The 127th edition of the NSW Athletics Cross Country Championships was held in glorious winter sunshine at the iconic Willandra course on the NSW South Coast yesterday, with Bronte Oates delivering one of the most dominant runs in the event’s recent history.
Still just 20 years old, Bronte Oates from UTS Norths produced a commanding solo performance to take out the women’s title in a record-breaking time of 35:39, shattering the previous course best by 39 seconds. It was the fastest time recorded on the Willandra 10km loop since the women’s race was extended to the distance in 2016, eclipsing Paige Campbell’s 36:18 mark.
From the early stages, Oates and training partner Danette Sheehan (Run Crew) distanced themselves from the rest of the field. But it was Oates who soon took control, pushing clear and extending her lead with each lap. Sheehan held on strongly to finish second in 37:12 – 49 seconds quicker than her own silver-medal effort in 2024 – while NSW 10,000m track champion Leyla Liakatos (Bankstown) rounded out the podium in 39:00.
Coached by Run Crew’s Katie Lawrence, Oates has enjoyed a breakout year. She finished seventh at the prestigious Zatopek:10 in December and claimed victory in the Melbourne Marathon 10km, confirming her status as one of Australia’s brightest young distance prospects.
Hince continues family legacy
While Oates claimed the women’s crown in emphatic fashion, the men’s race was a far more tactical affair, with Luke Hince (Kembla Joggers) emerging victorious in a hard-fought contest that came down to the final hill.
Hince, twice a runner-up in Nowra (2022, 2024), finally broke through for victory in 32:00 minutes, holding off 2:11 marathoner Tom Do Canto (Run Crew) by six seconds. The pair had separated from the field midway through the race, trading leads and attacking the climbs before Hince found the decisive move in the final kilometre.
“Today’s win was very special to me,” Hince told Athletics NSW. “I’ve been running Nowra since 2011 as a young junior, so to finally take the open title was very surreal. I kept getting little breaks on Tom and he’d close them, but I finally broke the elastic on the last hill.”
Hince’s win continues a family legacy with his mother Lorraine Davis winning the women’s title on the same course 30 years ago, in 1995.
The race for third was tightly contested, with Hamish Longworth (Bankstown) edging Sydney Uni’s Ben Bishop and UNSW’s Logan Campbell to claim bronze in 32:44.
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