JACK Hale was supposed to carry Australian athletics back into the limelight and his blistering pace across the track had our hopes bubbling.

On Friday night those hopes, along with his pace, flamed out.

Hale qualified for the 100m final with the second fastest time (10.25) and looked locked in from behind the blocks. Then the gun went off and it all fell apart.

His reaction time was slow and as the field began to streak away, Hale knew his race had been run.

Appearing to hobble a little, Hale ripped the name tag off of his top in disgust as his dreams of making the Commonwealth Games disappeared.

As Hale fell off, Trae Williams rocketed away from the runners in the fourth fastest time ever recorded by an Australian. Williams exploded out of the blocks and carried his incredible speed over the entire race distance.

The time of 10.10 is also the quickest in the last 11 years and is under the A-Qualifier time for the upcoming games.

In the women's 100m final, Riley Day raced away from her competitors as she crossed the line ahead of Zoe Hobbs to become the national sprint champion.