Sydney International Athletic Centre

Building on his American indoor tour, where he cleared 6.01m in New York and an Australian record 6.06m in Boston, Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker recorded his sixth straight victory of 2009, in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 7480 at the Sydney Track Classic.

The 26-year-old was the last man standing in the pole vault draw, his leap of 5.95m easily defeating Olympic silver medallist Yevgeniy Lukyanenko (5.45m) of Russia.

Hooker cleared 5.60m, 5.80m, and 5.95m before having three unsuccessful attempts at a new Australian record height of 6.10m.

“There were quite good conditions at the end of the competition, and I started to get on some pretty decent poles,” Hooker said.

“I thought I was a real chance of jumping 6.10m but it was just stand placement which cost me on my second attempt.

“I’m a bit mentally tired from all the travel, but that’s my longest break I’ve had between competitions this season

"So physically I feel quite fresh and I felt fantastic on the runway.”

An ecstatic Ryan Gregson set a new Australian junior record in the 1500m overcoming Mike Hillardt’s long standing mark of 3:39.67 set way back in 1980. Gregson stopped the clock in 3:37.24 seeing him into third place behind Bahrain’s Yusuf Saad Kamel (3:36.72) and Victorian Collis Birmingham (3:37.01) in a race that had the crowd on its feet.

The men’s 400m saw a field of Australian hopefuls took on the might of American Xavier Carter and Jamaican Asafa Powell, who earlier in the night anchored a quartet of his countrymen to victory in the 4x100m.

In an event not often contested by the former 100m world record holder, Powell left his charge until late, turning up the tempo to storm from last to fourth place with 150m to go, crossing in a personal best time of 45.94.

Taking out the event was Beijing 400m semi-finalist Sean Wroe, whose A-qualifier of 45.28 placed him just ahead of Carter (45.75) and AIS athlete Kurt Mulcahy (45.84).

For Wroe it was pride that helped him cross the line ahead of a dark horse in Powell.

“I didn’t expect Asafa to come back in this one but at the end of the day, being a 400m runner, I couldn’t let a 100m boy beat me,” he said.

For Powell, who earlier in the program had anchored a Jamaican quartet to victory in the 4x100m relay, the shift up to the longer distance proved a worthy exercise.

“I was pacing myself because I knew if I went out too hard I would have died coming home,” said Powell.

“I’m very, very happy. When I started gaining on them I started to dig and dig and dig and I got very close but it wasn’t enough.”

A busy Sally McLellan recorded a trio of victories in the 100m, 100m hurdles and 4x100m relay.

The Olympic silver medallist led from the gun to take out the 100m hurdles race in 12.84.

Following the event, the Queenslander said the run was a sign of things to come.

“It’s fantastic to come out here and know I’m still in good shape, it’s just exciting what’s going to happen for the rest of the year,” McLellan said.

“Unfortunately I had a few messy hurdles but to come out with that time… it’s a good sign.”

In another dominant display, McLellan clocked 11.39 in the 100m and combined with team mates Melissa Breen, Jody Henry and Laura Whaler for a run of 44.00 seconds.

In-form athlete of the season Tristan Thomas made an impact early in the meet, posting a red-hot 48.87 in the men’s 400m hurdles to claim the event ahead of Beijing bronze medallist Bershawn Jackson (49.06) and Commonwealth Games champion LJ van Zyl (50.02).

Thomas’ time was the second fastest ever run by an Australian in that event, eclipsed only by Rohan Robinson’s time of 48.28 set at the Atlanta Olympics.

Following the event the 22-year-old Tasmanian said the calibre of athletes in the field had helped spur him to the win.

“It’s incredible, amazing, you can only run great times with great people around you,” he said.

“It’s a real honour to race against people like that, after the race (Bershawn) was really happy for me but he’s training hard, he’ll run fast.”

Dual Olympic medallist Jared Tallent broke the Australian 5000m race walk record previously set by Nathan Deakes (18:45.19) in 2006. Finishing second behind Mexican Eder Sanchez (18.40.11), Tallent clocked 18:41.83.

Olympic bronze medallist David Oliver (13.29) stormed home to take out the men’s 110m hurdles, erasing Colin Jackson’s 1999 meet record of 13.30.

Full gallery of event photos: Sydney Track Classic 2009