Athletics: Championship success for Whanganui hurdlers and steeplechasers

Whanganui takes the first four places - (in blue from inside lane) Maggie Jones, Paige Cromarty, Casie Glentworth and Charlotte Baker - at the 2021 North Island Schools Championships. Photo / Supplied

"If it was easy, everybody would do it. Hard is what makes it good."

Tom Hanks might have said this in A League of their Own, but it could equally have been said by our successful 400m hurdlers and steeplechasers.

Whanganui athletes won four gold medals at the New Zealand Championships - two over the demanding 400m hurdles, one over the steeples and the other was in heptathlon where the same comment could equally apply. Whanganui athletes won a further seven New Zealand medals, two of which were over the one-lap hurdles, a further one over 100m hurdles, one in the 3000m, one in triple jump and the other was a share of a Manawatū/Whanganui 4 x 400m silver medal.

The 400m hurdles was clearly our best event at national level. Jonathan Maples, who had an injury-interrupted buildup to the New Zealand Championships, won his first New Zealand title in the senior men's championships in a time that was just a smidgeon slower than his Cooks Gardens personal best (55.67). Maggie Jones won the under-20 400m hurdles in a personal best 1:04.34 and was followed by Paige Cromarty on debut who took the silver with a personal best 1:06.48. Flynn Johnston also took silver in the men's under- 20 400m hurdles. It could well have been one more medal over the longer hurdles as injured Whanganui hurdler Nat Kirk is ranked second in the under-20s, one place higher than Johnston.

Jones tops the rankings in the under-20 400m hurdles, as she does in the 100m hurdles where she finished second at the New Zealand Championships. Jones also won the heptathlon at the end of the month on debut to highlight her versatility. Sixteen-year-old steeplechase New Zealand under-18 champion Louise Brabyn joins Maples and Jones at the top of their respective New Zealand rankings.

The successes beg a couple of questions. How good are these athletes compared to athletes in other events? Why have there been so many successful athletes in these events from the Manawatū/Whanganui Centre? (Braxton Kauri from Palmerston North won the men's under-18 300m hurdles.)

Our hurdles athletes have been extremely successful on the national stage, but this success often comes in fields with small entry numbers so how do they compare against other events?

World Athletics have tables that compare and score events across all disciplines. These tables are best known in scoring heptathlon and decathlon, but also score all events and disciplines in the sport, allowing event comparison. Maggie Jones' 400m hurdles scored 899 points. Jones had to make the transition from 300m hurdles and had few competition opportunities. Her best 100m hurdles with a legal wind scored 930 points. This is the best score across all events in the club.

Louise Brabyn's best steeplechase of 7:10.43 scores 909 points whereas her 3000m best, when she took the bronze in a large under-18 New Zealand Championship field (10:08.22), would score 889 points. Brabyn's best score came in her 1500m at the end of the season when she ran 4:37.49, which could have scored 923 points and would have left her in contention for a podium place at the New Zealand Championships.

Jonathan Maples, as mentioned earlier, had an injury-interrupted season that limited his preparation for the New Zealand Championships. The run at the Cooks Classic over 400m hurdles was his only hurdle race prior to his first New Zealand title. He was very slightly slower at the championships where there was only a small field. In Whanganui he had women's champion Portia Bing in the mixed field over the lower women's hurdles. Maples' winning time at Cooks Gardens of 55.67 scored 866 points. He also ran a personal best over 200m to reach the men's final but limped in with a recurring injury. His heat performance would have scored 855 points.

Our leading hurdlers and steeplechasers, notably Jones, Maples and Brabyn, are not only top performers in the club but event leaders nationally with performances that are comparable with events attracting larger fields.

If a club or region wishes hurdles and steeplechase to flourish, it is important for these events to appear regularly on the weekly programmes. This is the case in both Palmerston North and Whanganui. In many areas, clubs and schools, aware of the work involved in setup, have backed away from regular inclusion of the events in their programmes.

The faces of my setup colleagues on Tuesday evening, Paul Duxfield and Mark Cressingham, fall when they see hurdles on the programme, knowing the work involved, but we also see the results and benefits of this work.