Leading Whanganui athletes in action in major meetings at three different venues

Distance runner Liam Back cuts a lonely figure winnimng the 3000m at the Whanganui Secondary Schools Championships at Cooks Gardens earlier this month.

Leading Whanganui athletes were in action in major meetings over the weekend at three different North Island venues.

The first in action was 14-year-old Sophie Williams who had been invited to run in a top women's 100 metre field at the Sir Graeme Douglas International Track Challenge in Auckland.

Unfortunately, her action was not down the 100 metre straight as a delayed flight, an accident on the motorway and grid-locked traffic meant she missed the race.

The journey from the Airport to Waitakere was close to three hours. Her day was rescued by joining a New Zealand 4 x 100 team to record an outstanding 46.79 with Williams running the first leg handing on to NZ international Portia Bing. Bing had won the 100 metres earlier that night.

Two days later in the same city Liam Back and Andres Hernandez ran in the Sir John Walker Junior mile at Mount Smart, representing Manawatu/Wanganui in this prestigious event.

The race, as reported in Tuesday's Whanganui Chronicle, was won by the in-form Sam Tanner (Waikato). Tanner became the 45th sub 4-minute miler at Cooks Gardens at the start of the month and is New Zealand's youngest athlete to achieve the mark.

Tanner also was stuck in heavy traffic and almost missed his race. He shared the pace with Back but proved stronger than the younger Back in the closing stages.

Back set personal bests through both 1500 metres and over the mile stopping the clock at 4 :14.07. Hernandez, who had battled sickness, did well to get onto the the podium behind Back but was slower than when he finished second to Back in the Junior Mile at the Sir Peter Snell International Meeting at Cooks Gardens at the start of the month.

Genna Maples was closer to home competing in the "Jumps in Paradise" in Palmerston North on Saturday. Maples opened with a 5.66m effort, that prior to her sensational title winning series in the NZ Championships three weeks ago in Christchurch would have been a personal best.

She followed this with a 5.79m jump and then had a couple of marginal fouls. Maples was pipped for second by Ashleigh Bennett (5.80m) in the final round. Maples enhanced her growing prowess in Long Jump by following on well from her national success in a strong women's field.

Liam Back was in action again at Cooks Gardens on Tuesday as he prepares for the Australian Championships where he will contest the under 18 3000 metres. On Tuesday he chose to run a very relaxed 2km Road Race and should be delighted with the ease of his sub 2minute 40 second run.

Twenty minutes later Back acted as pacemaker for the 800 metres taking the field through the first 530 metres, setting up Travis Bayler and Karl Loebe to produce personal best times. Bayler won with a personal best 1:56.14 comfortably inside his own Whanganui High School record set when he won the Whanganui Schools title earlier in the month.

Loebe held his form on the home straight to stop the clock in a personal best 1:57.37 which more importantly was inside the qualifying time for his native German Championships. Both Whanganui High School athletes go forward to North Island Schools with confidence-lifting performances.

Zach Bellamy, who will contest the 1500m and 800 metres at the North Island Championships, should be delighted with his personal best 2:36.31 over 1000 metres which bodes well for the Tauranga event in 10 days. 800 metre team mate Joseph Sinclair also set a best in 2:37.44 closing the gap in the home straight.

Daniel Sinclair, Lucas Martin, Sarah lambert and Josephine Perkins all set confidence in the same mixed race.

In sprints Tayla Brunger demonstrated that she is getting over the sickness that prevented her running in the 4 x 400 at NZ Championships with a smooth 40.95 effort over 300 metres from Sophie Williams who had moved up a couple of distances.

Other sprinters used the odd distances of 60 metres, 150 metres and 300 metres as part of their preparation for North Island Schools in Tauranga in 10 day's time which I will preview next week.

In the field athletes contested in either a throws or jump duathlon. Sophie Andrews was the winner of the girls throws (Shot and Discus) with Maysin Katene winning the boys.

Jacky Dai won the boy's jumps (Long and Triple) with Georgina Forrester recording a narrow win over Georgiana Absolom in the girls. Connor Munro won the remaining Whanganui Schools title in the Pole Vault with a 2.90 metre vault.