Whanganui walker Lucas Martin is visiting home after moving to Canterbury.
The return to the city this week of two New Zealand track and field champions could not have come at a better time with the home round of the central teams’ competition this weekend.
Their return and the availability of other athletes should help move Whanganui from the cellar towards the penthouse in the league.
At the Athletics New Zealand Championships at Newtown Park in Wellington in early March, Jono Maples retained his title as the 400-metre hurdles champion and made a sprint breakthrough by finishing seventh in the 200.
Maples, who is in the Air Force, returns this week from a posting in Adelaide and is set for a solid block of training and competition back in Whanganui, close to his Ohakea base.
The other returning athlete is club captain Lucas Martin who has just completed his first year at Canterbury University.
In March, Martin won the under-20 5000m race walk and also won the senior 10,000m walk. Martin gives much to his sport, not only as an athlete, but as an official as well.
Already, he has been involved as an official in Canterbury. It is typical of Martin that he has already been on the phone asking if there might be a place in the 4x400m for him to add to his track walk.
Martin hastened to add that he would help with the photo finish when not competing. I am sure the hard-working Martin will also be at Cooks Gardens at 8.30am to help with the set-up for the major meeting.
The central teams’ competition kicks off with the hammer at 11am, followed by the jumps programme at 11.45am and the track programme at 12pm.
By the time the meet ends with the 4x400m relays at 4.15pm all athletics disciplines except for the pole vault will have been covered in a programme that will stretch our volunteer base.
Already, more than 25 highly qualified officials from throughout the region will attend Cooks Gardens, helped by a similar number of local officials and volunteers.
This large group will be further assisted by younger volunteers, who will be fetching, carrying and conveying results through live reports and physically on the indicator boards.
The live results and updates on the indicator boards are appreciated by coaches, athletes and spectators. It is the first time in three years that we have hosted a round, and at a time of pressure for the NCEA students who will welcome the home meeting.
The opening round a fortnight ago in Inglewood saw a clash between Whanganui Collegiate School’s prize-giving, the Hunterville Shemozzle and some end-of-season football matches.
The Whanganui meet sees the return of many athletes who missed that opening round. Among these is New Zealand under-20 1500m champion Daniel Sinclair.
Sinclair, who ran an outstanding 800m a fortnight ago at the club night, has had a setback, missing a week of training due to illness.
He had an encouraging 1000m on Tuesday, and Saturday will give a further indication of how his recovery is going and his progress towards his December New Zealand Secondary Schools target. Sinclair starts in the 1500m.
The close sprint battles at the club night between Damian Hodgson, Filipe Bayly, Thomas Cowan, Oliver Toohey and Caleb Houlaghan will be put to the test by a large group of visiting sprinters.
At last year’s equivalent meeting in Palmerston North, there were 10 heats in the sprints (five male and five female), and similar numbers are expected this year.
There will be interest in Juliet McKinlay, who attends Whanganui Collegiate but competes for Palmerston North and hopes to build on her outstanding opening meet in Inglewood. The Year 10 student, who will be competing as a junior at New Zealand Schools, will gain further invaluable experience on Saturday.
The steeplechase is considered a rather esoteric event, often attracting small fields. The women’s 2000m event on Saturday is likely to be an exception.
The entries include New Zealand under-18 champion Courtney Fitzgibbon (Palmerston North) and Hannah Byam (Whanganui), who took out silver at the under-16 level at the New Zealand Championships. Whanganui Secondary Schools International sportswoman of the year Louise Brabyn has had a difficult year, missing the New Zealand Championships through a bout of Covid.
She recovered enough to win a bronze medal at the Australian Championships’ 2000m under-18 steeples event in April. Also on the field is the solo winner from Inglewood, Greta Darke.
The forecast, unlike the recent series of wet Tuesday club nights, is for good weather, and Cooks Gardens is set and ready for track and field action on Saturday.