Cruz Malo reached the Grade 12 sprint finals to place fifth and sixth in the 200m and 100m sprints, respectively.
Brian Wilson was third in the Para 100m and 200m, second in shot-put, and he won the discus. Lincoln Beamsley was third in the Grade 10 800m.
Juliet McKinlay, competing for Palmerston North, has completed Year 9 at Whanganui Collegiate, and again demonstrated her pentathlon potential by winning the 14-year-old 80m hurdles (with a personal best), winning her flight in the long jump with the best jump through both flights, and backing up those performances by finishing fourth in the high jump and sixth in the 100m final.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the age spectrum in Masterton, Sally Gibbs took an impressive four wins at the North Island Masters (800m, 1500m, 3000m and 5000m), all achieved in less than two days.
Cooks Gardens will again be in the track and field spotlight on Saturday, January 28, with the annual Pak’nSave Cooks Classic and the Sir Peter Snell Challenge the following day.
The Challenge gives an opportunity for runners and walkers of all ages to follow in Peter Snell’s footsteps by completing a mile at the iconic venue.
Last year, 60 per cent of the entries arrived in the final week, so it is encouraging to see a considerable growth in entries a week out from this year’s Classic, and with the usual final rush expected before the Sunday deadline, last year’s record number of entries could be broken.
Again, the traditional Cooks Gardens Miles will double as a New Zealand Championship for both men and women, and the Under 20 category for both males and females will also have New Zealand Championship status.
There is strong international interest in both senior events. In the men’s set, Australians Callum Davies (best, 3:57) and Jude Thomas (1500m, 3:41.1) will join leading New Zealanders Sam Tanner - who ran so sensationally to take sixth at the Commonwealth Games in a dramatic and memorable final - and Cooks Gardens sub-four-minute-miler Eric Speakman in an event that looks set to add to the Cooks Gardens sub-four-minute roll of honour. Australians Sarah Billings (Melbourne) and Georgia Griffiths (Brisbane) add depth and quality to the women’s set, and could well earn coveted caps for the female equivalent of a sub-four-minute mile.
The junior mile and many other events have strong representation from the New Zealand Schools Team touring the Classic Meets. Three of the four Whanganui team members of the team will be in action at the Classic, with entries received from Nat Kirk, Maggie Jones and Louise Brabyn. There is no walk in Whanganui for Lucas Martin, but as at the recent Colgate Games, he will be a key official, and walks in a New Zealand singlet at the Potts Classic this weekend.
The 400m, with its handicap element, has again attracted large numbers of entries, including Australians Jessica Thornton and Elle Beer, along with Loan Ville from France, who will mount strong challenges to top Kiwis Portia Bing, Rosie Elliot and New Zealand Schools record-holder Mia Powell.
Tom Walsh will be back in action, and New Zealand’s most decorated male field event athlete would love to add the Cooks Gardens Stadium Record to his impressive World and Commonwealth podium successes.
Walsh and the other shot-putters will be centre-stage for the action in the drop-in circle in front of the main grandstand.
Fellow Commonwealth Games gold-medal-winning high jumper Hamish Kerr returns to Cooks Gardens, seeking to set a fourth successive stadium record.
Each year, we have been able to witness the development of a world-class high jumper up close, and live.
The first of the Lower North Island Classics, the Potts Classic, is on Saturday in Hastings, and next week I will preview the Pak’nSave Cooks Classic.
