Australia’s fastest men continued to flirt with sub-10 second history in legal conditions, with Lachlan Kennedy rising to number two on the Australian all-time list on the second day of the Australian Open and Under 20 Athletics Championships in Perth, as the stars of Australian athletics delivered a powerful statement.
Just 24 hours after Gout Gout’s windy 9.99-second showings, Kennedy (QLD, Andrew Iselin) stormed to 10.00 (+0.9) in the heats of the Men’s Open 100m to surpass Olympic semi-finalist Rohan Browning (NSW, Andrew Murphy) as the second fastest Australian of all time, behind national record holder Patrick Johnson.
Despite locking away the 2025 World Athletics Championships qualifying time, the in-form man of Australian sprinting will have it far from all his own way in tomorrow’s semi-finals and final, with Browning showing that he’s up for the challenge when clocking 10.07 (+2.1) and defending champion Sebastian Sultana (NSW, Greg Smith) impressing with 10.12 (+1.7).
“My coach, Andrew (Iselin) was telling me to give it everything I got because it’s going to be the best conditions, but I don’t know. I want to save all my juice for the final because I want the final to be intense,” Kennedy said.
“I was staring at the clock with 30-metres to go and I thought I might actually get it. I want to break 10. I’m coming out to do it. 10.00 and 9.99 are sort of similar. Obviously nine is way better but I’ll do it in the semi or the final.”
With a rivalry ignited between Australia’s second and third fastest men of all time, Browning said:
“You know, it made me want to try and have an answer. It made me want to try and respond. He’s put that 10.00 out there. Obviously he’s in great shape. That’s what you want for the sport, but it’s not just him. There’s Seb (Sultana), Josh (Azzopardi) and a host of other guys that could do it too.”
The Women’s 100m Heats saw the clock unable to separate Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis (QLD, Laurent Muewly) and Olympic teammate Bree Rizzo (QLD, Ryan Hoffman), who strolled to times of 11.25 (+1.8) and 11.25 (+0.6) to lead the qualifiers to tomorrow’s semi-finals and finals.
Paris Olympian Tori West (QLD, Eric Brown & Sam Leslie) completed another world-class heptathlon to reclaim the Australian title, scoring 6107 points over seven events, with placings in each of the seven events including today’s long jump (6.03m), javelin throw (47.19) and 800m (2:19.83).
The score is the third highest of West’s career and her sixth over the 6000-point benchmark, while Emelia Surch (QLD, Glynis Nunn) claimed silver with a breakthrough performance of 5975 points. World Under 20 Championships fourth-place finisher Mia Scerri (VIC, Ralph Newton & Rob Stevens) rounded out the podium in her first year in the Open age group at the Australian Championships with a lifetime best of 5770 points.
Paralympian Angus Hincksman (SA, Philo Saunders & Simon Moran, T38) stretched his legs in the Men’s Para 1500m when racing to a time of 4:04.26 and a score of 93.29 on the BASELINE system, beating home World Para Athletics Championships teammate Daniel Milone (VIC, Gavin Burren, T20) who was valiant in 4:07.87 and a score of 90.97.
Having reached Paralympic bronze in Paris, Dayna Crees (VIC, Gordon Talbot, F34) return to the national stage saw her launch to the second best throw of her career with a 17.52m effort in the Seated Javelin Throw, with a reward of gold and automatic selection to the Australian Team for the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi. Meanwhile, Annabelle Colman (VIC, Liz Gosper & Anthony de Castella, T20) led the way for the Para 1500m women in a time of 4:45.61.
Wheelchair racing stalwart Angie Ballard (ACT, Jamie Green, T53) claimed double gold, pushing her way to victory in 18.39 (+3.0) in the 100m for a score of 88.03, and 1:01.35 in the 400m for 86.91, while Paralympian Luke Bailey (NSW, Louise Sauvage, T54) exploded to a scorching 13.80 (+2.6) and score of 98.76 to take out the Men’s Wheelchair 100m.
The celebrations after a lap of the track rolled on, with Paralympic medallist Rheed McCracken (NSW, Louise Sauvage, T34) clocking 50.55 for a BASELINE score of 97.09 in the 400m Wheelchair race to lock in his place on the Australian team for New Delhi, while in the Under-20 able-bodied ranks, it was 17-year-old Seth Kennedy (QLD, Brett Robinson) claiming the 400m title in a time of 46.62 for his first time under 47-seconds.
Paralympic silver medallist Michal Burian (VIC, Dale Stevenson, F64) made his place on the Australian Team for the World Para Athletics Championships official when throwing the javelin to 61.34m for a season’s best for gold, while 2019 world champion Corey Anderson (QLD, Lukas Cannon, F38) sailed the javelin 47.53m to notch his second qualifier for the team travelling to India.
Olympic steeplechaser Cara Feain-Ryan (QLD, Ben Norton) was on a mission in the final event of the day when front-running her way to a time of 9:29.19 to set a new championship record, holding her race together over the closing laps to win by a margin of 20-seconds and assert her dominance as the nation’s premier steeplechaser.
The first round of the Men’s and Women’s 800m saw Olympic semi-finalist Peyton Craig (VIC, Brendan Mallyon & Craig Mottram) cruise through as the fastest qualifier in 1:47.95, while Peter Bol (VIC, Justin Rinaldi) made light work of his heat, keeping his powder dry for tomorrow’s semi-finals alongside defending champion Luke Boyes (NSW, Ben St Lawrence). Olympic semi-finalists Abbey Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren) and Claudia Hollingsworth (VIC, Craig Mottram) made it through their two-lap race with ease ahead of the final.
The Australian Athletics Championships is the finale of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series and is also supported by the Western Australian Government through Tourism WA, as well as VenuesWest and Athletics West.
Full results from today can be found HERE.
By Lachlan Moorhouse and Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics
Posted 11/4/2025
