Oceania Athletes have performed well at the very competitive NCAA Indoor Championships in both Division 1 and Division 2.
In the Division 2 National Indoor Championships, it was PNG’s Rellie Kaputin who claimed her third NCAA Division 2 National Title as she won the long jump with a leap of 6.24m. This follows her success in the triple jump last year when she won both the indoor and outdoor national titles and was a fitting end to a stellar career at West Texas A&M University. Kaputin wasn’t at her best in the triple jump but still collected six vital points for the team by placing third and her sixteen points was again the highest contribution from any WTAMU athlete. The Lady Buffs maintained their position as the #1 Division 2 team in the nation established in winning the outdoor title last year. Kaputin can now look forward to the Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast next month and to graduating in May.
At the Division 1 Championships, in Texas, Australia and New Zealand athletes combined to lead the Oregon Women’s Distance Medal Relay to a victory. It was Jessica Hull (Australia), who lead the Oregon team off, and handed the baton off in equal first. Whilst New Zealand representative Lil Burdon, controlled the final 1600m leg from the front, to lead the team home ahead of rivals Stanford University.
Both girls came back the following day to race the 3000m, where Jessica came through the field to finish off a good weekend with a 3rd place finish, with Burdon finishing in 9th.
In the Men’s 3000m, there was also an Australian and New Zealand duo competing, this time for different universities, with Australian Oliver Hoare finishing 8th for Wisconsin and New Zealand’s Matt Baxter finished a credible 11th for Northern Arizona.
Australian Jack Bruce finished off his final indoor season with a 12th place finish in the 5000m, whilst Amy Cashin (Australia) made the final of the womens mile, finishing 9th for her school, West Virginia.
Editors note: These are the performances of Oceania Athletes that the OAA office is aware of at time of writing. If you know of any other athletes please forward to OAA office.
