Middle-distance drama

Alex Howden should be prominent in sprints.PHOTO/FILE

THE 800m events should be a highlight at the Wellington Athletic Centre's track and field championships to be held at Pugh Sports Bowl in Masterton tomorrow.

Fourteen runners have entered the women's race with Wairarapa's Alison Andrews-Paul a prime contender for fastest time honours if she registers anywhere near her best time of 2min 8.88sec.

Others who have clocked inside 2.20.00 are Isobel Hegan (Olympic), Kirstie Rae (Wellington Harriers), Imogen Skelton (Wellington Harriers) and Tessa Hunt (Wellington Harriers).

The men's race should be a battle royal among eight athletes who have bettered two minutes, the fastest of which is Eric Speakman of Napier with a best time of 1.53.87.

His main rivals should be Josh Ledger (Upper Hutt), Evan Cooper (Wellington Scottish), and Harrison Porritt (Palmerston North).

A couple of promising Wairarapa youngsters will be in line for age group titles over this distance -- Gerard Hickey (Athletics Wairarapa) in the under-18s and Mikael Starzynski (Athletics Wairarapa) in the under-16s.

In the sprints two members of Wairarapa Track and Field, Alex Howden and Jonty Morison, should be prominent over both 100m and 200m with peak efforts likely to see them among the top six in those events while Max Spencer (Athletics Wairarapa) should acquit himself well over 1500m.

The women's shot put will have the Erasmus sisters from Athletics Wairarapa, Berenique and Andriette, among the leaders in their age groups and the same can be expected from Nathan Whiteman (Athletics Wairarapa) and the Wairarapa Track and Field duo, Will Tait and Cameron Clatworthy, in the men's hammer throw.

Competition will get under way at 10am and the programme is expected to be completed by 6pm.