Athletics: A look at the second round of the Central Teams competition in Whanganui

New Zealand 400m hurdles champion in action at the New Zealand Championships in March.

Is there a better place in New Zealand on a glorious day for a track and field athletics day than Whanganui’s Cooks Gardens? It would be hard to match Saturday’s conditions and venue in New Zealand or beyond our shores.

The second round of the Central Teams competition was held on Saturday at Cooks Gardens. The perfect conditions demonstrated that track and field are alive and well in the lower North Island with more than 200 athletes competing at the World Athletics Heritage venue.

The large entry numbers and a four-and-a-half-hour programme over all athletics disciplines tested the large group of volunteer officials. I said after the male long jump with 17 competitors that they had just handled their biggest task of the day.

I was wrong; 18 arrived for the female competition. Whanganui Collegiate Chilean exchange student Gracia Concha Bezanilla Spare entered 141 jumps through the livestream app through both events, with similar tasks from her fellow Chilean Magdalena Valders Zagers and other students from Nga Tawa and Whanganui High School ensuring the success of the meeting.

Whanganui did come from the cellar to narrowly win their home round of the League. The team, which finished fourth in the opening round in Inglewood at the end of October, won by a narrow margin from Palmerston North with Inglewood winners Taranaki in third place.

Whanganui sits in third place but within reach of the top of the podium going into the final meet in Masterton on Saturday, November 25.

Athletes who missed the opening Inglewood round made a significant contribution to the home team’s success. Jono Maples, who only returned from Australia 36 hours before the competition, was the first of the returners in action and finished third place over 100m (11.05) which is a good platform on which to build summer success.

He helped the Whanganui 4 x 100 relay team (Filipe Bayly, Vincent Walters, Thomas Gowan and Maples) to a solid victory. Minutes after the relay, Maples won the 400m hurdles, showing sound technique and a glimpse of form as he works to defend his New Zealand senior 400m hurdles title.

Club captain Lucas Martin, back from his first year as an engineering student at Canterbury, won his 3000m walk. Martin typified the spirit of team athletics by filling gaps to secure points for his team. These included 400m hurdles, 800m, high jump and discus, contributing 20 points to the team cause.

Louise Brabyn was a double winner. She won the 1500m less than an hour after winning the 2000m steeplechase.

Brabyn should be delighted with her 7:11.8 effort. She looked smooth and in control in the 1500m as she came from third to first over the last 300m. Her time of 4:51.60 was a season’s best and, considering the small time gap for recovery, should be a major confidence lift.

Daniel Sinclair, who missed a week of training through illness, should be thrilled with his hard-earned win in the 1500m (3:55-53). A year ago, at the same second-round meeting, he finished second with a time almost four seconds slower.

Sinclair’s cousin James Hercus ran from the front to convincingly win the 800m. He finished in 1:59.93, paying the penalty for an overcooked first 200m.

Thomas Gowan looked good over 400m, stopping the clock at a personal best 52.41 to finish third and ran in the winning 4 x 100 relay team. He was also sixth in the long jump.

Finishing behind Gowan, Oliver Toohey also ran a personal best over the one lap to finish in 53.43 seconds. He backed this up later in the meet by setting a personal best in the javelin, throwing the spear out to 38.13m.

It was good to see Vincent Walters back on the sprint track over 100m and 200m and in the winning relay team.

It was also good to see Whanganui Rugby representative Paris Munro back on the track winning points over hurdles and running in the sprints while Annabelle Brown showed real promise in the high jump finishing third equal with a promising 1.41m effort – watch this space.

Whanganui Collegiate Year 10 athlete Juliet McKinlay continued to score big points for her Palmerston North Club.

She won the 80m hurdles equalling her personal best (12.59), was fourth equal in the 100m (12.96), won the 300m hurdles (49.33), was fourth in the long jump (4.88) and third in the triple jump (10.19), scoring 33.5 points for her club.

McKinlay also ran in the winning Palmerston North women’s 4 x 100 team – a busy afternoon for this promising athlete as she prepares for New Zealand Secondary Schools early next month.