Middle-distance stars Lauren Ryan and Seth O’Donnell have etched their names into Australian athletics history at Zatopek:10, slaying some of the nation’s toughest competitors en route to the 2025 Australian 10,000m titles at Lakeside Stadium.
Only grey skies and drizzling rain could dampen a scorching night of athletics action in Melbourne, where Seth O’Donnell (VIC, Andrew Russell) ran a star-studded Men’s 10,000m field into the ground in under 28-minutes to cap off his breakthrough year.
Clocking an official time of 27:59.65 to be crowned the Australian champion, O’Donnell was a runaway winner in dramatic fashion, with only Olympian Stewart McSweyn (TAS, Nic Bideau) able to live with the early injection of pace as the two built a significant lead.
But when McSweyn stepped off the track acutely with under 10 laps remaining, it left O’Donnell to muster a memorable win as silver and bronze medallists Edward Marks (VIC, self-coached, 28:09.85) and Jack Rayner (VIC, Nic Bideau, 28:15.73) failed to carve into what was eventually an unassailable margin.
“I don’t know if I deserve it, but I appreciate all the help out there. It definitely helped me get over the line in under 28 minutes, because I was really hurting,” O’Donnell said.
“I have a lot of respect for Stewy [McSweyn], he’s one of the best our sport has seen. He came up on my shoulder when I was starting to feel the pinch, and he told me it was my race to win. He is an unreal runner but an unreal person as well, without him I would have struggled today.”
“I’ve had something like eight bone stress injuries in the last eight months. As much as I have been successful in winning the national title and representing Australia for the first time, I have also had a really tough year.”
Despite the Australian 10,000m title for women being far more tactical, the winner was equally as dominant as Olympian Lauren Ryan (VIC, Stephen Haas) burst out of the lead pack with 300m remaining to clinch her second national title over the distance – stopping the clock in 32:06.66.
“I was told by my coach to do as little work as possible, it’s early in the season and we’ve only been back running for about six weeks. I just wanted to get a good hit-out before the World Cross Country Championships,” Ryan said.
“I feel like there’s pressure now, but I need to remember that pressure is a privilege and what I worked really hard for. It’s interesting coming back as a top-10 runner in the world, I still think of myself as the same runner I was during high school.”
“I have a lot more accolades but the work is still the same. This is the track that I have been racing on since I was a little kid, so it still feels special to come out here and race amongst my family and friends.”
Silver medallist Leanne Pompeani (ACT, Des Proctor, 32:13.58) was the main protagonist in trying to take down Ryan when stringing the field out with a surge in a bid to nullify her rival’s kick, but Ryan’s response proved too strong.
Rising talent Bronte Oates (NSW, Katie St Lawrence) took home bronze in 33:08.53, while New Zealand’s Georgie Grgec was the second woman across the line in 32:10.28 – ineligible for the Australian medals as an international competitor.
A pair of junior athletes added their names to a rich list of winners in the Australian Under 20 Championships, as Alexander Cameron-Smith (VIC, Peter Bourke) and Imogen Baker (VIC, Peter Schuwalow) launched their names into the spotlight.
Cameron-Smith upset pre-race favourite Lucas Chis (VIC) to win the Under 20 Men’s de Castella 3000m in a time of 8:04.77, while Baker could only be felled in the final metres of the Under 20 Women’s Ondieki 3000m by New Zealand’s Scarlett Robb in a time of 9:24.88 – Baker taking the Australian title in 9:24.93.
Full results from the 2025 Zatopek:10 and Australian 10,000m Championships can be found HERE.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 13/12/2025
