Kate Hayward walks into the record books

GOLD Coast 18-year-old Kate Hayward moved to No.3 on the Australian all-time list yesterday by taking out the national 20km walk championship in Adelaide.

Hayward’s time of 1hr29min25sec has been bettered only Jane Saville and Claire Tallent among Australian women.

Hayward, fifth in the 10km walk at last year’s world junior titles, beat Victoria’s Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jemima Sonntag.

Sonntag (1.30.51) placed third in a race won by Colombia’s Sandra Lorenas (1.28.49) in which Hayward was the first Australian home. Hayward posted the fastest by an Australian woman for seven years, the fastest by an Australian in the event on home soil and moved to No.13 among alltime world under-20 walkers.

Commonwealth men’s champion Dane Bird-Smith won another men’s 20km national title even though Swede Perseu Karlstrom’s winning time of 1:20:05 was 47 sec faster than he managed.

Jack Hale saw off Queensland’s national 100m champion Trae Williams in their showdown on Saturday.

Hale’s win in 10.25 sec, his second fastest career time, over Williams (10.30) was a first serious competitive step for both towards world championships selection.

Hale injured a hamstring at the national titles at Carrara Stadium last March at a meet in which Williams won his second national 100m title and ran a slashing 10.10 sec personal best.

NSW’s Ollie Hoare 3min54.83sec indoor mile at the Millrose Games in New York was .06 sec outside the Australian record.

Morgan McDonald was the standout Australian performer at the New York meet.

McDonald finished a close second behind American Grant Fisher in the 3000m in 7:42.76, moving him to second on the Australian alltime list.