Field Athletes to Watch | Oceania Championships

With selection for the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games around the corner, this year’s Oceania Athletics Championships is a critically important opportunity for athletes across the region.

With more world ranking points on offer than ever before, and with strong head-to-head battles allowing athletes to impress selectors, this year’s edition of the Championships are shaping up to be one of the most competitive yet.  

Read below some of the key field events not to be missed.

Men’s High Jump

Eight athletes, five countries, two Olympians and some incredibly exciting competition. The Men’s High Jump promises to be one of the most competitive field events on the Oceania Area Championships schedule.

2016 Olympian Joel Baden (Alessandro Bisetto), 2022 Australian champion Yual Reath (Paul Cleary), and Simioluwa Thomsen-Ajayi will line up for Team Australia, and will take on Kiwi Olympian Hamish Kerr, who will take a quick hiatus from the international circuit for his chance to defend his Oceania title from 2019.

Baden boasts an imposive 2.30m lifetime best, with Reath just behind at 2.25m, both have proven to be consistent throughout the summers season.  This year alone, the two have come head-to-head six times, with Reath only defeating the Olympian once to secure the Australian title for the first time. In their last competition at the Brisbane Track Classic, both athletes were able to clear 2.22m with Baden winning on countback.

While impressive, Kerr has six centimetres on the Australian pairing for his personal best, as well as international experience aplenty this year, giving him the competitive advantage to take the title once again.

Men’s Long Jump

All eyes will be on Chris Mitrevski (John Boas) after his phenomenal performance at the 2022 Australian Track & Field Championships, where he recorded six consecutive jumps over eight-metres on his way to collecting the national title. Equally impressive as his performance, was his sixth and final jump; a legal 8.21m that saw the long jumper fall just one centimetre shy of the 8.22m needed to secure automatic qualification for this year’s World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games.

While Mitrevski hasn’t been able to repeat the feat at his subsequent competitions, the Australian athletics community will be behind him as he continues his quest to qualify. Up against him will be long jump stalwart Henry Frayne (Gary Bourne), who has recorded 7.93m this year on his mission to qualify for his 12^th and 13^th major championships team, as well as William Freyer who isn’t too far behind with a 7.82m jump recorded at the National Championships.

Fellow Oceania athletes Karo Iga (PNG), Teaki Lenoir (PYF), Pritau Nga (COK), Eldan Toti (PNG), Nehumi Tu’ihalamaka (TGA) and Elstrom Wanemut (VAN) make up the international field.

Women’s Javelin

Australian athletics fans have loved seeing Mackenzie Little’s (Angus McEntyre) rise on the domestic circuit this year, and following a handful of camps funded by Commonwealth Games Green2Gold2Great program, there is much anticipation for another showdown between the Olympic finalist and Olympic bronze medallist Kelsey-Lee Barber (Mike Barber).

The pressure is on for the duo in Mackay as Barber looks to defend her title, while Little continues her surge towards the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games. So far this year, the pair have competed against each other only twice, with Little claiming her fifth and sixth wins over the reigning world champion but Barber’s history of clutch performances will have fans on the edge of their seats.  

Barber and Little will compete against New Zealand’s Tori Peters, as well as Sharon Toako (PNF) and Liamwar Rgangamar (NMI), while para athlete Holly Robinson will compete for New Zealand.

Decathlon

Not a field event, but an event to keep your eye on this week is the Men’s Decathlon. With the absence of Australia’s Ash Moloney and Cedric Dubler, the title is on offer to any of the region’s up and coming talent.

Daniel Golubovic boasts a personal best point score of 8336 set at the Queensland Combined Event Championships in December last year. The Duke University Graduate has set nine personal bests in the ten events over the past twelve months, while Alec Diamond will also contest for the title. Diamond has a personal best of 8002 secured when he won silver at the Australian Track & Field Championships, while the third Australian on the team, national bronze medallist Christian Paynter will be looking to continue his rise in the multi-discipline event.

2021 Australian Under 20 representative Liam Gilbert who will compete on invitation, will take on only his third Open age decathlon and will be one to watch out for over the coming years.

Women’s Discus Ambulatory

Sarah Edmiston (Paul Edmiston) has won medals at every major championships she has so far competed at and with a Commonwealth gold in reach, it’s safe to say the 46-year-old will be out in full force in Mackay.

The Paralympic bronze medallist currently holds the Oceania record in the F44 class, with her mighty throw of 39.13 recorded in Perth in February this year – a throw which saw her cement her status as the number two athlete in the Commonwealth at the end of the Birmingham 2022 para athletics qualification period.  

Edmiston will take on a slew of competitors, including Australian Ella Hose (F37) and New Zealand’s Sionnan Murphy (F37), both highly regarded in para athletics circles as athletes to watch as we edge closer to the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Hose has the upper hand over her trans-Tasman rival, with a 25.72m best over Murphy’s 21.28 recorded in March this year.

Women’s Long Jump Ambulatory

The Women’s Long Jump Ambulatory title belongs to an Australian at the Oceania Championships with no other countries competing,  but a battle will ensue between the three Team Australia representatives, as two-time Paralympian Sarah Walsh (Matt Beckenham) takes on Commonwealth Games representative Kailyn Joseph (Andrew Murphy) and rising long jump star Lainee Harrison.

The stakes are high for the trio competing in Mackay this year, with the Oceania Championships being the only opportunity for each to wear the green and gold in 2022. As the proud owner of the Oceania record in the T64 class at 5.49m, Canberra-based Walsh is the favourite to claim this year’s area title, however having recorded a season’s best of 5.16m, she’ll have some competition from the burgeoning athletes who have made significant headway in recent times.

Joseph and Harrison both compete as T37 athletes, and this year alone, Harrison has edged out Joseph to rank as the top athlete within the region with a 4.20m best. Joseph has previously jumped an impressive 4.15m but has not yet hit her stride this year, with a 4.05m jump recorded in March.

Women’s Shot Put Seated Throw

Four Australians shot put heavyweights will contend for the Oceania Women’s Shot Put Seated Throws title but who will claim the crown remains to be seen.

Although not named on the Australian team for the championships, Julie Charlton will be using the Oceania Championships as a crucial competition opportunity ahead of her Commonwealth Games debut in August. The F57 athlete has thrown 6.43m this year, cementing her into the top 7 within the Commonwealth, but next week will come up against three Team Australia athletes in two-time Paralympian Rosemary Little (Karyn Di Marco and Breanne Clement), Sarah Clifton Bligh (Louise Sauvage) and Dayna Crees.

F32 athletes, Little and Australian team debutant Clifton-Bligh having strong results to their name this year, with Little throwing a mighty 6.05m, and Clifton Bligh recording 5.01m, however the versatile athletes have been selected for wheelchair racing events for the Commonwealth Games, meaning their focus has been split ahead of this meet.

Crees, an F34 athlete has this year recorded 5.92m in the event cementing her as world number 5 and the Australian and Oceania record holder will be ready to launch in her only representative competition this year.

Men’s Shot Put Seated Throw

Australia will be represented by one sole athlete in the Men’s Shot Put Seated Throw this year, with Rio 2016 Paralympian Jessee Wyatt stepping up to the plate.

The New Zealand born athlete has not had the opportunity to represent Australia since the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships, where he placed sixth in the F33 event with a throw of 8.93m. Since then, Wyatt has made steady progress, setting a new Oceania record of 9.84m at the 2021 Sydney Track Classic and will be looking to improve upon this again as he goes for his first international championships medal.

Women’s Under 20 Javelin

If Mackenzie Mielczarek’s (Steve Cain) trajectory is anything to go by, she could be just days away from being crowned Oceania champion. With a 54.91m lifetime best to her name, she’s the number one ranked athlete in her age group within the area and sits at an impressive number 13 on the Australian all-time list.

Throughout the summer season, Mielczarek gained crucial competition experience against the likes of Kelsey-Lee Barber and Mackenzie Little which will give her a competitive advantage over compatriot Phoebe Marsh and New Zealand’s Under 20 champion Abbey Moody, and the competition will also give her the opportunity to build on her form as she puts the finishing touches on her preparation for Cali 2022.

Men’s Under 20 Discus

Two of our own World Under 20 Championships representatives Darcy Miller (Steve Larsson) and Etienne Rosseau (Didier Poppe) will go head-to-head once again, but this time they go into battle knowing much more about each other’s training and competition routine after spending hours of training time together at the recent World Under 20 Championships preparation camp.

The duo have competed against each other only three times, but it was South Australian Miller who has edged out West Australian each time to clinch the win. Just over a week ago, Miller threw a whopping 55.69, bettering Rosseau’s result by more than 3 metres, however both recorded throws over 58m, meaning anything could happen in Mackay.

Miller and Rosseau will take on New Zealand’s Max Abbott who holds a personal best of 52.75m, as well as fellow Aussie teammate Bryce Nolan who has only recently thrown a discus in competition for the first time.

By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 5/6/2022