Images courtesy of Fred Etter
The Australian mile championships returned to the domestic ciruit after a COVID induced hiatus, with Izzy Thornton-Bott and Cameron Myers claiming their maiden national titles.
Thornton-Bott stepped onto the track at The Crest in Sydney on Saturday night for the Albie Thomas Mile after a strong college cross country season that saw her finish 36th in the NCAA Championships just three weeks ago. Wearing her University of Oregon kit, the 24-year-old crossed the line in 4:35.36 ahead of Jaylah Hancock-Cameron (4:36.12) in a tactical race.
“I’d be lying if I said I went in feeling my freshest, I’m definitely at the tail event of a heavy season right now,” Thornton-Bott told Athletics NSW.
Aynslee Van Graan took the bronze medal in a photo finish from 15-year-old Fleur Cooper, with just seven-thousandths-of-a-second separating the two. Cooper’s 4:38.39 was a NSW Under 16 record.
In the men’s race it was 16-year-old Cameron Myers from the ACT who took victory by over a second ahead of former Australian 800m record holder Joseph Deng and Victorian William Lewis.
Myers was just outside his personal best with his 4:07.04 winning time, while Deng clocked 4:08.44 and Lewis 4:08.47.
The fields for both events failed to attract truly national fields, with only four of the 24 athletes in the men’s and women’s races residing outside of NSW.
Earlier in the program 15-year-old Ivy Boothroyd set a new NSW Under 16 record in the 800m with a 2:04.90 performance. Boothroyd was in a close contest with World Junior finalist Hayley Kitching, before Kitching fell approaching the finishing line.
In international track action, Ky Robinson recorded a fast 13:11.53 to win the 5000m at the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener indoor meet. The performance was ten seconds faster than the Stanford based athlete’s outdoor personal best and within reach of the fast 13:07.00 qualifying standard for the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
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