Sydney University Athletics Club had 13 members in the Australian team contesting the 2024 Oceania Area Championships in Suva, Fiji, and came away with five gold, one silver and six bronze medals.
Gold medals went to Liam Adcock in the men’s long jump, Alex Beck in the men’s 400m, Jenny Blundell in the women’s 5000m, Liz Clay in the women’s 100m hurdles and Mackenzie Little in the women’s javelin.
Cameron McEntyre claimed silver in the men’s javelin, while bronze medals went to Kailyn Joseph in the women’s long jump, Jacob McCorry in the men’s 110m hurdles, Connor Murphy in the men’s triple jump, Rohan Browning in the men’s 100m and Alexandra Harrison in the women’s high jump.
Liam Adcock cleared 8.05m to claim gold in the long jump, edging out countryman Henry Frayne (7.82m) and Kiwi Lewis Athur (7.29m) to the minor placings. Liam is the national champion with a PB of 8.15m and has also competed at the World Championships and the World University Games.
Alex Beck ran 46.90 to win the men’s 400m ahead of countryman Daniel Blest (48.01) and Fijian Jonacani Koroi (49.89). Alex competed in the men’s 400m at the Tokyo Olympic Games. He is a four-time national champion and a World Relays bronze medallist in the event with a PB of 45.54. He was also a Commonwealth Games finalist and has competed at three World Championships.
Jenny Blundell claimed the women’s 5000m gold with a run of 15:26.29 in an all Australian finish, with Holly Campbell (15:31.88) taking silver and Maudie Skyring (15:49.39) the bronze. A B.Applied Science graduate and University Blue, Jenny competed in the 1500m and 5000m at the Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Olympic Games.
Liz Clay ran 12.71s to take gold in the women’s 100m hurdles ahead of countrywomen Celeste Mucci (13.07) and Danielle Shaw (13.30). Liz is the third fastest Australian of all time over the 100m hurdles with a PB of 12.71s. A semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympic Games, she has also competed a two World Championships and the 2017 World Universiade. A B.Science graduate, she is a University Blue and a former member of the EAP.
Mackenzie Little has an imposing record in the women’s javelin and easily claimed gold in Suva with a throw of 61.09m. Papua New Guinea’s Sharon Taoko (47.88m) took silver and Queenslander Rylee O’Shaughnessy (40.16m) the bronze. Mackenzie was a finalist at the Tokyo Olympics and has a bronze medal from the World Championships and a silver from the Commonwealth Games. She was the World Under 18 Champion in 2013 and is a three-time national champion. With B.Science and D.Medicine degrees, she was also an EAP member and is a University Blue.
Selection in the Australian team for the Paris Olympic Games will now be front and centre on the minds of those coming home with medals.
