Olympians Rose Davies and Jack Rayner have taken victory in the feature 10,000m races at the annual Zatopek:10 meet, held yesterday at Lakeside Stadium.
Held in humid conditions both races were of a similar nature, with a small lead pack dwindling in size and last lap kicks proving definitive.
22-year-old Davies thwarted the evergreen Eloise Wellings‘ attempt to become the first woman to win four Zatopek titles, taking victory by two-seconds in 32:58.42. Wellings was second 33:00.87 ahead of Isobel Batt-Doyle (33:04.69).
“It was tough conditions out there and the pace was slow,” said Davies.
“It was different to last year in that way, but it ended up the same way as last year, with a kick in the last 300m. I’m really happy I got to execute the race I wanted to.”
Rayner’s win was his first national title on the track, following a tussle with David McNeill and gritty marathoner, Liam Adams.
“I’ve been up at Falls Creek for the last few weeks on a training block, but it was a shock to come back to Melbourne and run in this heat,” said Rayner.
“I’m not used to running in the super hot conditions. I was able to switch off as much as I could and I watched the lap counter go down and tricked myself into thinking it was the start of this race.”
Rayner won in 28:16.86, with McNeill clocking 28:22.08 and Adams 28:46.45.


The less than ideal distance running conditions led to slow starts in both the Ondieki and De Castella junior 3000m races. Victorian athletes took line honours in both events, with Amy Bunnage striding away for a 9:37.63 victory, while Thomas Diamond confidently celebrated his 8:24.94 win.
Bucking the trend of the night, Catriona Bisset opened her season with a strong front-running performance over 800m, stopping the clock in 2:01.20 to take victory by two-seconds from Ellie Sandford.
“I’m planning on going to World Indoors in March, so I’m practicing holding onto my pace and this is a good start,” Bisset said.


16-year-old Claudia Hollingsworth recorded her second world junior qualifier over 1500m in the space of a week, taking out the 1500m from Melissa Duncan with a strong finishing kick in 4:16.50. NSW’s Luke Young won a slow, tactical men’s race in 3:48.44.
In the field Cassidy Bradshaw was the standout performer, clearing the world junior qualifying standard of 4.05m in the pole vault.



Relays also featured on the program, with the day being preceded by the Victorian Relay Championships. The finals of the 4x100m and 4x400m relays were part of the Zatopek program. Sandringham (46.34) and Old Melburnians (41.76) took out the women’s and men’s 4x100m respectively, while Glenhuntly (3:57.07) and Old Melburnians (3:17.88) won the 4x400m events.
Our full gallery of photos from the meet are available here. These are able to downloaded for free, with your free subscription to our mailing list.
Latest posts:
- Inside Athletics Photo Competition 2025The Inside Athletics Photo Competition is back for its 5th annual year, celebrating the incredible work of Australia’s passionate athletics photography community. With $500 in prizes up for grabs, this year’s competition showcases the best imagery from the track and field — capturing the emotion, power, and spirit of Australian athletics. 📸 Competition Categories There… Read more: Inside Athletics Photo Competition 2025
- Adams wins Melbourne Marathon on debutSouth Australia’s Caitlin Adams has won the 2025 Melbourne Marathon in a time of 2 hours, 30 minutes and 26 seconds in her debut run over the 42.195km distance. Paced by Jess Trengove through the early stages of the race 28-year-old Adams ran an even-paced race with halves of 75:07 and 75:19 to finish in… Read more: Adams wins Melbourne Marathon on debut
- Australia’s Para Stars Shine in New DelhiThirteen medals. Ten Australian records. Twenty-four debutants. Australia’s Para Athletics team lit up the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, a glimpse of a golden future as the LA 2028 cycle roars to life. Photos by Augusto Bizzi, Luca Pagliaricci and Eva Pavia, courtesy of Australian Athletics Across nine days inside Jawaharlal Nehru… Read more: Australia’s Para Stars Shine in New Delhi
- “It Was Just a Messy Baton”: Bree Masters’ Inside Look at the 4×100m That Got AwayBehind the scenes with Australia’s women’s sprint relay after a heartbreaking DNF.(Watch the full 26-minute video embedded above.) Bree Masters pulls back the curtain on a relay campaign that had all the right preparations…and still unraveled in an instant. In her vlog from Japan, Masters details a tight turnaround, humid final tune-ups and a settled… Read more: “It Was Just a Messy Baton”: Bree Masters’ Inside Look at the 4×100m That Got Away
- 20 Australians Who Impressed at the World ChampionshipsAustralia sent its biggest world championships team ever to the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, with 88 athletes originally selected across the track, field, road and relays. From that group, around a quarter produced standout performances that not only delivered results in Japan but also reshaped where they sit at the start of a… Read more: 20 Australians Who Impressed at the World Championships