NSW 3000m Championships: Phillips 7:56 as juniors impress

4 November 2024

NSW 3000m Championships: Phillips 7:56 as juniors impress with world class times

Intermittent light rain at the NSW 3000m championships, held at ES Marks Field, didn’t stop Josh Phillips smashing his personal best as numerous junior men dipped under 8:30 and women under 10:00 minutes.

MEN’S 3000M – Josh Phillips defends his State title

Despite coming off the back of a second consecutive NSW 10,000m title last month and as the defending champion, Josh Phillips knew he would still have to be at his best to defeat Jackson Sharp in the 21st NSW 3000m title.

“He's (Sharp) a phenomenal athlete, we've seen what he's capable of and so I knew I had my hands full tonight if I wanted to get the win,” Josh Phillips reflected.

Sharp, 24, had this year, while in college at Wisconsin in America, clocked most impressive PBs of 7:44 (3000m) and 13:17 (5000m) and made NCAA finals indoors and out.

Phillips, himself just over a year back from college in America, had also recorded his lifetime bests for 3000m (7:50) and 5000m (13:34) this year.

But Phillips’ drew confidence from his own recent performances.

“It sounds corny but the main thing is I just had to believe I can do it. It doesn't matter what people have run on paper, you have to do it on the night.”

Just prior to the start, Phillips heard the planned pace from his competition.

“10 minutes before the race I heard someone say it's going to be 62s laps (that would be a final time of 7:45) and I thought, okay, I've got something to run off tonight.”

On the first lap, with the field starting to immediately string out, Phillips found himself in the lead, while Sharp needed to run wide to move from mid-field to Phillips’ shoulder. By 600m, running at a comfortable 64-seconds pace, the two favourites had moved five metres clear of the field.

“200m in, I found myself at the front and I figured why not just roll with it and stick to my race plan of four laps to go, push hard,” Phillips said.

Mid-way, Phillips held a one second lead over Sharp, while the bunched field was a further seven seconds back.

“Once I established a lead, I didn't want to look back too much and give anyone signs that I was worried. But Ed Goddard, one of my training partners and best friends told me, you have a 30-metre gap. So, I knew I could just relax, stay composed and a lap to go, I could make a big run for home.

Phillips was feeling good and pushed on around the 2000m mark, putting a gap of three seconds, then five seconds into Sharp. But over the last 600m, Sharp pulled back that margin to around three seconds. Phillips provided some interesting insights into his mindset over the last few laps.

“I just tried to stay relaxed during the laps - I've done just that in my workouts lately. The main cue I've been telling myself is just stay relaxed, even when it gets uncomfortable. I was thinking, it's three laps, now it's two laps..and the last lap always sells itself. So there's really two laps to go and then one lap of emptying the tank. So, yeah, I had full belief I could make it home. I just had to play my cards right.”

After clocking 8:00.01 and 8:00.10 at his last two NSW 3000m championship runs, Phillips smashed through eight minutes for the win in 7:56.25, ahead of Jackson Sharp with 7:59.86 and Mingara’s Matthew Scarr running 8:10.02 to win the State bronze medal. It was Phillips’ fourth State title in 12 months and elevates him to the fifth fastest in the history of the race.

Juniors shine

Eight teenagers dipped under 8:30, highlighted by 16-year-old Matthew McLachlan (TRI) who clocked a 12 seconds PB time of 8:14.00. It bettered his U17 Australian championships winning time of 8:26.68 from April. His is now the fourth fastest U17 athlete in the world for 2024. In the B race, 14-year-old Evan Rowbotham (RBH) clocked 8:40.64 and is within reach of Lorcan Redmond’s State U16 record of 8:35.57. Rowbotham is also the leading under-15 in the world for 2024.

Other teens under 8:30 were:

-John Maguire (ACT, 18y) 8:15.69

-Archie Ridgway (BAN, 19y) 8:17.14

-Oliver Ham (GOS, 19) 8:17.35

-Oliver Neate (RBH, 18) 8:22.19

-Cooper Phillips (RCR, 16) 8:25.82

-Zak Myles-Hawkins (QLD, 19) 8:26.31

-Harrison Boyn (NEW, 17) 8:27.22

-Harry Halleen (RCR, 17) 8:28.59

WOMEN’S 3000M – Olympian Winkcup wins as Hancock-Cameron is disqualified.

The women’s race, which would eventually become a race in two, would end in drama with the first athlete across the line disqualified.

Mid-way into the race the lead pack still comprised six athletes, Olympic steeplechase Georgia Winkcup UTN, Jaylah Hancock-Cameron BAN, Delta’s Lauren Reid, UTS Norths’ Bronte Oates, and ACT pair Stephanie Kelly and Rachel McCormick.

“It was a bit bumpy but it was fun to have that little kind of jostling pack atmosphere,” Winkcup said.

But soon after the 1500m point, Winkcup and Hancock-Cameron put the foot down, putting a few seconds into their lead, extending this to nine seconds by the 2000m mark. They had gone from 77 second laps to two 70 second laps. Winkcup led at the bell, but Hancock-Cameron with a 69 second last lap sailed home for a two seconds win in a two seconds PB time of 9:06.76, ahead of Winkcup with a 9:08.83. Central Coast-based Delta Project athlete Lauren Reid, a former NSW champion, prevailed for third place.

But shortly after the race, Hancock-Cameron was informed by the chief judge she had been disqualified under World Athletics rule TR 7.1. Unfortunately, an enthusiasm team mate of Hancock-Cameron had run alongside her for part of her race.

As a result of the disqualification Winkcup became the 42nd NSW 3000m State champion, the sixth win by Sydney University, with Lauren Reid now upgraded to silver and UTS Norths athlete Bronte Oates winning bronze in 9:24.44. Noting visiting athlete ACT’s Stephanie Kelly was third across the line in 9:23.99.

“I was really happy with that against a really good field,” Winkcup said. But she revealed she had miss judged her final sprint.

“I knew the whole time that Jaylah would have a kick so I was kind of concerned. Hence why I tried to kick early, but unfortunately it was an entire lap early.”

While waiting on an appeal over the disqualification, Winkcup was sympathetic for Hancock-Cameron.

“I really hope she's not disqualified because I was like so happy with my performance and I don't care if it was first or second and I think that because it was a PB for her and she just ran it so tactically well, it'd be disappointing if it's not on paper. But I know she'll do even better by Sydney track time.”

Juniors shine

The junior women were even more impressive than the men with 10 under 10:00 minutes across races A to C. Manly’s Eliza Lawton was amazing, placing fourth NSW athlete as the 14-year-old ran 9:25.91, a 12 seconds PB. By two seconds, it was also the leading time in the world for an under-16. Eliza is U15.

Others teenagers under-10 minutes:

-Claudia Meaker (TRI 17) 9:38.14 (11 sec PB)

-Annabelle Miller (KOT, 17) 9:41.81 (6 secs PB)

-Isabella Harte (SYU, 19) 9:46.88

-Fleur Cooper (UTN, 17) 9:49.86

-Jessica Kann (BAN, 15) 9:51.50 (9 sec PB)

-Allegra Mcgivern (SYU, 19) 9:51.74 (21 sec PB)

-Sophie Polkinghorne (HIL, 14) 9:52.84 (6 sec PB)

-Aspen Lambert (SYU, 17) 9:53.15 (2 secs PB)

-Ruth Costello (RCR, 13) 9:49.22 PB

Read full splits of every athlete produced from our amazing photo finish team https://athleticsnsw.anet.live/meets/41776/events/individual/1518612

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW
Image: Josh Phillips and Jackson Sharp (courtesy of David Tarbotton)