Tendai Mzungu broke a personal best time in winning Fremantle’s 3km time trial on Wednesday morning.
The 29-year-old was part of a three-man break away, with Matt de Boer and Michael Barlow which led the trial at McGillivray Oval in Mt Claremont.
The playing group ran three gruelling laps of the ground in warm conditions under the watchful eye of senior coach Ross Lyon and fitness staff.
Barlow set the pace at the front of the group on the first lap before the trio broke away, gaining a 30m advantage ahead of the pack.
Mzungu and de Boer then pushed ahead of Barlow, with the former finishing the strongest in the final 200 metres.
Tommy Sheridan, Alex Pearce and Ethan Hughes ran strongly.
Senior players Hayden Ballantyne and Danyle Pearce also appeared in good nick.
Mzungu said the time trial did spark some competition between players.
“There’s always a bit of anxiety the night before the 3km,” he said.
“With any race, whether it’s under-8s little athletics or the 3km trial, there are always some nerves.
“It’s a good base line to see how everyone is tracking.
“Ross (Lyon) was pretty pleased with how everyone went overall.”
“It was pretty challenging.
“Micky Barlow went out really hard and set a good pace.
"Then I had Matty de Boer breathing right behind me.
“It’s always a gruelling test but everyone did really well and came back in good shape.”
Mzungu said he had run with de Boer, Stephen Hill and Matthew Pavlich during the off-season.
“I find it really good to train with other guys, it helps push yourself along,” he said.
