Heyne and Adams selected in Australia's World University Games team

Published Tue 31 May 2022

Hills Districts Athletics Club members Isaac Heyne and Caitlin Adams have been selected in Australia's Ceremonial Team for the 2022 FISU World University Games, which was due to be held in Chengdu, China next month.

The SA runners and University of South Australia students (Heyne - Physiotherapy, Adams - Education) were named in Australia's team of 44 athletes today (May 31).

The Games have been postponed due to safety concerns, but Athletics Australia announced the selected team to recognise the athletes' achievements, as well as to honour them with an Australian competition kit.

Heyne was selected to run the 5000m in China, and Adams the 10,000m.

Both Heyne and Adams are currently on Tour in the USA with TeamTempo training partners Matthew Clarke, Max Stevens and Adam Goddard.

Heyne, Adams and Stevens are next scheduled to compete at the Music City Distance Carnival in Nashville, Tennessee on June 5 - the squad's fourth leg on their US Tour.

The 22-year-old Heyne enjoyed a scintillating start to his first overseas Tour (and first trip overseas), running a nine-second PB in the Men's 5000m event at the Payton Jordan Invitational in California in late April.

Heyne’s time of 13:30.82 elevated him to the second fastest SA 5000m runner of all time, with only David Fitzsimons clocking a quicker time (Fitzsimons holds the Open Men's 5000m State Record with 13:17.42, set in 1977).

Also overseas is Flinders Athletic Club runner and Tokyo Olympian Isobel Batt-Doyle, who on Saturday won the Next Generation Athletics meet in the Netherlands, finishing in 15:33.03 to win the 5000m.

Isaac Heyne, hip number 14, running the 5000m at the 2022 Australian Track and Field Championships in Sydney.

State Performance Advisor and TeamTempo Coach Adam Didyk said the World University Games selection was reward for effort for both Heyne and Adams.

"This selection validates their hard work more than anything and shows that they are tracking in the right direction," Didyk said.

"(The postponement) is an opportunity missed for Caitlin unfortunately, but she is going to be in great shape for the Australian Cross Country Championships later this year, which is a positive for us with the World Cross Country Championships scheduled for next year.

"Being in America has been a big learning curve for Isaac, and one that we wanted to address this year, as he starts to strive for those Senior (National) team selections.

"The World Uni Games selection is a step in the right direction for Isaac and it's good to see that he is stepping up to the standard that he needs to be competitive on that stage.

"Caitlin had Covid before she went to America and got knocked around by that and what turned out to be a long quarantine period, but she has bounced back really well - this trip is a learning curve for her as well.

"She (Adams) has been on Teams previously, but an overseas training camp is different in the way that you have to manage yourself overseas.

"This will hopefully set them both up to be successful in the future."

Caitlin Adams running at the 2022 State Track and Field Championships at the SA Athletics Stadium.

Heyne - who won the 2021/22 Open Men's 1500m, 3000m and 5km Road State Titles - and Adams - who won the 2021/22 Open Women's 1500m and 5km Road State Titles - were last week named in Athletics SA's 2022/23 Emerging Athlete Program (Heyne) and Senior Performance Program (Adams) squads.

Athletics Australia General Manager, High Performance Andrew Faichney said that despite the disappointment of athletes not being able to compete at the World University Games, it was important to recognise the milestone for Olympians, Australian representatives and debutants alike.

“Being selected to an Australian team is an honour and a privilege for any athlete regardless of their experience, and to be selected for a World University Games team is a particularly prestigious feat,” Faichney said.

“While it is incredibly disappointing that the World University Games have been postponed again, we hope this recognition is reward for their efforts, and a way to keep athletes motivated as they strive towards their next goal.”

Athletics Australia is awaiting details regarding the rescheduling of the Games and how the rescheduled dates will affect individuals who meet maximum age and study requirements.

Many athletes selected as part of the ceremonial team will participate in a self-funded invitational Tour of Europe in late July for added competition experience.

The World University Games are a key stepping-stone for many of Australia’s Olympic and World Championships representatives, with the multi-sport environment providing athletes with crucial international experience.

The Games also encourage student-athletes from around the World to combine high performance sport with their intellectual pursuits.

Also soon to get underway is the 2022 Oceania Athletics Championships in Mackay with South Australia's Jessica McManus, Jonathan Harris, Tryphena Hewett, Nellie Langford, Taylor Larsson, Darcy Miller, Olivia Sandery, Aidan Murphy, Lachlan Page, Jamie Scroop, Courtney Smallacombe, Dylan Stenson, Lillee Wakefield, Keira Post, Akeesha Snowden, Jack Netting, Sam Paech, Angus Hincksman and Hugo Taheny (Regional Australia Team) expected to travel to Queensland and represent Australia (Entry list as at May 27).

The Oceania Championships will commence on Tuesday, June 7.

Members of the Australian World Athletics U20 Championships team, including SA's Murphy, Sandery, Miller and Marley Raikiwasa, are currently attending a Training Camp on the Gold Coast, ahead of the Columbian-based Championships in early August.

Many of the World U20 squad members participated in the Gold Coast Invitational over the weekend.

Murphy was part of the Men’s Under 20 4x100m relay team which delivered a new Men's U20 National Record of 39.30.

The team comprising of Lachlan Kennedy, Caleb Law, Connor Bond and Murphy narrowly surpassed the previous record of 39.34.

Murphy ran 20.68 to win the 200m.

Australian Ceremonial Team – 2022 World University Games

MEN
100m   Jake Doran (Q, Paul di Bella, James Cook University), Joshua Azzopardi (N, Rob Marks, Australian College of Physical Education)
200m   Jake Doran, Joshua Azzopardi
400m   Cameron Searle (V, Bradley Carter, Victoria University)
800m   Jack Lunn (Q, Steve Fabris, Monash University)
1500m    Matthew Ramsden (W, Nic Bideau, Deakin University), Callum Davies (Q, Collis Birmingham, University of Newcastle)
5000m    Matthew Ramsden, Isaac Heyne (S, Adam Didyk, University of SA)
Half Marathon   Tim Vincent (Q, Jackson Elliott, Queensland University of Technology)
110m Hurdles    Sam Hurwood (Q, Rajeev Balakrishnan, The University of Queensland), Jacob McCorry (Q, Sally Pearson, Macquarie University)
Pole Vault   Angus Armstrong (W, Paul Burgess, University of Western Australia)
Long Jump Liam Adcock (Q, Gary Bourne, The University of Queensland), Zane Branco (Q, David Reid, Griffith University)
Triple jump   Ayo Ore (V, Alwyn Jones, The University of Melbourne), Julian Konle (Q, Gary Bourne, Curtin University)
Shot Put Alexander Kolesnikoff (N, David Bruce, Harvard University)
Javelin Throw Cameron McEntyre (N, Angus McEntyre, Macquarie University)
Decathlon   Alec Diamond (N, Zsuzsanna Olgyay-Zsabo, Australian Catholic University), Christian Paynter (V, Zach Nelson, RMIT Melbourne)
20km Walk   Declan Tingay (W, Steven Tingay, University of Western Australia) Kyle Swan (V, Jared Tallent, University of Melbourne), Will Thompson (V, Brent Vallance, Australian Catholic University)
4x100m relay    Jake Doran, Joshua Azzopardi, Zane Branco, Chris Ius (N, Andrew Murphy, The University of Sydney)

WOMEN
100m   Celeste Mucci (V, Darren Clark, Australian University of the Arts), Kristie Edwards (Q, David Reid, University of Technology, Sydney)
200m   Jacinta Beecher (Q, Gary Bourne, Queensland University of Technology), Kristie Edwards
800m   Imogen Barrett (V, Chris Solisnky, University of Florida)
1500m Holly Campbell (N, Jeremy Roff, University of Sydney), Abbey Caldwell (V, Gavin Burren, Deakin University)
5000m Rose Davies (N, Collis Birmingham, University of Queensland), Lauren Ryan (V, Bob Braham)
10,000m   Caitlin Adams (S, Adam Didyk, University of South Australia), Rose Davies
100m H   Celeste Mucci
3000m SC   Georgia Winkcup (N, Ben Liddy, University of NSW), Cara Feain-Ryan (Q, Ben Norton, The University of Queensland)
Pole Vault Nina Kennedy (W, Paul Burgess, Notre Dame University Fremantle)
Long Jump Samantha Dale (N, Andrew Murphy, Australian College of Physical Education), Jessie Harper (Q, Gary Bourne, The University of Queensland)
Triple Jump   Desleigh Owusu (N, Andrew Murphy, Macquarie University)
Discus Throw    Lyvante Su’emai (Q, Faitala Junior Su'emai, University of California Los Angeles)
Hammer Throw   Alexander Hulley (N, Karyne Di Marco, Australian Catholic University)
Javelin Throw   Mackenzie Little (N, Angus McEntyre, University of Sydney), Alexandra Roberts (Q, Ben Thomson, Griffith University)
20km Walk   Rebecca Henderson (V, Simon Baker, Monash University), Clara Smith (Q, Nicola Fagan, University of Queensland)