Records galore at NSW 3000m Championships

22 Nov 2020

Records galore at NSW 3000m Championships

After nearly four hours of leadup divisions, the NSW 3000m championship culminated in our fastest ever winning times as favourites Rose Davies and Zach Facioni took down the race records.

In a great evening of running, spoilt briefly by some rain, a mix of community athletes along with promising juniors and the elite, share the same track as 360 athletes in 18 races chased personal best and a feeling accomplishment.

WOMEN

At the pointy end of the races, the rise of Rose Davies’ (Newcastle Runners) continued as she took over seven seconds from her PB and confirmed her recent 15:30 5000m form in Adelaide, clocking 9:00.17 to break Olympian Lisa Corrigan’s race record of 9:00.34, set in 2006.

“I knew I was fit, but I wanted to run sub-nine, said Davies. ‘But it is, what it is.”

The early pace potentially cost her in the pursue of the nine-minute barrier.

“I was planning to sit, but that first kilometre was pretty slow so I put the hammer down. I knew I had to run a quicker next kilometre, but I think I paid for it in the end.”

She comfortably defeated NSW 10,000m champion, Lauren Reid (Delta Running) who ran strongly over the later stages to clock 9:08.00. It was a 13 second PB for Reid, who has this season stated her focus continues to be the 1500m.

In third was 15-year-old Imogen Stewart (Illawong) who broke her personal best, the NSW under-16 record and became the 14th fastest junior in Australian history. She is also the fastest junior in the world in 2020.

But she had higher hopes and was a little disappointed.

“It felt not great,” she said. “My training shows I could have run probably faster than that, but I went out with Rose and that was probably a mistake, but I wanted to see what I could do.

“I went out there and I although probably can’t win, I thought why not give it a try.

“I placed second a couple of year ago, so I went out there with the intention of doing my best and obviously that didn’t happen. I can build into it and go under 9:10 even sometime this season.”

There were many other tremendous performances on the night:

• Fourth place getter and former winner, Kate Spencer (UTN) ran 9:15.81 – her third fastest ever and best for six years.
• There was a 10 second PB for Leanne Pompeani (Bankstown) 9:20.43
• A three-time winner, Belinda Martin (Illawong, 46 years) ran 9:22.41 – her third fastest ever time.
• PBs for teenager Abby Rockliff (9:23.30), Holly Campbell (9:25.35), 19 second PB for Rosie Weber (9:43.56), 17-year-old Nicola Hogg and British steeplechaser Bethany Scott.

MEN

The men’s race was even more impressive with three of the top-seven results in the history of the race. From the gun, Zach Facioni (Randwick Botany) was in control as he piloted the field which eventually was down to four comprising James Nipperess (SYU), Jye Edwards (Bankstown) and Josh Phillips (Sydney Striders). Phillips was the first to lose contact, followed by Edwards and Nipperess who ran on together.

Facioni won by four seconds in a time of 7:51.61, breaking the race record of 7:52.82 set by Jordan Gusman in 2017. Facioni lowered his own PB of 7:55.92, set earlier this year on an oversized indoor track.

“I’m super happy with it today,” he said. “I knew I was fit and I didn’t see the point in wasting the opportunity to run quick. I’ve only got a few races here before I go back (to America) and do cross country, so I figured I’d go to the front and try and get through 2k in about 5:15 and close it. But I think I was a little bit off that.” (He hit the 2km mark around 5:17).

Facioni, a student at North Carolina’s Wake Forest University in American, has been back in Sydney since March and has been training solo under the program of his US coach John Hayes.

Training partners in the Dick Telford squad in Canberra, James Nipperess and Jye Edwards, worked well together to close in personal best times of 7:55.79 and 7:56.58.

The 2015 state champion, James Nipperess broke his previous best set in the same race 10 years ago.

“It is good to show that an old dog has new tricks,” he said.

Nipperess, 30, who has represented Australia at two Commonwealth Games and the world championships, is keen to return to where he left off racing in March, when he ran a fantastic 8:33.99 steeplechase in New Zealand.

“I can take this confidence forward. It will probably take a couple of steeple races to get used to going over the barriers but I feel like I have some good aerobic condition now and I’ve proved I’m back in PB shape on the flat.”

Defending race champion Jye Edwards, had had a solid winter, despite a few niggles causing his coach Dick Telford to warn him to compete in some races with caution. But last night he showed again the talent he has which took him to a 4:00.2 mile as a teenager. He powered on to clock a stunning 13 seconds personal best time of 7:56.58.

The medallists recorded the first, fifth and seventh fastest times in the history of the race.

In fourth place, Josh Phillips finish in a seven seconds PB time of 8:00.10, a time which would have won many of the previous editions of the race.

Other notable performances:

• The 2018 champion Joe Burgess (SYU) ran a 10 second PB time of 8:05.41
• Drew Fryer (RBH) – 14 second PB time of 8:09.01 – 14th fastest Australian junior all-time
• PBs for Hugh Williams (SYU, 8:10.35), 10 second PB for Tom Do canto (RCR, 8:12.94) and 29 second PB for 16-year-old Bailey Habler (RBH, 8:17.86).

Full results: http://www.nswathletics.info/liveresults/2020/nsw_3k/

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Images: Left to right – Imogen Stewart, Rose Davies and Zach Facioni