Jessica Hull celebrates her Oceania 3000m record in Sydney (© Getty Images)
Jessica Hull and Zoe Hobbs both set Oceania records while Fred Kerley closed his Australian tour with a 400m win at the Sydney Track Classic, a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger event, on Saturday (11).
Hull won the Australian 3000m title in 8:31.81 to improve Kim Smith’s Oceania record of 8:35.31 set in Monaco in 2007. The 26-year-old had built a 70-metre gap with three and a half laps to go and went on to win by 19 seconds ahead of Rose Davies (8:50.90) and 17-year-old Amy Bunnage (8:51.90).
Hobbs, meanwhile, broke 11 seconds for 100m with a legal wind for the first time, improving the Oceania record and Australian all-comers’ record with a dominant 10.97 (0.5m/s) run. The mark takes a tenth of a second off her previous PB and she won ahead of 18-year-old Torrie Lewis who ran a PB of 11.23.
USA’s world 100m champion Kerley opened his season with a 20.32 200m to win at the Maurie Plant Meet, a Continental Tour Gold event, in Melbourne last month and this time in Sydney he clocked 44.65 to take the 400m.
“I think this was a good campaign,” he told Athletics Australia. “I feel like it’s a good set up going through the season.”
Fred Kerley on his way to a 400m win at the Sydney Track Classic (© Getty Images)
Rohan Browning won the men’s 100m in 10.14, while Abbey Caldwell captured the women’s 800m crown in 1:58.62 and Michelle Jenneke won the 100m hurdles in 12.70.
Olympic silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers cleared 1.94m to win the women’s high jump by 10cm.
Jude Thomas beat Ben Buckingham to the men’s Australian 3000m title, 7:48.25 to 7:48.99.
Ceh throws 68.30m in Leiria
Slovenia's world champion Kristjan Ceh provided one of the highlights on the first day of the European Throwing Cup in Leiria, Portugal, on Saturday (11), throwing 68.30m to win the discus title by more than four metres.
Germany’s Steven Richter won the U23 competition with a PB throw of 64.23m.
European champion Elina Tzengko of Greece triumphed in the women's javelin, throwing 63.65m, while Hungary's Bence Halasz claimed the men's hammer crown, launching the implement 74.65m. The high-quality U23 contest was won by Ukraine's Mykhaylo Kokhan, who threw 75.80m.
On Sunday, Germany's multiple European bronze medallist Shanice Craft threw 64.88m in the first round of the women's discus competition and that proved enough for her to take the title, Portugal's Liliana Ca claiming the runner-up spot with 64.82m.
Shanice Craft competes in Leiria (© Luis Barreto for European Throwing Cup)
Another European bronze medallist, Italy’s Sara Fantini, topped the women's hammer with a mark of 73.26m, also from the first round. Romania's European champion Bianca Ghelber was second with 71.52m. Ukraine's Roman Kokoshko took the men's shot put title ahead of Luxembourg’s Bob Bertemes, 21.52m to 21.21m.
Ukraine's world U20 champion Artur Felfner claimed another victory, throwing 80.09m to win the U23 javelin title.
