Hull Rewrites Area Record Books

NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder and Australian middle distance star Jessica Hull has etched her name into history on a record-breaking night at Sydney Olympic Park.

Saving the best for last, Jessica Hull  rewrote the Area Record books when taking down Kim Smith’s Oceania mark of 8:35.31 – winning the Australian 3000m title in a blistering 8:31.81.

With a 70m gap between herself and her nearest competitor with three and a half laps to go, it was no surprise when Hull won by a margin of almost 20-seconds. After pacemaker Naomi Tanaka finished her duties, Hull continued to pour on the pressure at the front of the field, sailing to back-to-back wins in the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series after global bronze at the World Cross Country Championships.

“To run with a crowd like this was incredible. I actually couldn’t hear my cues in my head because of the crowd cheering but it was absolutely them that carried me to that record tonight,” Hull said.

“I really wanted to test my fitness so I was going for that record from the start. Typically, I always run the US indoor season and I always get a good start. I really wanted to pick a race and test and see where I was at and this was the perfect opportunity to do that before Nationals later this month.”

The national podium was rounded out by Olympian and fellow NSWIS scholarship holder Rose Davies in 8:50.90 and 17-year-old Amy Bunnage in 8:51.90.

The flying mullet and NSWIS scholarship holder Rohan Browning  clawed a win back for the Australians in the men’s 100m, asserting his dominance on his home track to win in a swift 10.14 (-0.2) over New Zealand rival Eddie Osei-Nketia in 10.16.

The sprinting stars returned for the 4x100m relays, as ‘Australia A’ raced to victory in both 4x100m relays with times of 38.50 (Jake Doran, Jacob Despard, Calab Law, Rohan Browning) and 43.25 (Ella Connolly, Bree Masters, Torrie Lewis, Naa Anang).

The hurdling action was rounded out by NSWIS scholarship holder Sarah Carli with a new meet record of 55.44 in the 400m hurdles.

Hometown hero and fellow NSWIS scholarship holder Nicola Olyslagers  returned to the scene of her historic two-metre clearance, with the Olympic silver medallist clearing 1.94m to warm up the crowd at Sydney Olympic Park on her way to victory. 15-year-old Izobelle Louison-Roe soared to a new personal best of 1.84m to land her name on the national scene.

NSWIS scholarship holder Alexandra Hulley took out the hammer throw bouts in 67.52m.

The Chemist Warehouse Australian Summer of Athletics continues on March 25 at the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre, before the nations best athletes compete at the 100th edition of the Australian Track and Field Championships beginning on March 30 in Brisbane.

Article courtesy of Athletics Australia

Image courtesy of Steve Cristo