Pacific Games: NSW jumpers add more gold on day 5

2 December 2023

Pacific Games: NSW jumpers add more gold on day 5

On the final day of the track program, training partners in the Andrew Murphy squad, Sam Dale and Connor Murphy have won Pacific Games titles, boosting the NSW medal tally to five gold and two silver at the Games.

Connor Murphy has started his important Paris Olympic campaign in the best possible form, with a brilliant 16.85m in the triple jump. The slightly windy mark (2.5m/s), was the longest jump by an Australian, in all conditions, for 11 years. Connor won the event by nearly three metres and destroyed the meet record of 16.10m held by New Caledonia’s Frederic Erin set in 2011.

In the women’s long jump, Sam Dale raised her own Games record with a leap of 6.42m. It was a 1-2 for NSW and Australia with Central Coast’s Katie Gunn second with a leap of 6.03m.

Bella Guthrie had a great run in the 400m hurdles, and despite being beaten in the sprint to the line, clocked a personal best time of 57.77. The time moved her five places on the Australian all-time list and ahead of the recently appointed Athletics Australia President Jane Flemming.

It has been an impressive campaign by the NSW athletes at the Pacific Games - medallists were:

GOLD

Connor Murphy – triple jump

Sam Dale – long jump

Mitch Lightfoot – 110m hurdles

Desleigh Owusu – triple jump

Imogen Breslin – 100m hurdles

SILVER

Katie Gunn – long jump

Bella Guthrie – 400m hurdles

Pacific Games: NSW athletes claim three gold medals on day 4

NSW athletes dominated the Australian team performance on day four of the Pacific Games in Honiara in the Solomon Islands. Hurdlers Imogen Breslin and Mitch Lightfoot, along with triple jumper Desleigh Owusu, claimed Pacific Games titles on Thursday.

Imogen won her heat in 13.97, going on to take the final in 13.81, from Brisbane-based PNG all-rounder Adrine Monagi.

National open 110m hurdles champion Mitch Lightfoot, lowered the Games record in the heats clocking 14.28, ahead of breaking his own record in the final with a winning time of 14.19, running into a 1/7m/s headwind. The Games record had stood since 1999 – 24 years ago.

In the field, UTS Norths athlete Desleigh Owusu won the women’s triple jump with a performance of 13.23m, falling just 3cm short of the Games record.

On Wednesday, the qualifying rounds of the women’s long jump were held in the middle of day in 40+ degree heat. NSW duo Sam Dale and Katie Gunn progressed comfortably to the final finishing 1-2 with jumps of 6.29m and 5.82m respectively. Sam’s performance broke the Games record of 6.20m. They compete today in the final.

Pacific Games: Bella Guthrie runs in the 400m hurdles heats on day 1

Yesterday UTS Norths athlete Bella Guthrie kicked off the campaign for our NSW athletes at the Pacific Games in Honiara in the Solomon Islands.

Bella cruised to five seconds win in the women’s 400m hurdles heats. She clocked 59.48 seconds, winning her heat from French Polynesia’s Hereiti Bernardino, who clocked 64.38 seconds.

The final is on Friday where a target time for Bella will be the Games record of 58.28 set in 2015 by PNG’s Donna Koniel.

Bella last represented Australia at the 2022 World U20 Championships where she made the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles and assisted the Australian 4x400m relay to sixth in the final.

Read more about the importance of the Games for athletes with Paris Olympic aspirations, and a schedule for NSW athletes:

https://www.nswathletics.org.au/news/7-nsw-athletes-take-first-step-toward-paris/

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Image: Connor Murphy (courtesy of Deb Walsham)