Lake Macquarie runner Luke Young took another major step towards a start at the world junior athletics championships with a personal best and qualifying time for the 1500 metres in Auckland on Sunday night.
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The 18-year-old recorded a 800m qualifier this month when second at the Melbourne Track Classic and he was chasing the 1500m time of three minutes and 48 seconds at the Sir Graeme Douglas International.
Young ran 3.43.44, almost a second ahead of his previous best, when third behind two-time Olympic medallist Nick Willis and experienced Australian Rory Hunter.
He now has the fastest 1500m time of three Australian under-20 qualifiers but needs to win at the March 26-29 national titles in Sydney to guarantee selection for the world championships in Kenya from July 7.
Coach Jason Maxwell said Young had "done extremely well" in windy conditions.
"He was seeded seventh and finished third, so he beat some highly credentialed senior athletes," Maxwell said. "He's done everything he needs to do to get this far, which is great, and he got the chance to warm down with Nick Willis, who's a superstar.
"Now we can get some base kilometres in and not have to race as much, and just get ready for nationals."