Australian javelin thrower Mackenzie Little at the Oceania Championships (© Athletics Australia)
Mackenzie Little maintained her edge over javelin world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber, while Zoe Hobbs set an Oceanian 100m record as the Oceania Championships got under way in the Queensland town of Mackay on Tuesday (7).
Little threw a personal best of 63.18m to finish ahead of compatriot Barber for the sixth time in eight finals since the beginning of 2021. In the deepest field of the opening day, New Zealand’s Tori Peeters threw 60.68m to split the two Australians, Barber taking third with a distance of 60.68m.
Barber will be the defending champion at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 next month and was also the bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics last year. Mackenzie was eighth in the Tokyo final, one of the two occasions she has finished behind Barber since the beginning of 2021. The other was in last year’s Australian Championships, when Australia’s third Tokyo finalist, Kathryn Mitchell, won the title ahead of Barber and Little.
Given recent history, it will not be news to Little that Barber produces her best on the biggest occasions. But she said after winning the Oceania title that she believed there was more to come. “It feels good,” she replied when asked about her reaction to her victory. “It makes me more confident for big competitions.”
Little will do both the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games, the two major championship competitions for Australians in 2022. Normally the Commonwealths are held in the middle-year of the Olympic cycle but the postponement of Tokyo and Oregon due to the Covid pandemic has thrown both into the same year.
“I always want to be in a position where PBs will come – (coach) Angus McEntyre works on that," she added. "We eased up a bit coming here so if it was going to happen, it could. And it did.”
Hobbs takes down Oceanian record
Both 100m sprint finals brought championship records, but New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs went a couple of steps further, adding Oceanian and national records to her laurels.
Hobbs set the previous championship record – a modest 11.56 – in Townsville in 2019. She smashed that in winning her preliminary heat in 11.24 before going to another level again in the final. Running on a relatively cool Townsville day with intermittent showers, Hobbs was over two metres clear of the field as she crossed the line in 11.09 with a legal wind of 0.8m/s.
Australia’s Naa Anang – running by invitation – was second across the line in 11.31, ahead of the official silver and bronze medallists Bree Masters (11.34) and Ella Connolly (11.53).
Just as in the Australian Championships two months ago, Jake Doran proved to be the fastest when it mattered. He took out the men’s final in 10.19 (1.2m/s), narrowly ahead of New Zealand’s Eddie Osei-Nketia (10.23) and Australia’s Jacob Despard (10.24).
Doran’s time was also a championship record, beating the 10.22 run by Tiaan Whelpton of New Zealand in the heats. That, in turn, equalled the record set by Fiji’s Banuve Tabakaucoro in 2015. Tabakaucoro again made the final in Mackay, finishing sixth (seventh across the line) in 10.68.
New Zealand’s world indoor bronze medallist Hamish Kerr won the high jump with a third-time clearance at 2.24m, before bowing out at 2.28m. Conditions were not ideal for the high jump, with showers and cool temperatures.
Both 1500m titles were also decided on the opening day. New Zealand’s Sam Tanner was the form man coming into the men’s race and he upheld that billing with a win in a championship record 3:42.56 ahead of Australia’s Mick Stanovsek with 3:45.98.
In the women’s race, Abbey Caldwell, who recently ran a World Championships qualifier of 4:04.18, led all the way until the final straight before being passed by Claudia Hollingsworth who won, 4:12.33 to 4:12.62. Hollingsworth, who is coached by Craig Mottram, has already been selected for the World U20 Championships, as has Jaylah Hancock-Cameron, who hung on until the final stages before finishing third in 4:15.11.
“Sometimes Craig gives good race plans,” Hollingsworth said, “but sometimes he just says sit in and see how you go.” Seems like it worked a treat.
Hollingsworth is also running the 800m, which will be her main target in Cali. “But I think long-term I’ll move to the 1500m,” she said.
In another first-day final, Chris Mitrevski jumped 7.90m to take the long jump title ahead of Darcy Roper (7.84m).
Len Johnson for World Athletics
