Newton-Smith crowned Queen of the Heptathlon | Australian Athletics Championships Day Two

The Chemist Warehouse Australian Athletics Championships is building to its crescendo after two days of competition, with Queensland heptathlete Camryn Newton-Smith crowned the most versatile woman in Australian athletics on an action-packed day in Adelaide.

Newton-Smith (QLD, Ralph Newton) produced the performance of her life to claim national glory with a new personal best of 6180 points, climbing to fifth on the Australian all-time list to place herself in esteemed company and buoy her Paris Olympic dream.

Producing three personal bests in the seven events, the 23-year-old held strong on the second day of the event after posting her strongest individual scores of 1053 points and 1029 points in the 100m Hurdles (13.48) and High Jump (1.84m) on Day One.

“Day One was just a dream! It’s a huge PB and I have no words. I was really hoping for 6200 but I still have Oceania to go and there are really good points up for grabs there. Hopefully I can end up in the roll down,” Newton-Smith said.

“I was at Arkansas State for five years, they were amazing. I had a lot of injuries and they had a lot of faith in me. My last two years there were more than I could ask for there.”

Tori West (QLD, Eric Brown) also shattered the 6000-point barrier with a personal best of 6079 point showing, while 18-year-old Mia Scerri (VIC) took out the Under 20 title with a score 5429, registering her second qualifying performance for the 2024 World Under 20 Championships in Peru this August.

A world-class Men’s 1500m Ambulant contest lived up to expectation as Reece Langdon (VIC, Tim O’Shaughnessy, T38) completed a hat-trick of Australian titles, sneaking up the inside of a valiant Angus Hincksman (SA, Simon Moran, T38) in the home straight to clinch gold in 3:57.95, while Deon Kenzie (TAS, Mike Gunston & Philo Saunders, T38) took bronze in 4:05.08.

“When Angus went past me with a lap to go, I tried not to panic and back my kick, and that’s what I did. If we can keep bringing viewers to the sport of athletics, it will help build the sport more and more, and that’s what I’m trying to do,” Langdon said.

Posting a Paralmypic ‘A’ qualifier of his own, Jackson Hamilton (WA, Morgan Ward, F11) cruised to victory in the Men’s Javelin Ambulant with a 64.48m throw for a score of 91.08 on the BASELINE system, finishing ahead of Corey Anderson (QLD, Lukas Cannon, F38).

Anderson secured a Paralympic ‘B’ qualifier with a 49.49m effort for a score of 85.06, while Anabelle Colman (VIC, Liz Gosper & Anthony De

Castella, T20) raced to gold in the Women’s 1500m Ambulant when clocking a career-best 4:40.58 to secure another Paralympic B qualifier.

2022 World Under 20 Championships medallist Tiana Boras (VIC, Alwyn Jones) all but booked her ticket to the 2024 installment of the championships, with the 18-year-old leaping to 13.05m (+0.6) to defeat 16-year-old Izobelle Louison-Roe (NSW, Karen Roe) with 12.91m (+1.2).

Darcy Roper (QLD, Luke Donatini) made a quick but impactful appearance on the field today, leaping to 8.14m (0.4) in the Men’s Long Jump qualifying round, for his second-best performance of his career.

Adding to the Under 20 success, the high-flying Mitchell Hatfield (NSW) nailed the World Under 20 Championships qualifier of 2.13m when producing a three-centimetre personal best in the High Jump.

The junior 400m action saw Amelia Rowe (WA, Brian Pozzi) deliver a golden breakthrough to claim Under 20 gold in 53.09 and Terelle Thorne (QLD, Sharon Dale) clinch the Men’s Under 20 title in 46.80, while 17-year-old Tryphena Hewett (SA, Pat Todd & Kym Simons) joined the qualification party with a 4.20m clearance in the Pole Vault.

There were no casualties in the opening round of the Women’s 800m as Olympic qualifiers Claudia Hollingsworth (VIC, Craig Mottram), Abbey Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren), Catriona Bisset (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) and Bendere Oboya (VIC, Craig Mottram) coasted through to Sunday’s final, while Amy Cashin (VIC, Sean Cleary) proved too slick in the Women’s 3000m Steeplechase when running away from the field in 9:39.53.

Rising sprinter Sebastian Sultana (NSW, Greg Smith) emerged as a contender for the title of Australia’s fastest man, running the fastest qualifier from four heats in the Men’s 100m. Clocking 10.35 (0.0), Sultana will now line up for tomorrow’s semi-final, alongside the likes of Olympic semi-finalist Rohan Browning (NSW, Andrew Murphy). In the women’s ranks Bree Masters (QLD, Ryan Hoffman) was the fastest qualifier, clocking 11.48 (+0.9).

Ellie Beer (QLD, Brett Robinson) continued her strong season, running the fastest time in the Women’s 400m semi-finals in 53.20 to cement her place in tomorrow night’s final, alongside Alanah Yukich (WA, Jackie Streete-Thompson), and Victoria’s Mikaela Selaidinakos (VIC, Steve Gaffney). Cooper Sherman (VIC, Neville Down) will lead the charge in the Men’s 400m final, having clocked 46.29 in the semi-finals.

Full results from Day Two can be found HERE.

The Chemist Warehouse Australian Athletics Championships are taking place in Adelaide, thanks to the support of the South Australian Government through the South Australian Tourism Commission.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 12/4/2024