Stewart McSweyn's training partner Matthew Ramsden wins the Tasmanian Mile

MAGIC MOMENT: Matthew Ramsden crosses the line first in the Tasmanian Mile at the Burnie Carnival on Monday. Picture: Cordell Richardson

In the lead-up to the Burnie Mile, Stewart McSweyn said his training partner Matthew Ramsden would be a “superstar” of the Australian middle-distance running scene in a year or two.

The 20-year-old West Australian lived up to that hype when he beat home a field including McSweyn and Olympic duo Luke Mathews and Sam McEntee to take out the Tasmanian Mile at the Burnie Carnival.

Ramsden (30m) beat home Dylan Evans and scratchmen Mathews and McSweyn to collect the title in a time of 4:00.15.

Ramsden admitted the win was a nice confidence boost as he tries to find his way into the Australian team for April’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, but there was a something little extra in beating his good mate McSweyn.

McSweyn, who has already booked his ticket to the Gold Coast, had spoken about his desire to win in Burnie and continue his success in the city this year having won the Burnie Ten.

“I’ve been rooming with him, and he knew he had a big job ahead of him, as I was just going to hold him off,’’ Ramsden said.

“He is one of my best mates and I wasn’t very malicious, but I did want to get the win.

“I just wanted to beat the backmarkers by about the same as what the handicap was and I just kept powering away. I knew that I was going to chill a little bit on the second lap so I could work hard on the third lap, that’s what my coach told me to do and I was able to pull it off.”

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