There’s something special about the feel of a brand-new track underfoot. The freshly laid blue Rekortan surface at Knox Park Athletics Centre shimmered under the lights as it welcomed athletes to the inaugural Knox Track Classic last night.
The meet featured mainly odd distances with the only Olympic distance on the program being the 200m. But that allowed plenty of innovation through an Elimination Mile and Distance Medley Relay, along with 1000m and 60m events.
The top event of the meet was the men’s 200m, where 2024 World Junior representative Archer McHugh beat home World Championship 400m runner Cooper Sherman, 20.70 to 20.74, with Jordan Gilbert third in 20.88s. The race was aided by a 0.8 m/s tailwind, but due to the meet only holding an Athletics Australia permit, does not count for World Athletics rankings or top lists.
Nina Lawson took out the women’s race in a wind-assisted 24.52 (+2.5). 
The Elimination Mile – a throwback to the 2017 Nitro Athletics meets – saw the last placed athletes eliminated each lap. Charles Barrett looked particularly strong in taking out the men’s event in 4:05.80, while the women’s race was a war of attrition, with 800m World Championships representative Tess Kirsopp-Cole taking the win by 12 seconds in 4:58.67.
Lachlan Herd took out the 1000m in 2:27.36, with Matilda Johnson winning the women’s race in 2:54.35.
Olympic and World Championship representative Abbey Caldwell made an outing in trainers in the Distance Medley Relay, anchoring her Eastern Track Club to victory. 
The 60m races were won by Hugh Kabengele (6.73s) and Grace Crowe (7.48s).
Knox Track Classic Photo Gallery
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