Eurongilly’s Hamish Hart is making a name for himself on the big stage, winning gold at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in Sydney.
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The Riverina Anglican College Student produced a beautifully-timed run for a thrilling finish in the under 15 boys 3000m, on the opening day of the carnival on Wednesday.
Hart ran down the leader with just 15 strides to go, matching his personal best in the process as he crossed in nine minutes, 22.65 seconds, ahead of Queensland’s Mattias Forbes-Schutz.
“I felt pretty good,” Hart said. “It was an equal PB but the race started pretty slowly so we probably could’ve gone a bit quicker.”
In hot conditions in Sydney, Hart had tucked in behind the leading bunch. With 400m to go, the Queensland leader had taken off.
But Hart made his way to second on the bend and made up the difference in the straight.
With two ‘timed finals’ run, he then had to wait and make sure the second group didn’t go any quicker. But Hart’s gold was never in doubt, with the next event almost 12 seconds slower.
It’s a second Australian title for the talented distance runner, and keen triathlete, who also won a national cross country event in 2016.
On Friday, Hart attempts another in the 1500m, and he expects they’ll go out hard.
“I’ll probably just try and hold on, tuck in for the first 700 or so, then with about 800 to go, I’ll try to break them,” he said.
Two other Wagga students have also claimed medals at the junior nationals at Sydney Olympic Park.
Wagga’s Hannah Mison won bronze in the under 18 girls 5000m walk, clocking 27.32.29, on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Godfrey Okerenyang finished third in the final of the under 18 boys 200m, running 22.17s.
He has the long jump and 100m on the weekend.
Young brother Gerard was sixth in the under 15s shot put (13.02m) while Thomas Yongai was fifth in the under 14s hammer throw (31.26m).
