17 Feb 2020

Two combined Events titles for NSW athletes

NSW athletes won six medals at the 2020 Australian Combined Event Championships held in warm conditions in Brisbane over the weekend.

In the under-16 boys heptathlon Saxon Lorenz won by 177 points with a score of 4106. He started well with a strong 14.52 in the hurdles and was formidable in the high jump (1.81m), 200m (24.05), long jump (5.97m) and javelin 36.84m. Angus Clues dominated the under-15 heptathlon winning by nearly 300 points with a tally of 3964. A very strong thrower his shot (14.34m) and javelin (40.97m) were outstanding.

NSW were very competitive in the under-20 men’s decathlon, where Newcastle’s Ben James pushed Victorian Seb Reyneke to a World U20 Championships qualifier. Ben James, a strong jumper was the best in the long jump (7.10m) and high jump (2.02m) scoring 6936 points to take silver. It was a very dramatic event with James defeating third and fourth by just a few points, thanks to a strong finish in the 1500m. In fifth place was NSW’s Sam Taylor with a great tally of 6603 points. Taylor started well with 11.16 in the 100m and 7.06m in the long and was leading after two events. Other men to finish on the podium were Thomas Noakes with silver in the under-18 decathlon with a score of 6027 points and in the open men, Alec Diamond was third with 7083 points.

In the women’s there was a bronze medal for Karina Bell in the under-16 heptathlon and a collection of fourth and fifth places. Karina Bell scored an impressive total of 4549 points, with her competition highlighted by an outstanding javelin throw of 40.35m, and strong results in the 800m (2:24.25) and shot (11.71m).

In a close competition in the under-17 heptathlon, Eleanor Tozer and Lily Tilt finished just off the podium. Tozer scored 4167 points to place fourth. Her highlights were the 200m (25.86) and long jump (5.13m). Teammate Tilt was fifth with a tally of 4114 points, on the back of a strong day two where she won the long jump with 5.20m and clocked 2:32.41 in the 800m.

Lara Check was impressive in the under-18 heptathlon scoring 4897 points in fourth. She was second amongst the large field of 16 in the high jump with a clearance at 1.66m. In sixth place was Hanna Tait with 4574 points.

In the open women’s heptathlon Caitlyn Hicks placed fifth with a good score of 4908 points. It was a strong all-round performance from Caitlyn with probably her 5.59m long jump her best event.

Full results https://www.athletics.com.au/events/53716/

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

(NSW Decathlon athletes, image via Thomas Noakes)