RECORDS TUMBLE DURING SIZZLING COMBINED EVENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Over 220 of WA’s best multi-eventers battled hot conditions at the WA Athletics Stadium as they tried to claim gold at the WA State Combined Events Championships. Jack Whiteside led the weekend’s competition with the West Track athlete putting in a stand-out performance to set a State Record and all-important World Athletics U20 Championship qualifier.

Sophie Williams and Kyra Pilmer also maintained their strong form, claiming State Records in their respective age categories. While National Combined Event medallists Jaxon Stewart, Rhianna Di Giuseppe and Wyatt Hill continued their prolific years, with the trio all collecting State Titles.

Leading the weekend’s results was U20 Decathlete Jack Whiteside (Inglewood), who battled through the heat to score 7,438 points in the U20 Men’s Decathlon. Entertaining the crowd with an impressive leap of 4.40m in the Pole Vault, Whiteside’s score was an all-important World Athletics Under 20 Championship qualifier for the Inglewood athlete. Whiteside will look to consolidate his selection in 2024 before the Australian team heads off to Peru next August.  

After beating the U16 State Record and narrowly missing out on the U15 Heptathlon National Title earlier this year, Sophie Williams (Ridgewood) returned in dominant form to beat the Little Athletics State Record with a win in the 15 Heptathlon after collecting 5,062 points.

Kyra Pilmer (Belmont) has had an impressive start to the season after collecting six medals at the 2023 WA All Schools Championships powered by Go For 2&5 at the beginning of the month. Pilmer has continued that strong run of form by claiming a Little Athletics State Record in the U17 Girls Heptathlon, finishing the competition with 4,741 points.

Madison Esquivel (West Track) edged out National Medallist Ella Batten (UWA) for the dramatic win in the U20 Women’s Heptathlon. Coming down to the 800m, Batten entered the final event only 28 points ahead of Esquivel. Despite a valiant effort from the UWA runner, Esquivel crossed the 2:27.90 to clinch the state title with 4,219 points to best Batten’s 4,028.

National Decathlon Champion Jaxon Stewart (West Track) claimed Gold in the U18 Men’s Senior Decathlon with 6,433 points. Stewart’s dominance in the throws helped the West Track athlete maintain his lead, especially in the javelin, where he threw 57.19m. Cameron Schirmer (Melville Roar) provided strong competition to Stewart over the weekend but had to settle for the silver after scoring 6,112 points. Schirmer found success in the jumps and collected solid points in the Pole Vault and High Jump competitions.

Rhianna Di Guiseppe (Bunbury) has continued to impress after winning a bronze medal in the Women’s U17 Heptathlon at the 2023 Junior Track and Field Championships earlier this year by stepping onto the podium to win the U18 State Title with a score of 4,141 points.  

Continuing his strong form in 2023, Wyatt Hill (West Track) had no trouble stepping up to a Decathlon to take out the win in the U16 age group with 5,579 points.

Gracie-Lee Briggs (Cockburn) and Travis Deane (Ridgewood) also continued their year of strong form, collecting gold medals in the Girls U14 Heptathlon with 3,400 points and the Boys U13 Pentathlon with 2,165 points, respectively.

To find the complete list of results from the 2023 Combined Events Championships, CLICK HERE.

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By Dylan Gane, Athletics West

Posted on 21 November 2023