Bronte Oates’s rapid rise through the Australian distance running ranks continued in emphatic style at Victoria Park in Ballarat, as the 21-year-old powered to her first national cross country title on her birthday, defeating two-time Olympian Jenny Blundell in the women’s 10km. 
Oates has spent the winter piecing together a breakthrough season: a fifth place finish in a personal best 32:11 over 10,000m at the World University Games, followed by a victory at the City2Surf in the fifth fastest time ever. Saturday’s performance carried that momentum onto the national stage, with Oates seizing control from the opening kilometre and never looking back.
Crossing the line in 34:44, Oates finished 20 seconds clear of Blundell, who ran strongly throughout to clock 35:04, while World Cross Country representative Georgia Hansen was third in 35:30. 
“I love running and feel like I do better when I’m out in front from the start, so that was my goal for today,” Oates said.
“It gives me a boost of confidence to have won a national title. I’m really excited about that and hopefully I can keep the momentum going to the World Cross Country next year.”
NSW claimed honours in the team’s event with 16 points, followed by Victoria (22) and Queensland (40).
Facioni steps up in men’s 10km
The men’s contest lost pre-race favourite Ed Marks to injury, with the 24th-place finisher at last year’s World Cross Country Championships sidelined with shin splints picked up in recent weeks, having remained hopeful of racing until the day prior. 
With Marks absent, Zach Facioni stamped his authority on a surging 10km, breaking clear in the final two kilometres to win in 30:33. Aidan Velten took silver in 30:39, with Matthew Buckell collecting bronze for a Victorian sweep of the podium. 
“There was a lot more surging than I thought. Without Ed setting the pace, I just tried to close them down slowly and stay composed,” Facioni said.
Victoria took gold in the teams with a perfect team score of 10, ahead of NSW (41) and ACT (47).
Juniors & Para highlights
Queensland’s Isabella Valinoti, 16 and running up an age group, was a class above in the U20 women’s 6km, recording the largest win of the day with a 50 second margin in 20:52. 
Yohanes Asmare covered moves made and ran away with the the U20 men’s 8km in 24:30, taking victory by over half a minute. 
Paralympians Michael Roeger and Annabelle Colman lit up the 3km para races with wins in 9:04 and 11:02.
A festival of cross country
The Ballarat course, featuring two manmade mud pits, saw 1600 runners from across the nation contesting events from U11 through to Masters. 
Sienna Bush from Queensland triumphed in the U18 4km race in 14:13, while Lucas Chis from Victoria was all class in a comfortable 18:28 victory in the boy’s 6km event. 
Libby Mantay from Queensland won the U17 4km in 13:54, with Victoria’s Finn Kane claiming the 6km boy’s event in 18:47. 
Queensland’s Piper Anderson took out the U16 4km by 18 seconds in 14:24, with teammate Cedar Johnson claiming a 10 second victory in the boy’s race (12:38). 
South Australia’s Amelia Sheridan (13:53) had a front running win in the U15 4km, with Victoria’s Oscar Woodhouse (13:06) winning the boy’s race. 
Nathaniel Barrett from NSW (9:52) and WA’s Fieke Potter (10:16), who ran through the field, were victors in the U14 3km. 
Victoria’s James Hall (9:45) and Andie Buchan (10:39) won the U13 3km races. 
NSW’s Archie Herb (10:06) and Josephine Han (11:03) took out the U12 3km. 
Queensland’s Rylan Wooster (7:02) and Elle Down (7:11) were victors in the U11 2km. 
Shane Grund (12:39) and Anna Kasparis (15:05) were the first athletes home in the Masters 4km. Former open cross country medallists Russell Dessaix-Chin (M45) and Paul Arthur (M55) claimed their age-group victories, 20 and 30 years respectively since their previous national podiums. 
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