Camryn Newton-Smith has smashed her personal best in taking out the Australian Heptathlon title.
Photos by Fred Etter
The 23-year-old Queenslander produced three personal bests in the across the two days to amass 6180 points.
“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.
Newton-Smith credits her rise to her US college.
“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.”
Second placed Tori West also recorded a new personal best (6079p), as did Emelia Surch in third (5613p). Junior Mia Scerri took out the U20 event in a qualifer for the World U20 Championships, 5429 points.
Australian All-Time List – Heptathlon – at 12 April 2024
Olympic qualifying standard – 6480 points
- Jane Flemming – 6695 points
- Glynis Nunn-Cearns – 6387 points
- Kylie Wheeler – 6369 points
- Jane Jamieson – 6354 points
- Camryn Newton-Smith – 6180 points
- Sharon Jaklofsky – 6118 points
- Tori West – 6079 points
- Tanielle Crase – 6026 points
- Clare Thompson – 5958 points
- Chris Stanton – 5938 points
US based Amy Cashin was too good for the field in the 3000m steeplechase with the Tokyo Olympian taking victory in 9:39.53 ahead of Stella Radford (9:42.26) and Cara Feain-Ryan (9:43.99).
World U20 bronze medallist Tiana Boras took victory in the triple jump in a close competition with Izobelle Louison-Roe. It took until the 5th round for Boras to hit the lead, with her 13.05m jump enough for victory. Louison-Roe jumped 12.91m.
In other day largely of heats there were few surprises or casualties. In the long jump Darcy Roper leapt to his second longest performance ever with an 8.14m leap. All of the main athletes in the women’s 800m were untroubled in reaching the final across the three heats, with the finalists for Sunday’s final being:
- Bendere Oboya – 1st in heat 2 in 2:03.05
- Hayley Kitching – 2nd in heat 2 in 2:03.13
- Imogen Barrett – 3rd in heat 2 in 2:03.80 (qualified on times)
- Catriona Bisset – 1st in heat 3 in 2:03.87
- Abbey Caldwell – 2nd in heat 3 in 2:04.59
- Sophie Hanlon – 3th in heat 2 in 2:05.67 (qualified on times)
- Claudia Hollingsworth – 1st in heat 1 in 2:06.72
- Leah Simpson – 2nd in heat 1 in 2:07.23
Ash Moloney is the ‘last man standing’ in the men’s Decathlon and leads after day one with a modest 4182 points, around 500 points short of his best form. The 24-year-old Olympic bronze medallist recorded marks of:
- 100m – 10.50
- Long Jump – 7.39m
- Shot Put – 14.33m
- High Jump – 1.81m
- 400m – 47.90
Cedric Dubler pulled out of the event while in second place after 4 events (50 points behind Moloney), while Daniel Golubovic did not start.
Rohan Browning (10.43) and Bree Masters cruised through the heats of the 100m with Sebastian Sultana (10.35) and Masters (11.48) the fastest times of the day. The semi-finals and finals are run on Sunday. National record holder Torrie Lewis did not start in the 100m, reportedly to focus on competing in the 200m.
Cooper Sherman is the fastest qualifier into the men’s final, clocking 46.29s in the semi-finals, while Ellie Beer was the fastest heat winner in the women’s event in 53.20s, where there are only two rounds of competition.
A sensational Saturday awaits at the Australian Championships with the finals of the men’s and women’s 1500m, 100m and 400m on the track, along with the men’s discus and women’s javelin, featuring Matt Denny; Kelsey-Lee Barber, Mackenzie Little and Kathryn Mitchell.
Photo Gallery
A highlights gallery of Day 2 is available here thanks to Fred Etter. Free downloads using the code you receive when you subscribe to our newsletter.
