Mucci and Hough hurdle to success | Oceania Championships Day 3

Sprint hurdlers Celeste Mucci and Nick Hough have extended the success of their domestic season to become area champions, as Australia continued its domination on Day 3 of the 2022 Oceania Athletics Championships.

Tokyo Olympian Hough (Anthony Benn) ran his fastest race in four years and his third fastest over his career, clocking 13.43 (1.7) in the Men’s 110m Hurdles to retain his Oceania crown. Hough has enjoyed a boost in his performances in recent months, with his last three runs domestically and abroad all improving upon the last.

“It’s weird coming out in June without too many races around it, and trying to run fast in a straight final too, but I’m happy with my run today. It was my fastest run in four years,” Hough said.

For 28-year-old Hough, this is just a glimpse of what’s to come as he looks ahead to the major championships season.

“I made a semi-final at World Championships in 2019 so I’m hoping to make the final this time. I got a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, so I’d like to defend that and hopefully improve on that,” Hough said.

“From Tokyo, I’m taking in that I’m competitive on the world stage, and that was after being in lockdown for a couple of months with no races in between, so hopefully with better preparation this year, I should be able to match it with the best in the world.”

World Athletics Indoor Championships representative Nick Andrews (Tim O’Neill) placed second with a 13.62 run, while Sam Hurwood completed the Australian trifecta in 13.70.

That wasn’t all from Australia’s hurdlers as 2019 World Athletics Championships representative Celeste Mucci (Darren Clarke) ran sub 13 seconds in the Women’s 100m Hurdles for only the third time.   

Coming up against a strong field which included some of Australia’s fastest ever hurdlers Mucci crossed the line in 12.75 (+3.3), taking out Michelle Jenneke (Gary Bourne) and Abbie Taddeo (Penny Gillies) who ran 12.95 and 13.05 respectively.

“I just honestly wanted to get the win today so the time on top of that was great. The Oceania Championships are so important for ranking, especially as we get closer to the World Championships and Commonwealth Games. Running today was definitely a must and I’m really happy with the way I executed it,” Mucci said.

Mucci has had an impressive year so far, with consistent podium placings throughout the domestic season as well as abroad in Japan.

“I think we’ve just had a great block between nationals and now. We just kept building and I’ve had a great season so I came in very confident. The goal is to hopefully get selected for World Championships and Commonwealth Games and to compete at both would be amazing,” Mucci said.

The next generation of Australian hurdlers also had their day.  Mitchell Lightfoot (Andy Burton) looked as slick as ever when coasting to victory in the Under 20 Men’s 110m Hurdles with a new championship record time of 13.60 (2.3), as the 18-year-old fine-tunes his preparations for the World Athletics Under 20 Championships.

The performance falls narrowly outside Lightfoot’s 13.51 career best and will fill him with confidence ahead of his maiden international competition this August - where he will look to establish himself on the world scene.

The Under 20 Women’s 100m Hurdles was taken out by Emelia Surch (Glynis Nunn) in a new championship record of 13.75 (0.9), before the versatile junior returned to set her second championship record of the day in the Under 20 Long Jump - leaping 6.02m (1.3).

17-year-old Joshua Kalozi broke the Oceania and Australian Under 18 110m hurdlers record, eclipsing Hough’s junior record by 0.01 when running 13.36 (+1.4). What was most surprising was his efforts to do so after enduring an injury in the Men’s Under 18 Long Jump just days prior.

“In the lead up, I was aiming for 13.4ish and I knew the record was close to that. After long jump with my injuries, I was hoping just to get through the race so to come home with gold and the record is amazing,” Kalozi said.

“Seeing Nick compete on TV last year at the Olympics was amazing. He’s obviously a big inspiration coming from Australia. I’ve always seen him compete so to take one of his records is big.”

World number one race walker Jemima Montag (Brent Vallance) won her “dress rehearsal” for the Commonwealth Games to become back-to-back Oceania champion in the 10,000m race walk.   

Despite sub optimal preparations, which included medical degree exams, a bout of tonsilitis and a late night flight to Mackay just yesterday, the 24-year-old was able to put together a solid performance to finish in 44:18.86.

Although the race started off slow, Montag challenged herself to push herself in the second half of the race despite any fatigue setting in; a move which saw her finish more than one minute ahead of fellow Tokyo Olympians Rebecca Henderson (Simon Baker, 45:31.31) and Katie Hayward (Steve Langley, 46:14.77)

“It was a tight turn-around from my mid-year exams. I had one just yesterday and one on Monday. I flew in very late around 11pm and tried to get a few hours sleep, but I am trying to challenge myself at the moment to race in different conditions because sometimes you’re at a major and you can’t control things,” Montag said.

“This was a good dress rehearsal given Commonwealth Games is on the track, but that was also my last race before Oregon. I tend to think even if you’ve had exams or had tonsilitis like I did last week, it’s good to go through the motions of what you eat for breaky, the nerves and feeling what putting on the uniform is like. I’m really happy with that.”

James Turner (T36, Iryna Dvoskina) won his second Oceania title of the Championships in the Men’s 400m Ambulatory Para event, running 53.66 ahead of Kiwi rival Mitch Joynt. Turner came within 96.36% of his own world record of 51.71 to win the title, showing that the Paralympic champion is in top form despite not having a major championship in 2022 to work towards.

In the Women’s 400m Ambulatory event, Alissa Jordaan (T47, Sebastian Kuzminski) placed first in a time of 61.98 as she lays the foundation ahead of the Paris World Para Athletics World Championships next year.

Alexandra Hulley (Karyne Di Marco and Breanne Clement) continued her quest to qualify for the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games, but was unable to topple her Kiwi counterparts, placing third with a throw of 67.11. The winner threw 67.99 highlighting the strength of hammerthrow within the region. 

19-year-old Damian Wells made huge in roads too in his hammer throw career, taking the Men’s Under 20 title with a championships record of 64.57. The result adds 11.5m to his previous best.

Sam McEntee (Nic Bideau) strengthened his claim for a World Athletics Championships berth with an assertive 13:46.39 victory in the Men’s 5000m, after sharing pilot duties with teammate Jack Bruce (Nic Bideau). McEntee stretched away over the final kilometre to stamp his authority on the event, while Bruce clinched silver in 13:57.65 as both men surpassed the previous championships record.

The Men and Women’s 4x100m Relay team took to the regional stage after a three-week training block on the Gold Coast and in Mackay. The Australian women’s team consisting of Ella Connolly (Mark Ladbrook), Bree Masters (Ryan Hoffman), Monique Quirk (Mark Ladbrook) and Naa Anang (Gary Bourne) ran 44.06 to defeat Team New Zealand’s line up by more than three seconds (47.33).

The Men’s 4x100m comprising of Jake Doran (Paul Di Bella), Joshua Azzopardi (Rob Marks), Jacob Despard (Rolf Ohman) and Jack Hale (Adam Larcom) were unable to produce the same finish, recording a DQ, with the exchange in the second and third leg of the relay responsible for the team’s undoing.

The Australian invitational B team of Jake Penny (Mandi Cole), Alex Hartmann (Travis Venema), Zach Holdsworth (Michael Dooley) and Jagga Pybus (Wayne Mason) crossed the line first in a time of 40.24, however it was the Fijians who took gold in a time of 41.64.

The Men’s 4x400m Relay team of Conor Fry (Steve Fabris),  Ian Halpin (Mike Hurst), Aidan Murphy (Peter Fitzgerald) and Luke Major (Steve Fabris) placed first in 3:11.14 ahead of the Australian invitational team, while the Women’s team of Sarah Carli (Melissa Logan), Jessica Thornton (Brett Robinson), Jasmin Guthrie (Angus McEntyre) and Helen Pretorius (Matt Beckenham) placed second in 3:37.62, edged out by New Zealand’s 3:35.03.

For full results, click here.

Photos from Day 3 of the Oceania Championships can be downloaded from here. 

By Sascha Ryner and Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 9/6/2022