Herb Elliott Twilight Meet 2023 Results
Conditions were perfect for the 2nd annual running of the Byron Bay Runners Herb Elliott Twilight meet, held Saturday 28th January at the Herb Elliott Fields in Byron Bay.
This year’s event welcomed sprint distances to the program which opened the competition to other sporting codes, namely rugby and boxing and saw the number of participants double in size.
Junior 100m
Our littlest competitors got the racing off with ages ranging from 3 to 8 years, in the girls 100m. Indiana Thompson took the line honours from her sister Willow and Indigo Waller.
The boys Junior 100m was a fierce and incredibly close affair with talented local juniors Bailey Beaumont and Louis McFarland racing to the finish. Bailey took the win by a mere .07 of a second from Louis with Byron Clark in third.
Elite 100m
The women’s elite race was won by Mikayla Frey (13.25) who is a national level jumper, showing her talent also stems to sprint distances. Middle distance specialist Phoebe Link stepped down in distance finishing in 2nd (14.01) and local boxing talent, Amy Bailey took out the bronze (14.29)
The men’s elite race was a great battle of the codes with Rugby, boxing, triathlon, and athletics all represented in the final. Campbell Harvey took the line honours, a local rugby player in a very fast time of 10.98, nearly 1 second ahead of boxer, Joel Faulkner (11.91). Byron Bay runner, Scott Pearson finished third in 12.19.
Junior 400m
The junior 400m race was a seeded event with both male and female runners. Emily Link took line honours ahead of Tommy Behan and Amy Bailey.
Elite 400m
The women’s 400m elite field was again a battle between first and second in the 100m. Mikayla Frey once again showed she is the form athlete finishing in 63.93 to take the gold from a fast-finishing Phoebe Link (65.55) and Skye Dogan (66.59)
The men’s field had all eyes on recently crowned U16 Australian 1500m record holder, Daniel Williams. Although a big step down in distance, Daniel demonstrated why he is one of the biggest talents in the country. Winning the race by nearly 7 seconds in 52.86 from Jaimie Cascajares (59.20) and Joel Faulkner (60.84)
Community 3000m
Large fields congregated for the 3000m event, kicking off with the community race with lots of the local triathlete’s and little athletics competitors racing. Malekai Kubils took the win in 11.44 leading the entire race from start to finish for the men and Johanna Stewart in 12.07 for the women.
Elite 3000m
The elite race was star studded with Olympian and current 3000m steeplechase Australian record holder Shaun Creighton lining up against prior National U20 3000m gold medallist, Bailey Crabtree and current 50+ 4x800m world record holder, Peter Link. Although having sat on the sidelines for the past few months with injury, Bailey Crabtree was back to defend his title and took the race head on, leading from start to finish (9.33). The battle lay in the minor placings as Shaun Creighton showed off his years of racing experience moving through the field to take the silver (9.53) and Be a Runner coach, Nathan Jones secured the bronze in (10.01).
The ladies’ event was a dominant front running performance from Ruby Hughes, who finished third last year. Hughes has had a brilliant 12 months, rising through the junior national middle-distance ranks, and taking over 1 minute off her time from last year’s event, winning convincingly in 10.11. In second place was 11-year-old sensation from Byron Bay, Alexandra Dogan (10.52) with Amira Shah in third (11.00).
Herb Elliott 1500m
The final event on the program was the Herb Elliott 1500m with the women kicking off the racing. Once again Ruby Hughes improved her third-place position from last year to take the win in 4.50 in a repeat of her 3000m race, leading from gun to tape. The silver and bronze was a battle between Skye Dogan and Tamsyn Pascoe with only a second separating the pair, with Skye prevailing in 5.08 to Tamsyn 5.09.
The men’s race once again had all eyes on Daniel Williams, however local steeple chase talent Tyler Dogan pushed the pace early on. Tyler front ran with Daniel for 2 laps until Daniel showed his class over the metric mile, taking the win easily in 4.14, with Tyler in 2nd and Nathan Jones taking the bronze.
Congratulations to our Herb Elliott Trophy Winners, Daniel Williams and Skye Dogan which is awarded to the 1st placed NSW athlete in the 1500m event.
Daniel Williams, 2023 Herb Elliott Male Winner
Skye Dogan, 2023 Women’s Herb Elliott Winner
Thank you to our sponsors for this year’s event which enabled to club to hand out over $2800 in cash prizes to the athletes. Sponsors included: The Depot Byron Bay, Elders Lennox Head, Ad on Group, F45 Byron Bay, McGrath Byron Bay, Matt Wood, and Jacqui Morrow.
A special thank you to Louise Beaumont for her wonderful professional photography of the night creating many special memories for athletes and parents, Tracy Barnes for results and Dean Degan for commentating the evening. Finally, to the Byron Bay Runners committee who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure a successful event.
