Patrick Tiernan Wins First Australian National Title In 27:59

Patrick Tiernan Wins First Australian National Title In 27:59

Just a few weeks after winning the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Villanova's Patrick Tiernan added another title to his resume: Australian national champion.

Dec 8, 2016 by Taylor Dutch
Patrick Tiernan Wins First Australian National Title In 27:59
Just a few weeks after winning the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Villanova's Patrick Tiernan added another title to his resume: Australian national champion.

In his first attempt at the 10K distance on the track, Tiernan torched the field in a winning time of 27:59, 30 seconds ahead of runner-up Stewart McSweyn. The victory took place in Tiernan's home country at the 2016 Zatopek:10 in Melbourne, which served as the Australian 10K championship. The performance marks Tiernan's first national title.

"It feels better winning this one," Tiernan said of his Australian title compared to his NCAA win. "This is something that you dream about for a long time. That [NCAA] is something you go over and work towards for four years whereas this is something you're always going to be able to come back to."


Although Tiernan doesn't have any NCAA eligibility left, his 10K mark would have ranked No. 2 in the 2016 season.

The victory in Melbourne follows a dominant performance at the NCAA championships where Tiernan dethroned three-time defending champion Edward Cheserek. Both Tiernan and Syracuse's Justyn Knight ran away from the 15-time NCAA winner to claim 1-2 finishes. The performance in Terre Haute was redemption for Tiernan who lost to Cheserek the year prior despite executing an aggressive racing strategy at the 2015 championships in Louisville.

Watch Tiernan's NCAA XC performance below:


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