By: Pippa Norman
The final day of the NACAC Combined Events Championship came to a thunderous conclusion today, with American Michelle Atherley and Bahamian Ken Mullings walking away as Area Champions.
Finishing with 6029 points, Atherley described her second day of competition as being full of highs and lows. She said her results in long jump and javelin were close to her lowest marks this season, but she managed to stick to her goal of running under 2:12 in her 800m.
On her way to the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon this summer with today’s first place finish, Atherley said for now, she’s excited to just relax.
“I’m looking forward to sleeping… I think my body really needs it,” she said. “I can’t wait to go home and see my friends.”
Fellow American Ashtin Mahler held second place for most of the day, before dropping out of the competition just before the 800m. In search of that World Championship qualifying score, Mahler decided to re-focus her energy into an upcoming World Combined Events Challenge competition in Spain.
Garnering a silver medal, Canadian Nicole Ostertag finished 228 points behind Atherley. Despite an afternoon scare in which Ostertag said she hit her javelin off her head, she still managed to pull out a personal best in every event and exceed her expectations.
“I’m really happy with that score,” said Ostertag of her personal best performance. “I didn’t come into this meet, thinking I could score that high. But I kept focused in each event and it ended up adding up.”
In the men’s decathlon, Bahamian Ken Mullings maintained his lead from day one, finishing with an overall score of 7537, a mere 197 points away from his personal best. Winning javelin was a highlight for Mullings, he said.
“Javelin was one of my weakest throwing events and now it’s getting up there with one of my strongest,” Mullings said.
He added that even without strong decathlon athletes such as Damien Warner or Lindon Victor present, Mullings’ victory still means a lot to him.
“At least now I can say I’m the champion of NACAC,” Mullings said. “I’m still happy because I got to win for the Bahamas.”
Finishing 1087 points behind Mullings, Canadian Shawn Beaudoin moved up in the standings today to snag a silver medal. Beaudoin said he struggled to return to the competition after over an hour delay due to lightning, but overall, he was happy with the consistency of his performance.
“It could have been a better score, for sure. But I’m happy to have won a medal,” he said.
Canadian Rostam Turner dropped from second to third place on day two of the competition, with an overall score of 6344. Finishing without a height in pole vault, Turner said he didn’t meet his expectations for the meet, but medalling was still important to him.
“It means a lot. It’s always a big deal, winning a medal at an international event,” Turner said.