Athletics: Still going strong

Amanda Still might only be 15 years old but she's showing all the promise that goes with her tag of being Whangarei's best 1500m running prospect.

The Whangarei Girls' High School student officially announced herself in the competitive arena at the North Island Secondary Schools Championships (NISS), where she ran a five second personal best to finish third and push a World Youth Championship under-18 qualifier to the line.

Still's coach, Ian Babe, said her third was enough to promote her to eighth position in New Zealand in the under-18 age group, ratifying her abilities in the athletics community.

"She arrived in the competitive world [at NISS]," Babe commented of his Athletics Whangarei athlete. "She ran a string of three 1500s in around about [four minutes] 49, 50, 51 - once that happens in an athlete usually there's going to be a break through if you get the right conditions, and that happened in her last 1500 [NISS].

"When you have a young lady like Amanda [Still], they're still growing so you've got to be cautious [with training]. Amanda is, in my view, our top prospect for the future, providing she can stay injury-free."

Still said for her the NISS was about keeping things simple and seeing if she could keep up with her older competitors.

"I was just trying to stay up with the other girls and try not to lose them," she laughed. "The person in front of me was only split seconds ahead of me but I managed to get a PB [personal best] which is good. That was the closest I'd been to that person [who came second]."

Still added that if someone had told her at the start of the season she'd be pushing older competitors so hard she would not have believed them.

However, Still need not worry as she is in safe hands. About a month ago another of Babe's athletes, Mary Davies, was named in a New Zealand athletics team to compete at the World Championships in Moscow later this year.

Babe believes Still's progress will only be hindered by injury and he is putting different training methods into practice to avoid injury.

"That's going to be the secret [staying injury free]. We can do the work, just slowly, methodically and taking steps quietly and not overdoing things."

Babe said next year is about building on what he and Still have started this year, strengthened by an honest post-season discussion around committing to the sport.