PREVIEW | Australian Junior Combined Event Championships

This weekend Sydney hosts the first national junior track, road or cross country championships for 10 months with the Australian Junior Combined events for athletes under-15 to 18.

Over the last five years the Australian stocks in heptathlon and decathlon have been on the rise. This weekend we have the opportunity to witness the next generation who we hope will in the future join current and recent stars like Ash Moloney, Cedric Dubler, Celeste Mucci, Alysha Burnett and Tori West.

Victoria’s Mia Scerri starts favourite in the under-18 heptathlon seeking a fourth consecutive title after wins in the under-15, 16 and 17 in the last three years. Mia will face an added challenge as she will use under-20 specifications, with the goal of achieving the World U20 Championships qualifying standard of 5300 points. She will race over the higher 84cm hurdles and use the heavier 4kg shot and 600g javelin. The goal is certainly on the radar for Mia, who scored 5226 points last month to win the Victorian under-20 title. This year Mia has leapt 6.07m and 6.14 windy in two competitions highlighting that the world junior long jump standard of 6.12m is also within her grasp. Queensland champion Kayla Newberry, very handy in the hurdles and shot, will provide Mia with good competition. 

Local NSW athlete Angus Clues and Queensland’s Charlize Goody are looking at a three-peat after they both claimed the under-15 and under-16 national titles in 2020 and 2021. Charlize, very strong in the throwing events, faces challengers from two athletes with terrific long jumps in their arsenal, 2021 silver medallists Siena Farrell (VIC) and improving South Australian Leila Croker. 

Angus Clues, strong in the throwing events, will have terrific competition from Victorian pair Valentino Bertucci and Xavier Pitt. Valentino, a quality hurdler, and Xavier who will be particularly competitive in the last two events, the javelin and 1500m, will ensure this will be a close competition throughout.

South Australia appears to be making a resurgence in multi-events and in two of the biggest fields at the championships, the under-15 girls heptathlon with 14 entries and under-16 girls heptathlon with 17 entries, they look to have strong prospects in Georgie Fielder and Charlotte McAuliffe.

Some other names to watch will be Lachlan Rudd (U18, SA), Joshua Osbourne (U16, QLD) and Blake Deery (U15, ACT) son of former Australian junior decathlon champion John Deery.

The weekend also includes an open/U20 invitational decathlon with 8000 point athlete Alec Diamond (NSW) and Victorian junior Noah Oliver the leading hopes. Noah, who in 2021 scored 6795, is within reach of the World U20 Championships standard of 7050 points.

For a full list of entries, the event timetable and live results link, visit the Athletics Australia website https://www.athletics.com.au/events/125468/

By David Tarbotton, Athletics Australia
Posted: 11/2/2021