Athletes qualify for national track and field titles

Moama-based Reid and Cobram-based Stoate blitzed the nationals qualifying mark of 14:25 minutes in Tuesday night's 'B' final at the Box Hill Burn.

The Bendigo Bats team-mates, who are coached by Brady Threlfall, lifted their workrate dramatically in the last 600m of a race run in cold and windy conditions.

Stoate charged to the line in 14:18.53 to be seventh and Reid was less than a metre away in 14:18.66.

The men's B-final for the 5000m was won by Mentone's Seth O'Donnell in 14:04.98 as Archie Noakes from Athletics Essendon clocked 14:05.91 to qualify for this year's world under-20 championships to be run in Cali, Colombia.

O'Donnell was runner-up in this year's Bendigo 5km Frenzy to Andy Buchanan who ran in the 'A' final at the Box Hill Burn.

Buchanan lined up in a field that included Stewart McSweyn, seventh in the 1500m final at the Tokyo Olympics, and Liam Adams who was 24th in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics and ran the at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

It was McSweyn who took charge nearing the halfway mark of the race, but a few laps later he decided to end his race as did Adams.

St Kilda's Sam McEntee powered on to win in 13:36.37 ahead of Queensland's Jack Bruce, 13:46.17, and Tasmania's James Hansen, 13:49.82. Buchanan clocked 13:52.81 to be fourth.

A highlight of the Box Hill Burn was the women's 'A' final in which dual Zatopek 10,000m champion Rose Davies looked on track to beat the Commonwealth Games qualifier of 15:10. Davies won the Box Hill duel in 15:23.

Highs for Bendigo included Alice Wilkinson's feat to lower her personal best by 23 seconds as she ran 18:54.44 to be seventh in the mixed B 5000m.

The mixed A 5000m included University's Nicolette Lesberg, 14th in 17:59. Bendigo Region team-mates Brian McGinley and Stephen Van Rees ran times of 15:24 and 15:47 to be 4th and 10th in the men's 'D' 5000m race.

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