Quinns effort a highlight in many fine performances

He might not have finished amongst the medals but Tom Quinn provided the highlight of many outstanding Wairarapa performances at the Capital Classic track and field meet held at Newtown Park, Wellington last Friday night.
Quinn, 13, had set a personal best time of 2mins 14.9secs for the 800m at his previous appearance and was aiming for a repeat of that effort in a race which saw him pitted against runners aged up to 19yrs.
But he did much better than that, finishing sixth in 2mins 8.7secs, and hugely impressing coach Mark Harris with his grit and determination.
"He ran himself to a standstill, he had nothing left to give," Harris said of Quinn, who finished just over 3secs off the winner.
Michael Wilson faced a quality field in the A division of the men's 100m and exceeded expectations by finishing third in 10.94secs. The event was won in 10.74secs and Wilson was within a metre of the front runners at the 60m mark. "I think he got a bit of a shock from being so close and he lost his rhythm a little over the final part," Harris said.
Ellen Schaef, 18, finished second in the open women's 400m in 58.10secs, less than 1sec outside her personal best time.
Harris had set her the target of achieving her faster-ever first 300m during this race and was delighted with her response.
"She put everything on the line and gutsed it out right to the end," he said.
Stevie Paine, 13, contested the open women's 800m and finished third in a very creditable 2mins 15.25secs, not far off her pb of 2mins 14.08secs. Harris described her effort as a "learning experience" with Paine allowing the leaders a 5m gap going into the last 400m and not being able to make up the lost ground. "She probably didn't back herself enough early on, she will learn from that," he said.
Molly Creagh, 14, was sixth in the open women's 400m in a personal best time of 60.8secs while another talented youngster in April Campbell was seventh over 100m in 13.3secs and then won her 200m race in a season's best of 27.02secs.
William Simpson was fourth in the B division of the men's 100m in 11.85secs and ran in the A division of the 200m, placing sixth in 23.32secs.
Bevan Brown was in the C division of the men's 100m and his time of 13.67secs was a personal best and he also did well to record 28.2secs in his 200m event.
Cameron Sinclair was second equal in the C division of the men's 100m in a time of 12secs and he was also second in his 200m race, clocking 24.09secs there.
Vicki Paine, who has been specialising over 400m and 800m, contested the open women's 3000m and came fifth in a pb of 11mins 10secs and Zac Sinlair, who has had to stall a promising walking career because of a hip injury, placed 12th in his 3000m race in 11mins 6secs.
The track programme also featured the Battle of the Clubs relay events and Wairarapa successfully defended their title in the women's 4 by 100m final. The winning team consisted of April Campbell, Ellen Schaef, Vicki Paine and Stevie Paine.
Wairarapa athletes also starred in the field events with Alex Fafeita taking the limelight there. He won the javelin title with a throw of 37.52m, was second in the discus with a throw of 37.83m (a pb with the heavier discus used in open competition) and also second in the open hammer throw with another pb of 39.44m.
Josh Greig was third in his division of the discus with a throw of 32.33m, second in the javelin with 36.l4m and fourth in the hammer throw with 26.40m.
Courtenay Fafeita won her hammer throw event with a distance of 35.81m, was second in the discus with 31.29m and third in the javelin with 18.55m.
Joel Farley was third in his triple jump with a leap of 10.49m, a good effort for a 14-year-old, and also ran in the 800m where he placed 11th in 2mins 16.86secs.
Next weekend will see two Wairarapa athletes, Michael Wilson and Ellen Schaef, compete an IAAF track and field meet in Auckland and several others will take part in a regional competition in Wellington.