Ashburton's flat terrain will give Tauranga Boys' College athletics star Julian Oakley his best chance of bowing out of secondary schools crosscountry a winner after the 17-year-old yesterday took out the Bay of Plenty-Mid Island senior boys' title with a withering burst of speed at Tauranga's Waipuna Park.
A year after
being beaten into second by Fairfield College's Mohamed Ali, Oakley signalled he's ready to challenge for the national secondary schools off-road crown, which will be decided next week in South Canterbury.
Oakley and Tauranga Boys' rival Michael Sutton, who was running barefoot, plugged their way through the opening 2km lap together before Oakley kicked clear, opening a 5m gap that soon became 10m, expanding with every stride before running away with it, clocking 20min21sec over 6km, with Sutton 52sec back and Matt Strange making it a Tauranga Boys' trifecta.
Oakley was 9th last year at the nationals in Waikanae but Ashburton's less-than-hilly terrain has him confident of pushing for a medal on June 18.
"Today was a pretty good race. I knew Michael would take it out pretty fast but I was feeling pretty good after a couple of kilometres and decided to go from there.
"I'd opened up a bit of a gap which blew out quite quickly. I didn't intend on it but the gap was there so I cashed in."
Oakley said the goal of finishing on top in his final year at school loomed large going into the race, although his main focus remains on the track where he's hunting 800m and 1500m success next summer at the schools and club nationals.
Coach Gareth Hyett was building the winter base, with four long runs a week and a couple of sessions at the Domain's all-weather track to sharpen his speed.
Kate Loye's senior girls's title was in contrast to Oakley's, with the St Peters Year 13 student reeling in Waikato Diocesan's Olivia Ritchie during the dying stages of the run to win by 12 seconds in a time of 15:52.
Ritchie and Te Aroha's Kerry White set the early pace, with Loye admitting she was happy to sit back in the pack and not contend. But she hit the front on the final steep climb and gassed Ritchie over the final 500m.
Unlike Oakley, 18-year-old Loye has no plans to convert her regional title into national success, saying her weekends were taken up with soccer.
"Today was fun but I had no plan and don't even really run crosscountry - I wanted to get out and run and that's all."
The day's closest finishes were in the intermediate divisions, where Tauranga Boys' Daniel Hintz held off Aidan Hawkins (Tauhara College) by four seconds to win the boys' title and Aquinas' Lili Crombie pipped Jessica Bitcheno (Tauranga Girls') by just three seconds in the one-lapper, with another five seconds back to Emily McCarthy (Tauranga Girls') in third.
Anneke Grogan (Aquinas) and Isabella Kirk (Tauranga Girls) took 1-2 in the junior girls' race.
Bay of Plenty-Mid Island secondary schools crosscountry championshipsJunior:Girls: 1 Lili Crombie (Aquinas) 11:36, 2 Jessica Bitcheno (Tauranga Girls) 11:39, 3 Emily McCarthy (Tauranga Girls) 11:44.
Boys: 1 Daniel Hintz (Tauranga Boys), 2 Aidan Hawkins (Tauhara College) 10:23, 3 Andrew Robinson (Tauranga Boys) 10:30.Intermediate:
Girls: 1 Anneke Grogan (Aquinas) 11:26, 2 Isabella Kirk (Tauranga Girls) 11:38, 3 Nicole Van Der Kaay (Taupo) 11:44.
Boys: 1 Jacob Priddy (Hamilton Boys) 13:46, 2 Dion Goodhue (Waihi College) 14:27, 3 Jonty Cooke (Hamilton Boys) 14:28.Senior:
Girls: 1 Kate Loye (St Peters, Cambridge) 15:52, 2 Olivia Ritchie (Waikato Diocesan) 16:04, 3 Kerry White (Te Aroha College) 16:04.
Boys: 1 Julian Oakley (Tauranga Boys) 20:21, 2 Michael Sutton (Tauranga Boys) 21:13, 3 Matt Strange (Tauranga Boys) 21:56.
Ashburton's flat terrain will give Tauranga Boys' College athletics star Julian Oakley his best chance of bowing out of secondary schools crosscountry a winner after the 17-year-old yesterday took out the Bay of Plenty-Mid Island senior boys' title with a withering burst of speed at Tauranga's Waipuna Park.
A year after
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