Evening to share success

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

Being a fairly recent arrival in Wanganui, I had never actually heard of Bev Shingles before Saturday night.

As she was being inducted into the Wanganui Sports Hall of Fame at the 2014 Ray White Sports Awards, J B Phillips regaled us with the exploits of this pioneering runner - in the sort of detail that only JB can summon.

A champion on the track, at cross country and New Zealand's inaugural women's marathon winner, we also learned how petty politics among NZ's athletics hierarchy deprived her of a trip to the 1972 Munich Olympics.

At 75 the very definition of sprightly, Bev was just one among a host of sporting heroes (both competitors and those who work selflessly behind the scenes) on show at Saturday's event.

Hers was a fascinating and inspiring story. There were plenty of others.

And there were the stories that are just starting to unfold - in their very early chapters really - belonging to the plentiful young talent jostling to make their mark.

That talent was epitomised by Wanganui's supreme sportsperson of the year, 20-year-old international rower Kerri Gowler. Don't bet against her following Rebecca Scown, last year's supreme winner, and claiming an Olympic medal in Rio next year.

So, a marvellous occasion for young and old, with extra gloss added by the attendance of Silver Ferns Joline Henry and Jodi Brown, and NZ cycling coach Dayle Cheatley and wife Cath, an Olympian and former pro cyclist on the US circuit.

On a night when mayor Annette Main revealed she wants the rights to Brooke Fraser's hit Something In The Water so it can be the city's theme song, Wanganui pride was positively flowing like a river.