ATHLETICS - Runners take on mile in wet, windy conditions

Hannah Newbould drew deep to edge clear of Nicki McFadzien over the last few strides in the girls' Rod Dixon Mile, run on Otamatea High School's water-soaked track in Maungaturoto on Saturday.
The Rod Dixon Mile, organised by Otamatea High and Athletics Whangarei, are open to secondary school runners from Mahurangi College northwards and to other invited runners. This year sponsorship from the Skin and Vein Clinic meant organisers were able attract some of the New Zealand's top young athletes to the event, including Cashmere High School's Newbould and Villa Maria's McFadzien.
Going into the race, Newbould wasn't confident about her early-season form and so played a waiting game that paid off.
"I came with no real expectations because it's just the beginning of the track season and I haven't done much speed work yet, but I thought it was an exciting opportunity to run up here and I would try my hardest," she said.
"With the track today and the weather I just decided to hang behind and wait and I just waited and waited ... and I knew that Nicki would put up a fight and she did." Newbould started her sprint off McFadzien's shoulder, coming off the final bend but couldn't shake McFadzien, who came again at her with 50m to go but couldn't find the pace to pass Newbould, coming up a metre or two short.
Secondary Schools World Cross Country gold medallist Esther Keown, from Auckland Girls' Grammar, also looked poised and ready to swoop in the early stages of the race but faded towards the line, finishing six seconds back in third place.
Palmerston North's Olivia Burne finished fourth, while Mahurangi College's Kim Burke hung on to the main group determinedly, while Christchurch's Hannah Farrow gradually dropped off the pace. At the tail of the field, Otamatea High School's Ripley Dean put in a gutsy run. She may have been outclassed on the day but still finished in a good time in the conditions.
In the boys' mile, Tadele Haimanot, an Ethiopian by birth who attends Mt Roskill Grammar, cruised comfortably through the opening stages before leaving his challengers struggling to hang on in the wet conditions and powering down the finishing straight for a superb win in the fast time in the conditions of four minutes 47 seconds. Haimanot, who won silver in this year's Boys' 16 New Zealand Cross Country Championships, found the course to his liking.
"It was good although a bit windy ... there was water splashing ... it was like cross-country," he said.
Whangarei Boys' High School's Ryan Smith looked to have Haimanot's measure in the early stages but the strong wind and fast pace took its toll on the taller athlete. He was unable to hang on and gradually dropped back to finish nine seconds in arrears.
The battle for third place was the most captivating. Trenton Powell, from the host school Otamatea HS, dug deep to cross the line half a second ahead of WBHS's Aaron Millar.