Athletics: Kiwi sprinter Zoe Hobbs breaks Oceania record to progress at World Championships

Zoe Hobbs set a new Oceania record in her 100m heat at the World Championships. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwi sprinter Zoe Hobbs has powered into the 100m semifinals at the world championships, breaking her own Oceania record in the process.

Hobbs crossed the line in 11.08sec in her heat at the event in Eugene, Oregon. The mark bettered the 11.09sec mark she set at the Oceania championships in Australia last month, and saw her take second place in her heat to automatically progress in the event.

"I'm just stoked to make the semi, and to run a PB at the same time is really cool," Hobbs said after her race.

"Everyone said I got a good start, but I don't remember that. I was kind of just in my own lane. I didn't know I came second. I wasn't really noticing anything around me, I was just trying make sure I pieced together the right race.

"I did panic towards the end a little bit, so that's something I would like to clean up tomorrow."

Hobbs has been in fantastic form all season as she builds towards the Commonwealth Games - lowering the New Zealand's women's 100m mark five times since December - and said she went into the world championships with the expectation of qualifying for the semifinals.

"I was quite nervous before the race. I've been nervous all day, so it's been quite a long day in that sense. But I've got nothing to lose tomorrow. I think that takes the pressure off, and I just want to go out and enjoy it."

The women's 100m semifinals are scheduled to start at 12.33pm on Monday.

Hobbs' performance followed fellow Kiwi sprinter Eddie Osei-Nketia, who yesterday set a new New Zealand record in his heat to qualify for the semifinals. Osei-Nketia's time of 10.08sec edged the previous New Zealand mark of 10.11sec - set by his father Gus 28 years ago.

The 21-year-old couldn't repeat the dose in his semifinal, running a 10.29sec race to finish seventh in his heat. The slowest qualifying time for the final was 10.06sec.

In the men's 1500m, Sam Tanner qualified through to Monday's semifinals after a strong race in his heat. His mark of 3min 39.33sec saw him finish fifth in his race - with the top six in each of the three heats earning automatic qualification.

In the women's shot put, Maddison Wesche threw a new personal best of 19.50m to take seventh place in the final. American Chase Ealey claimed the title with a throw of 20.51m.