Merewether athlete Rose Davies has the world at her feet as cross country return provides track opportunity

Not only will the Merewether athlete be contesting cross country's international race in Bathurst on February 18, she also has an eye on the global track-and-field competition in Hungary in August (19-27).

With the upcoming event run over 10 kilometres, it provides Davies with an opportunity to qualify for the women's 10,000 metres later this year.

Although not 100 percent sure on the exact details, the Olympic and Commonwealth Games representative knows the better she performs at cross country the better her chances for another shot at World Championships.

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"If you run say top 20 at this meet and the people who say run top 10 have already got a qualifying time, I'm pretty sure it gives you an automatic qualifier for 10k worlds," Davies, 23, said.

"It's really important. If you place really high and the people who are in front of you have already got an auto qualifier, the next best eight, I think it is, get a spot at worlds.

"And because the 10k time is so quick this year, it's dropped down by 45 seconds, it's a really good opportunity to qualify for worlds in the 10."

The new 10,000m standard for World Championships is 30 minutes and 40 seconds (30:40), just shy of Benita Willis' Aussie record (30:37) and almost 40s inside Davies' personal best (31:18). Athletes can also qualify with points.

Davies guaranteed her spot on the national cross country team by winning the Australian trials in Canberra last weekend, turning the tables on Leanne Pompeani from Zatopek in Melbourne before Christmas.

"I definitely think my trials were better. I didn't think I was the fittest I could have been at Zatopek and I was pretty disappointed with my result," the Novocastian said.

"After that I went back and realised what I needed to change, had another month to get ready and I was just fitter. I was back to the sort of athlete I was at the start of last year."

Davies, coach by Scott Westcott, says she's appreciated the slight change in scenery and recalls her entry point to the sport.

"I guess I'll approach it [cross country] the same as I would track, but it's nice to do something different," she said.

"I've always loved cross country. It's how I started running, through cross country at school [Holy Family, Merewether]."

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Torrie Lewis, a former Newcastle athlete now living in Queensland, ran a 200m personal best of 23.06s in Brisbane on Saturday to move ahead of Cathy Freeman as fifth all-time in Aussie under-20 rankings.

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