Lachlan Kennedy won his first Australian 100m title on Saturday night, clocking 9.96 seconds for the second time at the national championships in Sydney. The 22-year-old Queenslander, who had matched his personal best in Friday’s heat, finished a commanding 0.2 seconds ahead of Josh Azzopardi, with Rohan Browning third.
Kennedy admitted the victory carried extra significance after narrowly losing to Browning last year. “I needed the win, I needed to be national champ. I needed to say I had it,” he said. “I got beat fair and square last year. I was able to get back and beat him this year, so it’s just come full circle.” He added that he hoped to run the 200m on Sunday, but would assess his body in the morning.
The race was briefly interrupted by fireworks from the nearby Royal Easter Show, which burst over the stadium just before the start. Kennedy, however, dismissed any suggestion they affected him. “I just block all the noise out,” he said. His focus now turns to breaking the Australian record of 9.93 seconds, with a stated goal of running under 9.9 seconds this year.
Elsewhere, Georgia Harris claimed a surprise women’s 100m title, edging out Chloe Mannix-Power for her first national crown. Reece Holder won the men’s 400m after years of injury setbacks, while Ellie Beer secured her fourth women’s 400m title. In the men’s 5,000m, Cam Myers added to his 1,500m victory from Friday.
The women’s 1,500m title was awarded to Claudia Hollingsworth after an appeal against her disqualification was upheld. Hollingsworth had appeared to clip favourite Jess Hull in the final straight, causing Hull to fall. Hull withdrew from the 800m but intends to run the 5,000m on Sunday. Hollingsworth, who reaches the 800m final as fastest qualifier, said there was no bad blood and she would reach out to Hull.
Nina Kennedy claimed her fifth national pole vault title, and Mackenzie Little won a fifth javelin crown. But Paris Olympian Peyton Craig was left disappointed after easing up prematurely in his 800m heat and missing out on Sunday’s final.
