Little launches international season with a win in Yokohama

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mackenzie Little headlined the Australian action at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Yokohama with her fourth consecutive win of 2023, as seven more Australians claimed top-3 placings at the fourth World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet of the year.

Mackenzie Little (Angus McEntyre) went bang from the start of the Women’s Javelin, with her first throw of 61.77 already season’s best. With more to come, the Olympic finalist asserted her dominance claiming the win on fourth attempt with a monstrous 64.10m throw.

“I knew I was relaxed and happy coming into this comp as I’d spent the week being a tourist around Japan taking in all the amazing sights that we missed out on during the Tokyo Covid Olympics,” Little said.

“My training has been going relatively well and so I was confident that if I just kept myself long and patient in the throw I could do well today. I did compete well domestically off a smaller amount of prep than usual so perhaps it’s a sign for a good season to come.”

As the only athlete to throw over 60m across all-six attempts, the result gives Little much confidence for what’s to come as the international season begins.

“I don’t think I expected such a consistent series with a big one in there also. To throw 64m in the middle of a it is a very good sign for me. I think I’ve yet to fully hit my stride this season and I’m really looking forward to hopefully getting better and better through the Diamond Leagues and leading into World Championships.”

While it was Little that claimed the Yokohama crown, a trans-Tasman trifecta was celebrated across Oceania in the event with Tori Peters (New Zealand) placing second with a new national record of 63.26m, while back-to-back World Champion Kelsey Lee Barber (Mike Barber) finished just behind with a throw of 61.95m.

Also in the javelin, 2022 World Athletics Championships representative Cameron McEntyre (Angus McEntyre) finished fourth in the Men’s event with a best throw of 78.62m – a result he achieved on both his first and final attempt.

All eyes were on Rohan Browning (Andrew Murphy) in his first race since clocking his second fastest time (10.02) at the Australian Championships in April. Despite two false starts prior to the final, Browning produced his 10th best performance of his career with a  10.10 (+0.4)run in the final as he crossed the line behind reigning world champion Fred Kerley (USA) who clocked 9.91. Browning's performance came less than two hours after he clocked 10.11 (1.5) in the heat, to qualify third for the final. 

Jake Doran (Paul Di Bella) also impressed in the heats and finals, with a season’s best performance of 10.19 (+1.7) in the heat, and finishing his trip to Japan with a 10.28 in the final.

The Women’s 100m line up was reminiscent of the Maurie Plant Meet - Melbourne, with Oceania record holder Zoe Hobbs (NZ) seeded as the fastest athlete in the field.  While the Kiwi was victorious in 11.20 (-0.4) it was rising star Torrie Lewis (Andrew Iselin) who impressed with a third-place finish (11.42) in her first ever international race as an individual athlete, while World Championships representative Bree Masters (Ryan Hoffman) finished within a whisker of a top-3 placing, clocking 11.43.

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Brooke Buschkuehl (Russell Stratton) delivered a season’s best of 6.77m (+1.7) to place second in the Women’s Long Jump at the Japanese meet.  Showing consistency throughout her series, Buschkuehl produced four jumps over 6.60m, with her fifth attempt cementing her place. The Australian was defeated by an agonising two-centimetres from Germany’s Maryse Luzolo, who could only beat her with a wind assisted 6.79m jump.

Australia’s most experienced campaigner at the meet Henry Frayne (Gary Bourne) landed a 7.99m (2.7) on his first attempt to place third, but his journey to the podium came with much frustration. Unable to replicate or better his performance throughout the six-jump series, Frayne fouled three consecutive jumps but finished the meet with a 7.86m (+1.1) mark to solidify his placing.   Frayne was defeated by hometown favourite, 23-year-old Yoshida Hiromichi and China’s Jianan Wang.

Four of Australia’s strongest distance athletes were also in action in Japan, with Rose Davies (Scott Wescott) impressing most in the Women’s 3000m. In the middle of the main pack as the starter gun went off, Davies made her way to the front early in the race.  With the pacer and race leaders consisting of Kenya’s Teresiah Muthoni Gateri and Margaret Akidor unable to maintain a solid gap Davies saw her chance to join the pair for the final kilometre.

With 700m to go, the Novocastrian made a gutsy attempt to surge forward ahead of the duo maintaining her pace until the final 100m, when Gateri sprinted to the finish line. The 2022 Australian 3000m champion finished the race in a new personal best time 8:44.07 while compatriot Isobel Batt-Doyle (Nic Bideau) finished in fourth place in a time of 8:53.81.

In the Men’s 3000m, Jack Bruce claimed the ninth spot in 7:51.91 – narrowly missing his lifetime best from 2019, while Australian 3000m champion Jude Thomas (Collis Birmingham) clocked 8:02.58.

Rio Olympian Joel Baden (Sandro Bisetto) continued his momentum in the Men’s High Jump after claiming the Australian title in April, clearing 2.29m to place second on countback to South Korea’s Sanghyeok Woo.

While both were able to clear the height, Baden opted to pass on the round of 2.32m as Woo failed all three attempts. With a chance at walking away with a win and a new personal best, Baden made three unsuccessful attempts at 2.35m but showed that there is more to come this season.

A star of the Australian summer season Jacob McCorry (Alex Stewart) leaves Japan with a shiny new personal best of 13.48 (+0.8) in the Men’s 110m hurdles as he continues his progression towards the Budapest World Championships. His seventh place was 0.41s behind winner Izumiya Shunsuke of Japan, but his success came in shaving 0.06s off his previous personal best recorded this year at the Sydney Track Classic.

Sprint hurdlers Celeste Mucci (Darren Clark) and Hannah Jones (Sally Pearson) enjoyed the fruits of their labour, with both Australians producing sub 13-second performances; picking up easily from the Australian summer season. Mucci was the faster of the pair, placing fourth in 12.93 (0.4) with Jones in seventh clocking 12.97.

One-lap specialist Alex Beck (Mark Ladbrook) placed eighth in the Men’s 400m, crossing the line in 46.33.

Matt Clarke (Adam Didyk) rounded out the Australian action in the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase, finishing in 8:26.47 for new season’s best.  

By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 21/5/2022