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Milosevic didn’t have a set plan going into the race.
“It was one of those races you don't think too much about.
I've run there so many times it's a course where if you get
a gap it's hard to close down.
However Milosevic felt he had a good chance.
“Since I train with Roffy I knew how he was going and I
thought if I back my fitness I would have a shot of
winning.”
The course was three laps over a 2.5km course and after a
conservative start, he held a comfortable lead to the finish
clocking 23:26, to win by 21 seconds.
“I felt good for the first few k's, but no one is smiling on
that third lap. I'm very happy with how it went. I've had
some good races lately so it's nice to keep that form
leading into the city to surf next Sunday.”
There was history for Milosevic and his Girraween club.
“It was my first state open title and a first open title for
Girraween Athletics Club so I'm very happy and thankful for
all the support.”
Second in the race was Milosevic’s training partner and
former winner
Jeremy Roff
(23:47), ahead of a Sydney University duo
Ben Liddy
(23:58) and
Peter Costello
(24:04). Like the women’s race, there was depth from the
Sydney University club with eight in the top-30.
Before the race, Bridey Delaney considered how she would
attack the race, but it did not eventuate.
“Having
found this course difficult last year, our race plan going
in was to get a feel of the course and field and find a
point over the 5km to assert myself. However, it just
happened that from the start I found myself with an early
break.”
So what was she thinking after you found herself in the lead
so early.
“I was surprised I opened up a gap early on in the race,
from that point on I just kept running my own race
remembering to give respect to the difficulty of the
course.”
It was a commanding performance from the reigning national
cross country champion.
“I felt pretty comfortable from the start also once you get
a break it just relaxes you, however I did feel I may have
switched off too much in the second lap which is always a
danger when you have strong competitors like Jenny and
Miranda chasing.”
Delaney won by seven seconds in 17:50.
“Overall I am happy with my performance it is my first state
open cross country title and good hit out to work on
building my strength and fitness over the coming months.”
Sydney University filled the next three places with
Jenny Blundell
second clocking 17:57, ahead of
Miranda
Middleton (18:10) and
Emily Ryan
(18:18). The club also had another four in the top-30 for a
total of eight. In sixth place was a surprise return to the
track by former very talented athlete
Lucy Starrat,
who as a junior clocked 4:27 (1500m) and 9:29 (3000m).
Back to the men’s race which was left open with
Ben Moreau
(RBH) and
James
Nipperess (SYU) both in Glasgow, but it
provided an opportunity for
Brad Milosevic
(GIR) to setup. Milosevic, had previously claimed state
medals but not a title. It was also ironic with Moreau and
Nipperess out, another from the
Ken Green
squad would take the title. It was also a milestone for
Milosevic’s club Girraween as it was the club’s first cross
country, road or track distance title.
There was another strong showing from two juniors graduating
to the senior ranks with
Ruiridh
MacDonald (UTN) fifth in 24:17 and
Guy Walters
(MQH) sixth in 24:30.
by
David Tarbotton and Ron Bendall for Athletics NSW
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