2013 Ondieki U-20 Review – A Kate Spencer Masterclass

Relentless is the word that could be used to describe Kate Spencers’ control and domination of the Womens U-20 3000m at the 2013 Zatopek last night at Lakeside Stadium.

Much like main rival Courtney Powell did herself at the Victorian 5000m Championships last month, Spencer assumed the lead from the gun and did not let up, holding it to the tape.

A Powell did move into 2^nd place on the first lap behind Spencer but not the Powell that most were expecting. Rather it was Courtney’s younger sister Laura who settled in behind Spencer as she took the field around the 1^st 400m in a solid 74 seconds.

By 600m the field started coming apart as the 1^st km was led through in 3:11 with C. Powell moved into 2^nd sitting behind Spencer who continued to ratchet things up. At 1800m she began to really start moving, a move that only Powell could respond to as the pace dipped to 3:00min/km.

It would prove a bridge too far for Powell as Spencers’ 4 sec lead at the bell would grow to 7 sec by the finish. Powell having the sting taken out of her legs by being forced to defend Spencers’ attacks was then caught by mid distance specialist Jenny Blundell down the home straight and finished in 3^rd spot with 9:25 to Blundell’s 2^nd and 9:24.

Race Breakdown

Some Post Race Thoughts (PRT’s):

PRT1: Kate Spencer is having a fantastic close to her year of 2013. U-20 National XCR Champ, a NSW Open 3000m 2^nd place and now U-20 National 3000m Champ. That’s a lot of bullet points on a CV.

PRT2: 4 women ran under the Australian set 2014 WJ qualifier standard of 9:30 for the 3000m. (The IAAF has set the standard at 9:35 incidentally).

PRT3: Victorians Sam Prime and Stella Radford are the only survivors from the 2012 edition of this race. Prime was runner up last year and 4^th this year but I would presume she would much prefer her 9:27 WJQ and 4^th place this year over her 9:54 and 2^nd place from last year. Likewise Radford would take a 9:41 in 2013 over 10:21 in 2012. Both are eligible to come back again next year for another crack at improvement and perhaps something more which should be very encouraging for both of them.