Awaba teenager Luke Young will target the 1500-metre world under-20s championship qualifying time after finishing inside the 800m mark in Melbourne last Thursday night.
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The 18-year-old was second in the Melbourne Track Classic 800m, running a personal best time of 1:48.69.
Young was inside his previous best by 1.32 seconds and defeated the likes of two-time Olympian Jeff Riseley.
The effort was well inside the world under-20s qualifying standard of 1:49.2 but does not guarantee Young a start in the Australian side for the championships in Kenya in July.
He will still need to win at the national titles in March to cement his spot.
Despite Young's exciting run in the 800m, coach Jason Maxwell said his charge was focused on the 1500m in the lead-up to nationals.
Maxwell said Young was yet to run a 1500m qualifying time this season and would target the mark in Auckland on February 23 when he races against two-time Olympic medallist Nick Willis.
Also at the Melbourne meet, Merewether runner Rose Davies clocked a personal best time of 15:30.15 to finish sixth among Australians in the women's 5000m. Davies bettered her previous mark by 15.76 seconds.