Gayen Crowned Six-Time Open Women's State Multi Event Champion

Published Mon 10 Jan 2022

Pembroke Athletics Club's Christine Gayen edged out her sister, Margaret Gayen, in the Open Women's Heptathlon during last weekend's State Multi Event Championships to take the title for the sixth consecutive time.

The two-day event was held at the SA Athletics Stadium on January 8 and 9, 2022.

C. Gayen managed 4786 points across the seven events to secure the Gold Medal and bragging rights over M. Gayen, who finished with a score of 4405.

"I feel great to get the win and finish off the seven events really strong," C. Gayen said.

"I was unwell over the winter which really impacted my training, so I wasn't sure how I would go in the Heptathlon, but I am happy to get through it all and put in some pretty decent performances.

"I managed a couple of season bests in my Shot Put (11.62m), High Jump (1.58m) and Javelin (35.46m), and I got close to PBs so that indicates that there is still more to come.

"There is still a while until Nationals (the Australian Track and Field Championships in late March) so hopefully I can see a few PBs before then - I am aiming for 5000 points at Nationals as last year I finished with 4995."

Find all the results from the weekend's State Multi Event Championships here

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State 3000m Championships: Age Group | Open

Pembroke's Christine Gayen charging towards the line in the final event of the Open Women's Pentathlon, the 800m which she won in 2:34.58. At the conclusion of this race she was crowned State Champion for the sixth straight year.

Despite her recovery from illness, last weekend's event was the 25-year-old's second best output in the Open Women's Heptathlon, with last year's victory coming with 4967 points.

"I am getting back to full training now, it was good to give it a crack and it's a confidence booster for me to know that I am not too far off where I was this time last year," C. Gayen said.

"Having won it six times now, it is good to hold onto the title for another year.

"Competing against Margaret is always good as she pushes me along and it's good to have that sibling rivalry, and it was good to compete against the U18 and U20 Women as well, it was a great competition."

M. Gayen won the first event of the Heptathlon - the 100m Hurdles in a time of 14.40, as well as the 200m (25.81) and Long Jump (5.89m) events - but C. Gayen secured the High Jump (1.58m), Shot Put (11.62m), Javelin (35.46m) and 800m (2:34.58) to take the title.

C. Gayen, bib 35, edged out her sister M. Gayen, 13, in the Open Women's Pentathlon, while Tamsyn Murdoch, 367, won the U20 Women's Penthathlon.

Saints Athletics Club athlete, Dean Pastrello won five of the 10 disciplines to secure a 612-point victory over Saints teammate Joshua Love and Flinders AC's Fraser Western to claim his third State Open Men's Decathlon title.

Love got the jump on the field of seven competitors, winning the first three events - the 100m (10.71), Long Jump (6.67m) and Shot Put (12.04) - before Pastrello hit back with wins in the High Jump (1.84m) and 400m (50.61) to conclude Day 1.

Dean Pastrello won the Open Men's Decathlon for the third time.

Love held a 3626 to 3571 lead overnight, while Western had 2590, Saints' Tyler Ford 2590 and Hills Districts' James Lee 2248.

Pastrello put in a strong 15.46 effort to claim the 110m Hurdles early on Day 2 to take the lead in the overall competition, and went on to secure the Gold Medal with wins in the Pole Vault (4.00m) and Javelin (48.69m).

He finished with 6571 points, ahead of the second placed Love (5959) and third placed Western (4894).

Western won the final event - the 1500m in 5:00.82 - to ensure that Love and Pastrello weren't the only ones to claim discipline wins in the Open Men's Decathlon.

Pastrello said his tactic was to be within striking distance of Love at the half-way point, who he believed would hold a lead at the conclusion of Day 1.

"Day 1 was a day which favoured Josh (Love) as it was the events built around raw athleticism, (100m, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump and 400m), which he trumps me in so I didn't want to fall too far behind," Pastrello said.

"Josh and I really feel as though this is our event, it is so much fun doing the variety of disciplines and being around the other guys because it is a collective struggle to get through it all.

"I am so tired, sore and feel terrible all over, but it is the most fun enjoyable event on the calendar and you can't get through it without the support of the other competitors.

"You can't be naturally good at every event, and while I can't compete with a lot of other athletes at their individual disciplines, I feel that I am more of a jack of all trades, rather than being particularly good at any specific event - so this event is a no brainer for me.

Joshua Love, bib 813, came storming out of the blocks in the Open Men's Decathlon, winning the first three events, before Pestrallo reeled him in on Day 2.

Pastrello said he was most impressed by his efforts in the 400m and Pole Vault.

"Hurdles is my strongest event and I have spent many years building my strength in this discipline, while I feel that I competed well in the jumps over the weekend - I used to be quite average at Long Jump (6.64m), but I managed to pick up more points this year and everything clicked for me in the Pole Vault (4.00m)," he said.

"I was so happy with my 400m, I gave it everything and I don't think I have run a faster 300m - after that I just managed to struggle over the line in the last 100m to win at the end of Day 1."

Western's Zachary Washington, bib 91, won the U20 Men's Decathlon, ahead of Zade Kretchmer, 683, Onesimus Hewett, 543, and Blake Jacobs, 377.

In other results, Zachary Washington of the Western Athletics Club put in a consistent performance to win the U20 Men's Decathlon with 5465, ahead of Port Adelaide's Zade Kretschmer (4910) and Onesimus Hewett (4238), while Southern Shark Zayden Kamish also secured a strong victory in the U16 Men's Heptathlon with 4187, to defeat Sandro Purugganan, 3634.

The field was very tight in the race for the U18 Men's Decathlon title, as five of the seven athletes claimed wins across the 10 disciplines.

Logoh Tligi of the Northern Districts Athletics Club ended up with the Gold Medal around his neck (4991), after wins in the Shot Put, 400m, Discus and Javelin, ahead of Western's Lachlan Rudd (4800) and Kane Axon (4129).

Tamsyn Murdoch managed a comfortable victory in the U20 Women's Heptathlon (4168), winning five of the seven events, while Western teammate Leila Croker also secured five event wins to take out the U18 Women's Heptathlon in a strong eight-athlete field.

Croker finished with 4687 points, ahead of the Tea Tree Gully duo of Tryphena Hewett (4436) and Tahlia Lienert (3438).

U18 Women's Heptathlon winner Leila Croker.

The closest result came in the U16 Women's Heptathlon, where Western's Georgie Fielder came away with a four-point win over Pembroke athlete Charlotte McAuliffe - 4559 to 4555.

Despite the two young guns duelling it out across seven events, it came down to a sprint to the line in the final 800m race, which McAuliffe won by 0.48, but Fielder managed to draw enough points from the race to hang on to the Gold Medal.

India Goodall claimed the U14 Girl's Pentathlon (2205), Ken Ferrante Tanikawa the U14 Boys Pentathlon (2776), Leon Gouws the O35 Men's Pentathlon (2171), Reine Hobbs the O35 Women's Pentathlon (1694) and Timothy Storer the O50 Men's Pentathlon (1224).

Ashley James of the Pembroke Athletics Club picked up the Bronze Medal in the U16 Women's Heptathlon.

Zachery Washington

Northern's Logoh Tligi won the U18 Men's Decathlon.

Fraser Western of the Flinders Athletics Club finished third in the Open Men's Decathlon

100m and 200m Invitational Event

Saints Athletics Club sprinter Aidan Murphy continued his electrifying run of form on Saturday in the 100m and 200m Invitational, held at the SA Athletics Stadium.

The 19-year-old Athletics SA Emerging Athlete Program member ran a 20.62 Men's U20 State Record in the 200m, and 10.41 in the prior 100m.

The State Record previously belonged to Murphy, which he set in November last year, but he is now in pursuit of Bruce Frayne's Open Men's 200m Record of 20.59 which was set in December 1980.

20.62 is the fastest 200m managed by an Australian this season.

Western's Harrison Hunt finished second in both races, with times of 10.51 and 21.26, while Mikayla Round won the Women's 100m race in 12.52.