With the two usual front-runners Ed Barlow (rested) and Nathan Gordon (at an AFL induction camp) not competing, the field was thrown wide open.
Jarrad McVeigh crossed the line first, shaving seven seconds off his personal best time and improving by 10 seconds on his previous 3km test.
Second across the line was O’Keefe, in third was Matt O’Dwyer, fourth Ben McGlynn and fifth Brett Kirk.
It was the first time O’Dwyer and McGlynn have finished in the top four, who both also recorded personal best times.
Ten players in total completed the course in personal best times, including Martin Mattner, who took off 11 seconds, O’Dwyer who beat his previous best time by eight seconds, Nick Malceski by six seconds and McGlynn and Grundy both by five seconds.
A number of players also improved on their times from the last 3km test, including Jake Orreal who improved by 23 seconds, Campbell Heath by 19 seconds, Mattner by 17 seconds, Jarred Moore by 13 seconds and Mike Pyke by 11 seconds.
Elite Performance Coach Rob Spurrs was impressed with the way the players performed in the 3km test.
“There were some very good times run today, especially given the heavy load of last week, including the two hour sand dune running session on Friday,” Spurrs told sydneyswans.com.au.
“It is also very pleasing to see a good cross spread of personal best times, they are not just coming from the young players but from the more experienced players too.”
Training will still include running sessions but from this week, the team will focus more on skills training as they get closer to round one of the pre-season competition.
