Central Hawke’s Bay heptathlete Briana Stephenson into world’s top 50 after three national titles in a fortnight

Multi-events specialist Briana Stephenson has become a national athletics champion for the third time in a fortnight by winning the New Zealand women’s heptathlon in Auckland at the weekend.

Earlier this month the 25-year-old Auckland-based athlete from Central Hawke’s Bay and a former pupil of Napier Girls’ High School was a member of a Hawke’s Bay Poverty Bay team that won the centre’s first national women’s 4x100m title in over 80 years, and claimed national individual honours in the 100m hurdles.

She was also third in the senior women’s high jump and fourth in the long jump, an event she won at the 2020 championships, also in Christchurch.

She finished the national combined events championships competition at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday and Sunday with a personal best 5985pts, the seventh-best by any female New Zealand athlete and falling barely a second just short of the magical accumulation of 6000 when she closed with a personal best 2m 13.05s in the 800 metres, needing a time of 2m 12s or better.

Briana Stephenson, from Central Hawke's Bay, in Auckland last weekend on her way to winning her first New Zealand senior women's heptathlon championship. Photo / Petro Geldenhuys

Beating her previous best by more than 200pts, Stephenson had four PBs in the seven events as she inched closer to the New Zealand women’s heptathlon record of 6278pts, set 33 years ago.

Maddie Wilson, of Christchurch, was second with 5629pts, 361 short of the 5990 she beat Stephenson in last year’s championships.

Third at her first attempt in 2023, Stephenson told athletics media at the championships on Sunday, “I had times I needed to have, and I knew what time I needed to run, and I was just under a second off that. But all and all very happy to have over 200 point PB.”

She started with the 100m hurdles in 13.34s ranks, the fourth-fastest ever by a New Zealand women’s hurdler. A 1.78m high jump was another PB, and a Hawke’s Bay Poverty Bay senior women’s record, and the 200m in 23.81s was an unofficial PB, as the tailwind reading was only just illegal.

Stephenson told Hawke’s Bay Today she has the national record in her sights, but believes a ranking of No 24 or better worldwide is a more realistic pathway to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September than the qualifying standard of 6500pts.

“I know I am more than capable of scoring 6000 points and beyond, which I am hoping to do during my European campaign this year,” she said.

“As far as world champs goes, the other avenue to qualify [other than the qualifying standard] is being within the top 24 in the world, which is my best bet this year,” she said. “After this weekend result, I will be within the top 50 in the world.”

The world record is the 7291pts amassed by US athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.