2009 Melanesian Championships in Athletics

The 2009 Melanesian Championships in Athletics took place between August 4–8, 2009. The event was held at the Griffith University in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, jointly with the OAA Grand Prix Series, and the OAA sub-regional Micronesian and Polynesian Championships. Many athletes utilised the competitions preparing for the upcoming IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany. Detailed reports were given for the OAA.

V Melanesian Championships in Athletics
Dates	August 4–8
Host city	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Venue	Griffith University
Level	Senior
Events	34 (18 men, 16 women)
Participation	85 athletes from 7 nations
← 2007 Cairns 2011 Apia →

A total of 34 events were contested, 18 by men and 16 by women.

Medal summary

Complete results can be found on the Oceania Athletics Association webpage, and at sportfieber.pytalhost.com.

In 100 metres, 400 metres hurdles, long jump and triple jump, as well as in shot put, discus throw, and javelin throw, there were separate open competitions for the Melanesian championships and the OAA Grand Prix Series held on different days.

Men

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres (wind: +0.1 m/s)	Niko Verekauta Fiji	10.60	Nelson Stone Papua New Guinea	10.76	Iowane Dovumatua Fiji	10.82
100 metres Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	Adison Alfred Solomon Islands	11.21 (wind: +0.0 m/s)	Mathew Goha Solomon Islands	11.30 (wind: +1.2 m/s)	Jack Iroga Solomon Islands	11.37 (wind: +1.2 m/s)
200 metres (wind: +2.5 m/s)	Niko Verekauta Fiji	21.47 w	Nelson Stone Papua New Guinea	21.59 w	Tevita Nalovo Tuvuloka Fiji	22.17 w
400 metres1.)	Nelson Stone Papua New Guinea	47.61	Wala Gime Papua New Guinea	48.38	Joshua Ahwong Australia	48.77
800 metres	Varasiko Toge Tomeru Fiji	1:55.21	Adrien Kela New Caledonia	1:55.58	Dean Searles Australia	1:55.62
1500 metres	Adrien Kela New Caledonia	4:08.57	Rorey Hunter Australia	4:09.19	Douglas Bale Solomon Islands	4:17.28
5000 metres	Philip Nausien Vanuatu	16:08.60	Nathan Sutherland Australia	16:34.26	Theo Houdret New Caledonia	17:30.16
10000 metres	Chris Votu Solomon Islands	34:08.25	Philip Nausien Vanuatu	35:43.02	Nicholas Hanna Australia	42:11.04
3000 metres steeplechase	Chris Votu Solomon Islands	10:17.84	Douglas Bale Solomon Islands	10:24.15
110 metres hurdles (wind: -0.1 m/s)	Xavier Fenuafanote New Caledonia	15.79	Jone Wainiqolo Fiji	15.82	Nathan McConchie Australia	18.04
400 metres hurdles	Wala Gime Papua New Guinea	53.12
400 metres hurdles Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	Wala Gime Papua New Guinea	52.45	Jone Wainiqolo Fiji	56.06
High Jump	Norman Tse Papua New Guinea	1.96m	Xavier Fenuafanote New Caledonia	1.87m	Khaele Bowen Australia	1.81m
Long Jump	Julius Nyambane Australia	7.01m (wind: +1.1 m/s)	Rodney Blaire Australia	6.71m (wind: -1.5 m/s)	Norman Tse Papua New Guinea	6.69m (wind: +1.9 m/s)
Long Jump Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	Julius Nyambane Australia	6.90m (wind: -0.4 m/s)	Norman Tse Papua New Guinea	6.69m (wind: +0.7 m/s)	Rodney Blaire Australia	6.39m (wind: +0.9 m/s)
Triple Jump	Mong Tavol Papua New Guinea	13.91m (wind: -1.0 m/s)	Reginald Monagi Papua New Guinea	13.24m (wind: +0.0 m/s)	Etuwate Dreli Fiji	12.98m (wind: -2.1 m/s)
Triple Jump Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	Mong Tavol Papua New Guinea	13.98m (wind: -1.1 m/s)	Reginald Monagi Papua New Guinea	13.64m (wind: -0.2 m/s)
Shot Put	David Rakoci Australia	11.11m
Discus Throw Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	David Rakoci Australia	34.61m
Hammer Throw	Thomas McGuire Australia	43.25m	David Rakoci Australia	32.59m
Javelin Throw	Leslie Copeland Fiji	67.99m CR	Ashley Hollins Australia	61.12m	Semi Waqavatu Fiji	55.13m
Javelin Throw Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	Leslie Copeland Fiji	66.36m	Ashley Hollins Australia	64.23m
4 x 100 metres relay2.)	Fiji	41.40 =CR	Papua New Guinea	41.90	Australia	44.33
4 x 400 metres relay	Papua New Guinea	3:23.07	Vanuatu	3:30.73	Australia	3:34.31

^1.): In the 400 metres event, Kevin Kapmatana from Papua New Guinea was 2nd in 48.05 competing as a guest.
^2.): In the 4 x 100 metres relay event, the B team from Fiji was 3rd in 42.30 competing as guests.

Women

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres (wind: -1.0 m/s)	Toea Wisil Papua New Guinea	11.80 =CR	Makelesi Bulikiobo Fiji	11.98	Helen Philemon Papua New Guinea	13.07
100 metres (wind: +1.0 m/s)] Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	Michele John Papua New Guinea	13.52	Pauline Kwalea Solomon Islands	13.63
200 metres (wind: 1.6 m/s)	Makelesi Bulikiobo Fiji	24.25	Toea Wisil Papua New Guinea	24.64	Paulini Korowaqa Fiji	25.65
400 metres1.)	Makelesi Bulikiobo Fiji	54.90	Salome Dell Papua New Guinea	55.79	Paulini Korowaqa Fiji	58.36
800 metres	Salome Dell Papua New Guinea	2:09.25 CR	Kavita Maharaj Fiji	2:21.23	Poro Gahekave Papua New Guinea	2:26.37
1500 metres	Kavita Maharaj Fiji	4:57.81	Poro Gahekave Papua New Guinea	5:08.60	Salote Nauila Fiji	5:20.75
5000 metres	Sereima Liku Fiji	20:24.28
100 metres hurdles (wind: -0.3 m/s)	Soko Salaniqiqi Fiji	15.66 CR
400 metres hurdles	Sharon Kwarula Papua New Guinea	64.38
Long Jump	Soko Salaniqiqi Fiji	5.71m w (wind: +4.9 m/s)	Merrisa Colledge Australia	5.50m w (wind: +2.8 m/s)
Long Jump Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	Merrisa Colledge Australia	5.17m (wind: +0.8 m/s)	Soko Salaniqiqi Fiji	5.17m (wind: +1.3 m/s)
Triple Jump	Nickeisha Hodder Australia	10.20m (wind: +0.5 m/s)
Shot Put	Kelly Humphries Australia	11.19m CR	Nickeisha Hodder Australia	9.63m	Britt Quintal Christian Norfolk Island	8.91m
Shot Put Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	Kelly Humphries Australia	11.09m	Che Kenneally Australia	10.47m	Britt Quintal Christian Norfolk Island	8.81m
Discus Throw2.)	Kelly Humphries Australia	38.23m CR	Wasie Toolis Australia	32.34m	Nickeisha Hodder Australia	32.01m
Discus Throw Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	Kelly Humphries Australia	36.17m	Nickeisha Hodder Australia	35.40m	Wasie Toolis Australia	31.18m
Hammer Throw	Kelly Humphries Australia	44.22m CR	Cindy Toluafe New Caledonia	41.28m
Javelin Throw	Nickeisha Hodder Australia	40.99m	Wasie Toolis Australia	39.02m
Javelin Throw Non-Championship Event (Grand Prix Series)	Nickeisha Hodder Australia	41.45m	Wasie Toolis Australia	37.09m	Kelly Humphries Australia	29.26m
4 x 100 metres relay	Papua New Guinea	49.08	Australia	51.92
4 x 400 metres relay	Papua New Guinea	4:00.20	Fiji	4:02.28

^1.): In the 400 metres event, Angeline Blackburn from Australia was 3rd in 55.85 competing as a guest.
^2.): In the discus throw event, Che Kenneally from Australia was 2nd in 35.71m competing as a guest.

Medal table (unofficial)

  *   Host nation (Australia)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Fiji (FIJ)	11	4	7	22
2	Papua New Guinea (PNG)	10	8	3	21
3	Australia (AUS)*	8	10	8	26
4	New Caledonia (NCL)	2	3	1	6
5	Solomon Islands (SOL)	2	1	1	4
6	Vanuatu (VAN)	1	2	0	3
7	Norfolk Island (NFK)	0	0	1	1
Totals (7 entries)		34	28	21	83

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 85 athletes from 7 countries participated.

• Australia (24)
• Fiji (19)
• New Caledonia (5)
• Norfolk Island (1)
• Papua New Guinea (21)
• Solomon Islands (6)
• Vanuatu (9)