Hobbs and Gill narrowly miss finals

Zoe Hobbs has placed a creditable fourteenth in the womens 100m at the World Under 20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Running in the third of three semi-final races, the 18 year old Auckland-based athlete finished fourth in the race in 11.67. A time of 11.58 was required to make the final, with Hobbs just 0.09 away from that mark.

Hobbs went into the championships ranked 22nd of the 46 entrants, so an overall 14th place with a New Zealand U20 record in the heats is a good result for the former Taranaki athlete.

Hamish Gill cruised through his 200m first round, finishing third in the last of five heats and becoming one of the automatic qualifiers for the semi-finals contested later on day 3 of the championships. His time of 21.33 was just outside his best of 21.05

"My goal was to make it to the next round," said Gill after his heat. "I felt pretty good off the bend, then had to work a little bit for the first 50 metres off the bend and cruised for the last 50, so Im pretty pleased with the that. Ill rest now for the semi."

The Auckland 19 year old needed to finish first or second in the highly competitive semi-finals or in the next two fastest times, but that proved beyond him, finishing sixth in heat 2, recording 21.49, the 20th fastest time and missing a spot in the final.

Both Hobbs and Gill will now join with fellow sprint squad members to contest the 4x100m relay events.

Lauren Bruce failed to fire in the womens hammer, getting just one legal throw measured at 55.17m. The first and third throws of her qualification round were fouls. With a recent personal best of over 60 metres Bruce was hoping for a better result in her specialist event after finishing 24th in the discus on the first day of the championships.

Next up for the Kiwi contingent in Bydgoszcz will be James Preston and Olivia Burdon in the mens 800m and womens 1500m heats respectively and 200m runners Oliva Eaton and Georgia Hulls. The mens and womens teams will also contest the heats of the 4x100m relay with the womens team a chance of making it to the final.

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Athletics New Zealand