Wairarapa's Michael Wilson again stamped himself as one of the most promising sprinters in the country with a strong performance in the men's A grade 200m at the Capital Classic track and field meet at Newtown Park, Wellington on Saturday night. Competing against most of the best short course athletes inthe country Wilson,19, broke 22secs for the first time in finishing seventh in 21.94secs, just 0.3secs outside the fastest time recorded in his age group in New Zealand this season. Wilson also won the B grade section of the men's 100m in a wind assisted and hand timed 10.6secs which would have come back to a still slick 10.8secs in normal circumstances. Interestingly enough the A grade event was won in 10.82secs. The Capital Classic is one of the premier meets on the Wellington track and field calendar and Wilson was by no means the only Wairarapa athlete to star. Vicki Paine, 16, won the combined women's 19yrs and 16yrs 800m race in a personal best time of 2mins 17.8secs. She led all the way in what for her was basically a time trial. She now ranks in the top 10 of her age group in the country over 800m, a remarkable achievement considering it is not regarded as her specialist event. Chris Girling-McLean won the C grade men's 200m in 23.74secs, just 0.2secs outside his personal best, while William Simpson was sixth in the B grade men's 200m in 23.4secs. Renee Braggins beat her personal best time by all of 6secs when she clocked 5mins 20secs in placing seventh in the women's 1500m, Zac Sinclair broke 16mins for the men's 3km walk where he placed fifth on handicap and Cameron Sinclair's long jump of 5.24m was also a personal best. Josh Greig won the open men's discus with a throw of 35m and Courtney Fafeita won the women's discus. The women's A grade 200m saw Ellen Schaef come second in 26.68secs, just 0.1secs outside per personal best, and she was also a member of the Wairarapa relay team which triumphed in the Battle of Cities 4 by 100m women's relay against teams from Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt.Schaef was joined in the successful combination by April Campbell, Vicki Paine and Corrina Paine.
