The Name is Bond | Oceania Championships Day Four

If his bleached hair didn’t have talking already, Connor Bond’s 100m performance made sure he was the name on everyone’s lips on a successful day four of the Oceania Championships at Mackay.

Connor Bond (Mick Zitsi) delivered a dazzling 10.40 (-0.2) championship record to clinch the Oceania Under 20 Men’s 100m title, with the 19-year-old in a race of his own both figuratively and literally after a dominant win from lane nine.

“I was kind of annoyed when I saw I was in lane nine, but I realised it was an opportunity to run my own race in such a good age group with guys like Calab [Law], Lachie [Kennedy] and Ryan [Tarrant] in the same race. It is pretty easy to get into your own head so it ended up being a blessing for me,” Bond said.

Law took silver in 10.49 ahead of Tarrant in 10.56, but it was all about Bond who built on his national bronze in March, shaving down his personal best as he approached the World Athletics Under 20 Championships in Colombia this August – where he is a member of the 4x100m squad.

“The last few weeks I have been so set on this carnival, I just love racing and I’m so grateful to be doing this with such a great group of mates. I was really excited about the calibre of the race regardless of whether I won or lost,” Bond said.

“I watched back the race at nationals and I made a bit of a scene about coming third, so I thought I better keep it a bit more low key this time!”

The Under 20 Women’s 100m was won by Hayley Reynolds (Andrew Lulham) in 11.70 (-0.3) ahead of Oliva Inkster (Melinda Gainsford-Taylor & Katie Edwards) who ran second with 11.87.  

Birmingham-bound Sarah Edmiston (F44, Paul Edmiston) continued her Commonwealth Games build-up by claiming the Women’s Discus Ambulatory crown with a best throw of 33.79m.

The Oceania record holder in the F44 class was consistent in her approach, recording five marks over 33m, fouling just once.

While more than six metres off her career-best throw of 39.13, Edmiston said she the competition allowed her to put her learnings from the season into practise before travelling to the Commonwealth Games.

“It’s great to get the competition experience leading up to the Commonwealth Games. There are six weeks until I leave. I’m really going to put in the work to lock down my technique and make sure that I’m really well and really consistently going into Birmingham.”

Edmiston defeated Australian F37 athlete Ella Hose who placed second, nearing her personal best with a 25.13m throw.

Javelin junior Mackenzie Mielczarek (Steve Cain) continued to capitalise on her a rich vein of form in recent weeks, throwing 54.64m to clinch the Under 20 Oceania title and strengthen her claim for a deep run at this year’s World Athletics Under 20 Championships.

While the sequence featured a foul and four throws in the 49-50m range, but it was her third-round effort that saw her assert herself over her competitors and ultimately defeat New Zealand’s Abbey Moody (50.42m).

Carving through the wind and over the sticks in the Under 20 Men’s 400m Hurdles was Kyle Bennett (Sharon Dale), who charged to the Oceania title in a time of 53.33 in the blustery conditions – the second fastest time of his career after he 53.07 personal best. Dominic Panozzo (Deb Walshman) celebrated his 19^th birthday with second place in the event in a time of 55.04, as the two world junior representatives prepare for the long hurdles at the World Athletics Under 20 Championships in Colombia this August.

The Women’s 400m hurdles was won by Isabella Guthrie (Angus McEntyre) in 59.61, while fellow Cali team member Ashley Spencer (Remo Pollastri) took silver in a time of 62.71. Paige Elvey (Peter Benifer) rounded out the podium in 63.71.

The gun commenced an entertaining head-to-head between Australian juniors Hayley Kitching (Tim Kitching) and Nicola Hogg (Ben Liddy) in the Under 20 Women’s 1500m. Kitching demonstrated her 800m speed when kicking past Hogg in the run for home and Oceania gold, as the duo clocked times of 4:19.47 and 4:22.25 respectively. Both women have earned their maiden Australian tracksuits ahead of their international debuts in Colombia.

Australian para middle distance is only getting stronger, with the rise of 16-year-old Angus Hincksman (T38, Simon Moran) who won his first international gold in the Men’s 1500m Ambulatory. The South Australian ran 4:10.18, but what was most impressive was his time running against only one competitor, Regional Australian team member Kyle McIntosh (T20) who finished almost 14 seconds behind.

By Lachlan Moorhouse and Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 10/6/2022