Athletes have come to accept disappointments, with cancellations becoming a regular feature. The latest casualty has been the North Island Schools Track and Field Championships which was due to be held in Palmerston North.
The 2021 event was held successfully in the pouring rain in Hamilton but the 2020 event which should have been in Hamilton was a casualty of the first lockdown.
We all hold our breath and hope for the New Zealand Championships to be held in Hastings at the start of March. The new four-day format replaces the planned combined championships over three days. The under-18 and under-20 grades are now on Thursday and Friday (March 3-4) and the seniors over the Saturday and Sunday to be run under red traffic light protocols.
On Tuesday the club nights at the Massey Community Track in Palmerston North and Cooks Gardens in Whanganui shared the few remaining Manawatū/Whanganui Championship events as part of their regular C programmes.
Whanganui athletes performed well in both cities.
In Palmerston North, Louise Brabyn took more than six seconds off her 2000 metre steeplechase time to win by a wide margin with a time of 7 minutes 10.43 seconds. That will propel her to the top of the New Zealand under-18 rankings, a major confidence boost for the New Zealand Championships where Brabyn will run in both the 3000m and 2000m steeplechase.
The time also moves Brabyn to second in the Whanganui Collegiate School All-time rankings, with only former New Zealand junior international Caroline Mellsop ahead of her.
Thirteen-year-old Juliet McKinlay should be delighted with her excellent long jump 4.90m. McKinlay, in her first year at Whanganui Collegiate School, returned to her home club to set an impressive personal best. Earlier in the year she had finished fourth in the 80m hurdles and second in her long jump division.
In Whanganui, Maggie Jones chose to run down a distance in the 300m hurdles from the 400m. The mixed race was won by Braxton Kauri (Palmerston North) who was the only male starter. Kauri looked impressive and smooth, stopping the clock at 39.12. Jones led the female athletes home in 46.11.
Pascale Bowie, third across the line, ran well inside her previous best in 50.14, backing this up with a good run in the 300m. Bowie should now look to further improve in her first New Zealand Championships.
Paige Cromarty has had an excellent start to the year with some solid performances. Although her win in the 400m hurdles was fractionally slower than her debut at the Cooks Classic, she should be pleased with her rhythm and control over hurdles that suggest her 1:07.21 will be improved on in Hastings.
Cromarty also won the 150m in 19.71 which was more than a second faster than her previous best which all augers well for the National Championships.
The C programme, with its non-standard distances, provides excellent preparation for leading athletes.
Travis Bayler looked good in his 150m, winning in 17.64, and also ran a tempo 300m achieving his sub 40-second target (39.75). The race was won by 14-year-old Samuel Hermann with an impressive personal best of 39.17.
It was good to see Theo Alamazan return from injury winning his 60m heat in 7.73, suggesting that it will not be long until he is back to his best. Bella Willis is also returning to form and looked tidy in her 42.54 win in the 300m. Coby Pye set a personal best of 7.61 over 60m, improving from 7.75, enjoying the warm sprinting conditions.
In the 2000m road race Toby Caro and Elliot Jones ran big personal bests (6:05.14 and 6:07.53 respectively).
