wales won the men’s open event with Victoria first in the women’s open race.
Impressed by the day’s results, Athletics Australia National Distance Coordinator Tim O’Shaughnessy was encouraged by the performances of those competing in junior races prior to their open age counterparts.
“While it’s always great to see strong runs from our senior athletes it is also a reassuring sign for Australian running when we have positive results amongst the junior ranks,” O’Shaughnessy said.
“Today’s performances proved that the future of the sport is developing well with some of the sprint finishes in the younger ages a sure-fire sign of determination and competitiveness.”
World cross country representatives Ethan Heywood (WA) (25:18) and David Ricketts (NSW) (25:22) were the gold and silver medallists in the boys' Under 20 (8km) event, the pair edging out Rhys Jones (SA), who in a time of 25:24 stamped his authority with a bronze medal.
New South Wales were victorious in arguably the strongest of the state-versus-state events, Ricketts joined in the team by 2010 world junior championships 5000m representative Kevin Batt.
Meanwhile in the girl’s event, Danielle Travis was crowned Oceania champion after her win in a time of 21:00, the New Zealander securing cross-Tasman superiority after a strong final lap. An Australian trio followed her, Grace Musgrove (NSW) (21:42), Celia Sullohern (NSW) (21:59) and Linden Hall (Vic) (22:30) placing first, second and third respectively in the girls' Under 20 (6km) Australian championship with team honours taken out by New South Wales.
In the Under 18 events Victorian teams were dominant, taking gold in both the boys' and girls' races. Individually, Luke Hargraves (SA) crossed the line first in 18:51 to win the boys' event (6km), joined atop the dais by Tessa Craig (Vic), who in a time of 14:13 broke away from the pack as the four kilometre race drew to a close.
Rounding out the day, Bini James (Qld) (12:44) and Courtney Powell (Vic) (14:12) were crowned national champions in the boys' and girls' Under 16 event with Biniyam Hagos (Tas) (9:45) and Caitlin McQuilkin-Bell (Qld) (10:56) gold medallists in the boys' and girls' Under 14 events.
For full coverage of the day's results, follow this link to the Live Results page.
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