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Home / Rotorua Daily Post / Sport

Kiwi relay team have eyes on Glasgow

Gary Hamilton-Irvine, sport@dailypost.co.nz
Rotorua Daily Post·
6 Jun, 2014 09:00 PM3 mins to read

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Tokoroa running coach Chris Williams and his team of top sprinters are off to the Commonwealth Games in Scotland.

Williams was given the nod early last year to try and get a New Zealand relay team to the Games.

His group of speedsters - Auckland's Zoe Ballantyne, Brooke Cull and Louise Jones and Hamilton's Kristie Baillie - broke the New Zealand record in April, in the women's 4x400m relay, to qualify for the Games.

Williams now wants to see his relay squad bring their time down even further, to compete strongly in Scotland in July and to qualify for the IAAF World Championships.

He said going over to Scotland just to make up the numbers was not an option.

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"That is not good enough. We need to go with the idea of laying down a real good platform," he said.

"We want to make the final and beyond, then make the qualifying time for the worlds."

He said if they could qualify for the IAAF World Championships in 2015, which features the best international competition, then a lot of people would take notice.

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Williams said sprinting in New Zealand did not have a big profile and he would love to boost the profile of the sport.

The New Zealand Olympic Committee have made a couple of changes to the women's relay squad attending the Commonwealth Games in July.

Williams' daughter Monique Dell will slot into the team if she can prove her fitness.

Dell, originally from Tokoroa, is now based in Great Britain and needs to run 400m in under 54 seconds to be included in the team.

Williams said his daughter was "in good nick" and she should have no trouble qualifying. Dell is still considered the most accomplished female sprinter to come out of New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Baillie, who helped the team qualify for the Commonwealth Games, has been named as a non-travelling reserve.

Aucklander Portia Bing and United States-based sprinter Katherine Camp have been added to the relay team, taking the travelling group to six sprinters if Dell qualifies.

To qualify for the Games, the women's relay team recorded a 3min 35.6sec run in Hamilton, safely inside the official qualifying time.

"To be honest I thought they would do it. I was convinced that they would do it."

To qualify for the IAAF World Championships, they will need to crack 3min 33sec in Glasgow, according to Williams.

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He said that time is well within their ability. The squad will train in the Gold Coast and in Wales in the lead-up to the Games at the end of July.

Williams thanked Scott Goodman for investing in the sprint relay programme last year.

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