Titilia Namu Uqeuqe of Church College of Fiji set a new benchmark at the Suva zone athletics meet yesterday, breaking the Suva Zone One senior girls high jump record and equalling the national senior girls mark with a clearance of 1.68 metres. Her jump matched the national record set by Shawntell Lockington of Xavier College in 2019, ending a six-year hold on the mark.
Uqeuqe, who comes from Tavualevu Village in Tavua and is a former student of Tavua College, said her immediate aim was to hit a personal best rather than chase history. “At first, I really did not expect to break it but I was just trying to reach my personal best, that’s all,” she said after the competition. Her performance produced a new Suva zone standard while bringing her level with Lockington’s national benchmark.
The achievement follows a steady progression through Fiji’s school athletics circuit. Uqeuqe has previously represented Tavua College at the Coca‑Cola Games and said the move to Church College in Suva did not unsettle her. “I always adapted really well since I would always come for the trials and the Oceania meets,” she added, pointing to experience in regional competition and trials as factors that eased her transition to the capital’s competitive environment.
Her victory was an emotional one. Uqeuqe dedicated the result to her family and relatives back in Tavua, and to her coach, Brother Racule, who is based at Church College of Fiji. Team officials and coaches present praised her technique and composure, noting that equalling a national record in a zone meet underlines her potential as she moves into senior-level competition.
In addition to the high jump, Uqeuqe also lined up in the 100 metres at the Suva zone meet, which concludes today. Organisers expect final placings and qualification lists from the zone events to be confirmed once all disciplines wrap up, with athletes across age groups vying for places in upcoming national-level competitions.
Uqeuqe’s mark of 1.68m now stands as both the Suva Zone One record and a joint national standard, putting her name alongside Lockington’s in the national record books and signalling her as a talent to watch in Fiji’s women’s high jump scene.
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