Athletes rise to Porritt occasion

RUBBING SHOULDERS: Wanganui Collegiate athletes gain inspiration by rubbing shoulders with Rio bronze medallist Eliza McCartney at the Porritt Class in Hamilton at the weekend.

The Porritt Classic in Hamilton is the largest of the Classic Meetings on account of its placement in the calendar and the fact that it has a wide population base to draw upon.

Whanganui athletes made the longer journey at the weekend and clearly benefitted from the experience.

The mixture of school team events (Nick Willis relay - 300m, 400m, 400m, 400m) and team 1500 metre races and individual events make this an attractive early term outing.
Although the Wanganui Collegiate team travelled north with two trophies, the Nick Willis Girls Relay and the Dianne Rodger Girls team and travelled home with only the Willis Trophy, the journey north was successful and valuable.

The girls relay team (1x300m and 3x400m) retained the trophy in emphatic fashion led out by Genna Maples over the 300 metre leg giving her team a handy lead that her sister Lexi, Jordan Hume and Grace Godfrey increased to record Collegiate's fastest team performance.

The B Team of Isabel Brabyn, Jane Lennox, Sophie Redmayne and Emma Osborne finished second in the race. The weakened boys team finished second to an impressive Sacred Heart Auckland team.

The Girls 1500m team lost their team title to St Peters Cambridge by six points after a good battle throughout the race. Impressive in the Collegiate team were Sarah Lambert and Year 9 athlete Ashleigh Alabaster who finished 17th and 18th respectively in the 28 strong field both with personal bests.

Liam Back was the leading runner in the 38 strong boys field finishing in 11th. The Year 11 Collegiate lad, who is still 14-years-old, produced the fastest ever 14-year-old performance by a Wanganui Collegiate boy (4; 16.18) and is clearly a runner with a bright future.

It was unfortunate that Genna Maples' relay leg came in the middle of the Long Jump where she jumped an impressive 5.43 metres before leaving for the relay. Maples nevertheless had her best ever six jump series. The day, however, for the travelling contingent was about team.

It was good to see former students in action in Hamilton. William Smart now based in Auckland won the 200 metres with an excellent best of 21.58, Josh Ledger was second in the men's 800 metres, while former club captains Pavinee Watson and Sam Merson were in Long jump and 400 metre action respectively.

Harry Symes had another commitment at the weekend but at club night he ran a personal best 300 metres in 35.20 seconds demonstrating that he is in good form.

Tuesday's club night saw the beginning of the schools junior league providing large numbers on a thankfully still evening. Wanganui High School had a narrow win over Collegiate in the Year 9 Girls with Collegiate winning the Year 9 boys and Year 9 and 10 girls by a wide margin.

The outstanding performance of the night came from the very talented 15-year-old Taranaki athlete Hannah O'Connor running as a guest in the Manawatu/Wanganui Athletic Centre 2000 metre Steeplechase Championships.

O'Connor again demonstrated what an outstanding athlete she is by finishing a close second to Liam Back in the mixed Steeples. O'Connor, a novice over the barriers ran a sensational 6:35.69 to run inside the New Zealand under 17 record by 17 seconds and run within two seconds of Rosa Flanagan's under 18 record. Caitlyn Alabaster in finishing 5th ran a personal best of 7:28.47 to set a Collegiate under 16 record.

Later in the evening Rebecca Baker impressed with a strong run in the mixed 600 metres finishing behind Connor Munroe setting a hugely impressive 1:39.64 clearly indicating her credentials and potential over 800 metres. Grace Godfrey stepping up from 400 metres had a useful strength outing two seconds behind Baker.

Next week the Tuesday action is in Palmerston North with the first week of the Centre Championships with no club night in Whanganui. The children however, are in action on Monday afternoon at 4.15pm and early evening for the older children and they are hopeful of finally getting a fine evening.

At the weekend Lexi Maples travels to Dunedin to compete in the New Zealand under 20 Heptathlon Championships where she will hopefully gain a qualifying mark for the Arcadia Meeting in California in April.