PREVIEW | Emerging Aussies Bound for Solomon Islands Success

Australian athletics is poised for a golden campaign at the 2023 Pacific Games beginning in Honiara, Solomon islands on November 27, as the team of emerging stars add invaluable international experience to their growing resumes.

A World Athletics Category B meeting, the event will provide a crucial opportunity for some prospects to secure vital world ranking points within the Paris 2024 Olympic window, while for others the competition will fast-track their development.

Catch all the action live and free via SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand from November 27 – December 2.

The full timetable, entry lists and more information can be found HERE.

Sprints

A rising quartet of Australian sprinters are set to fire in Honiara spearheaded by Olympian Ellie Beer (Brett Robinson) and World Championships semi-finalist Calab Law (Andrew Iselin), who will be joined by 2022 World Under 20 Championships teammates Georgia Harris (Paul Pearce) and Lachlan Kennedy (Andrew Iselin).

Beer’s ambitions of a second Olympic Games will begin over 400m when taking on Trans-Tasman rival Camryn Smart (53.85) and Papua New Guinea’s Leonie Beu (54.33), with the Australian holding the top seed at 53.07 seconds.

A world Under 20 bronze medallist and Australia’s first man to progress to the 200m semi-finals at the World Championships, Law's 20.42-second best holds him in good stead, but a showdown with training partner Kennedy over 100m looms as the main event.

Kennedy proved one of the bolters of the season when carving his personal best down to 10.24 and finishing fourth in the National final, but a 10.26-second man in his own right – Law will be eager to deliver the sprint double at his return to racing.

Harris will be gunning to recreate a sprint double of her own after dominating the 2023 Australian Track and Field Championships, with the 19-year-old blazing her way to Under 20 titles in times of 11.46 (100m) and 23.61 (200m)  – now looking to translate that form to the senior ranks.

Australia will also field teams in the Men’s and Women’s 4x100m Relays.

Hurdles

At 20 years of age, Mitchell Lightfoot (Alex Stewart) is building an impressive resume. The Maitland hurdler stamped his international debut with fourth place at the 2022 World Under 20 Championships, doubling down being crowned the 2023 Australian Track and Field Open Champion in the 110m Hurdles.

Lightfoot’s best of 13.65-seconds has him 10^th and rising on the Australian all-time list, already clocking a run of 13.82 in October when shaking out the legs ahead of his Pacific Games appearance. With the fastest seed time by over one second, the composed operator will be a strong chance to bring home gold, while World University Games representative Imogen Breslin (Mick Zisti) is locked in for a battle with three-time Papua New Guinea national champion and World Championships representative Adrine Monagi in the 100m Hurdles.

400m hurdler Isabella Guthrie (Angus McEntyre) makes her return to the green and gold after her maiden campaign saw her challenge in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Under 20 Championships, with the consistent 20-year-old’s 59.08 seed time well ahead her nearest rival Edna Boafob of Papua New Guinea (1:03.38).

Jumps

With a streak of three consecutive senior Australian teams, Samantha Dale (Andrew Murphy) kick-starts her road to Paris 2024 in the Solomon Islands, with the long jumper set to build upon her international experience alongside World Under 20 representative Katie Gunn (Matt Horsnell).

The four biggest jumps of Dale’s career to date have all come on Australian soil, including a 6.71m effort to scalp the strong field at February’s Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne, enough to occupy the top ranking for this competition ahead of Gunn’s 6.41m best in March.

Returning to the runway after strong results at the 2023 World University Games, triple jumpers Connor Murphy (Andrew Murphy) and Desleigh Owusu (Andrew Murphy) will look to continue their steady progress to the top level.

Murphy delivered a leap of 16.40m to finish in fourth place in Chengdu, China while Owusu’s 13.49m performance for sixth place in the women’s contest equalled her personal best. The 22-year-old training partners both sit comfortably atop the seedings for their respective events.

Throws

2018 World Under 20 champion Nash Lowis (Lukas Cannon) has struggled to maintain full health since launching the javelin to world glory as a junior, managing just eight competitions since 2019 where he claimed the Oceania title and threw a career best of 80.10m.

Returning to the national scene in 2023 to clinch fifth place at the Australian Track and Field Championships, the 24-year-old will be hopeful for a run of good health to harness his potential, beginning with the 2023 Pacific Games.

Multi Events

18-year-old heptathlete Mia Scerri (Darren Clark) is poised to gear up for her second Australian team of 2023 having placed 12^th at the World University Games in China, scoring 5531 points to come within just six points of her personal best.

The versatile teenager will draw on her strengths of the long jump (6.27m) and high jump (1.74m) to pave her way to another strong score, with the added incentive of nailing the 2024 World Under 20 Championships heptathlon qualifying mark standing at 5300 points. The Pacific Games heptathlon record of 5037 by Papua New Guinea’s Iammo Gapi Launa has stood since 1989.

Middle Distance

Australia’s sole representative in the middle-distance ranks, Jack Lunn (Steve Fabris) touches down in the Solomon Islands after a successful 2023 campaign, headlined by an 800m personal best of 1:45.88 and a World University Games finals appearance.

The 22-year-old who owns two years of experience on the international circuit will be eager to collect a generous serving of world ranking points to set up his Olympic dream in 2024, but he won’t have it all his own way when taking on Cook Islands Olympian Alex Beddoes.

Lunn holds the supremacy in the personal best stakes by over two seconds and shapes up as the leading contender over two laps in the field of 18.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 26/11/2023