TOM Hynes is ready to test himself against the nation’s best.
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The 19-year-old is preparing for his first tilt at the Athletics Australia Cross Country Championships in August after earning a spot on the Victorian team.
He finished eighth at a qualifying event at Bundoora last weekend, which was enough to give him a crack at the next level.
It was Hynes’ best result for the season: a top-10 finish against a quality field.
He was fourth in the section representing their clubs – the other section was representing their schools – and eighth overall with a time of 26 minutes and 32 seconds.
Earlier in the year, he finished 20th overall in Melbourne’s Run for the Kids.
Hynes said he was looking forward to the chance to see and take on some of the best cross country athletes.
“It’ll be great – I’ve never been to nationals before,” Hynes said.
“I’ve only ever competed at state level.
“I’ll just really enjoy the experience. I know it’s going to be pretty hard because they (the other athletes) are pretty experienced.”
He will run the eight-kilometre event at Canberra’s Stromlo Forest on August 20, and already has a few runs planned out in the interim.
Among them is a 10-kilometre race at Melbourne’s Albert Park in an Athletics Victoria event in a couple of weeks’ time.
Hynes, who is in his first year studying teaching at Deakin University, will also continue his regular racing with the Warrnambool Athletics Club.