Athletics: Brunner shines at transtasman meeting

By TERY MADDAFORD

It is very much a case of a "what you see is what you are going to get" for Chantal Brunner in her chase for a New Zealand team place at the world track and field championships.

"I have done all I can to get there," said the 30-year-old after she spearheaded New Zealand's unsuccessful bid to beat Australia in the transtasman test at Mt Smart Stadium.

"I'm not going to play the chase selection game."

Brunner had already achieved a solid B standard in equalling her New Zealand long jump record of 6.68m en route to winning the Australian championship a week earlier.

She was 10cm shy of that on Saturday night in difficult conditions but was still good enough to come from behind to beat Australians Sharon Sutherland and Shermin Oksuz (second in the Australian championships).

In backing her long jump victory with a storming win over fellow New Zealander Caro Hunt in the 100m, and anchoring the New Zealand quartet in their comfortable win in the 4x100m relay, Brunner was the meet's outstanding performer.

While she has surely done enough to book her ticket to the worlds in Canada, she hopes the selectors might now consider sending the relay quartet, which would also include Hunt, Jane Arnott and Rebecca Wardell.

Although confusion surrounded the official time - it was given as a hand-held 44.60s, which would be under the national record - it was nevertheless an encouraging effort and one worthy of consideration, especially as Wardell and Arnott would be able to back up in the 400m and possibly 200m.

The Australians failed to finish the women's relay after botching their last change. This helped New Zealand take the test lead after seven events.

The Australians, in the end, were too strong and won 154-102 in the first transtasman contest since 1979, when the Australians won 204-132.

Happy with the success of Saturday night's quickfire meeting, Athletics Auckland general manager Phil Briars said it was now planned as an annual event at Mt Smart's Towers Track.

"It cost Athletics Auckland $60,000 to put on but the response from both teams has been really encouraging," said Briars.

"We are keen to keep it going. We have pencilled it in for the week after the Australian championships. This gives the athletes a late chance to qualify for major events - next year it will be the Manchester Commonwealth Games."

In one of the biggest upsets, Sydney's Frazer Dowling beat New Zealand 800m champion Mark Rodgers and Australian champion Kris McCarthy after bursting to the lead 200m from the finish in a race which had been run at a pedestrian pace early on. Rodgers just held out McCarthy in a tight battle for second.

Michelle Prowse finished strongly to prevent an Australian one-two in the women's 800m, in which Kate Myers was the winner and the more-favoured Libby Allen could manage only third.

Having his first race in a month, Hamish Christensen nursed himself through the early stages of the men's mile - 2m 03s at the half and 3m 05s with a lap to run - before pulling clear in the straight to beat Australian 1500m champion Clinton Mackevicius in 4m 03.93s.

Serena Gibbs led an Australian clean sweep in the women's mile while Jamie Voss won the John Walker junior mile in 4m 14.67s from his North Harbour clubmate Stuart Kerr. Voss later expressed his disappointment at not having the chance to race rising star Nick Willis, who opted out.

Alan Bunce and world championships-bound (over 10,000m) John Henwood gave New Zealand a rare one-two in the 5000m, with Bunce running away over the last 200m after Nigel Adkins set a solid early pace before fading to third.

Ian Winchester gave New Zealand winning points in the discus but was disappointed officials had not allowed the throwers to switch ends, which would have given them the advantage of throwing into the wind.

Winchester beat Australian Graham Hicks by over 2m with Australian champion Aaron Neighbour a well-beaten fourth.