It was not much comfort that the 200m race he had entered provided a NZ record and a raft of great times.
Good news followed during that weekend when Maples successfully completed his test and responded well to a hard session the following day.
A sound 200m at last week’s Club Night (21.67s) with plenty left in the tank, followed by an excellent training week, leaves him confident he is in good shape for the championships this weekend.
Last year’s NZ programme allowed Maples to run 400m hurdles, which he duly won, backed up by 400m (silver medal) and 200m in which he finished a creditable fifth.
The provisional programme this year ruled out that combination but the 400m hurdles/400m double over Friday and Saturday was highly achievable with the hurdles on Friday and two 400m races on Saturday, including the final as part of the packed Saturday evening programme. It was on this basis that Maples entered for the double.
A week before the championships, the last piece of bad news came for Maples with the release of the final programme.
The 400m hurdles was moved back a day to Thursday and one of the two Saturday 400m races moved to Friday. This would lead to longer recovery between the 400m races. The problem, however, was that Maples’ travel plans and leave from work were based on Thursday afternoon flights.
After exploration of costs of changed flights, work commitments and accommodation, Maples decided he would concentrate solely on the 400m and the 4 x 400m relay and forgo defending his title, leaving the hurdles to the Australian Championships.
There are others, including Whanganui athletes, caught by the late change.
Damian Hodgson, last year’s under-20 400m hurdle champion, at some cost will change his travel to make his senior debut and looks ready to set a new personal best with a genuine podium opportunity.
He will welcome the more favourable 400m programme as he strives to win a berth in the final.
Whanganui has provided 21 members of the 51-strong Manawatū-Whanganui team.
Juliet McKinlay was a member of the Manawatū-Whanganui women’s 4 x 100m team, another event that has been rescheduled to Thursday but, because of cost, she has withdrawn from the relay.
McKinlay, who is recovering from sickness and has heptathlon goals later in the month, will probably see javelin as her strongest event at the weekend.
Lexi Maples has travelled further than any other team member, flying into NZ from her Los Angeles base last weekend and then crossing the Tasman to compete in Tasmania.
Fresh off the plane, she finished fourth in Hobart in a strong international hammer field. Maples had a further throw at an invitational hammer at Club Night in Whanganui on Tuesday.
Whanganui is represented in all four grades.
Auguz Thongskul has battled injury all season but has demonstrated his ability to perform at championships, especially in long jump in the men’s 18 (M18) grade.
Isaac Ashworth (M18) has shown rapid improvement and consistency in javelin and will gain huge experience, as will our youngest under-16 athletes Jaimie Munro and Alrese Maree.
Reilly Thomas, recently selected for the Oceania Championships in Darwin, will be seeking further under-18 progress while Nat Kirk in the senior grade will continue his step up to 800m.
Hannah Byam, who missed NZ Schools in December, hopes to repeat last year’s W16 steeplechase medal in the W18 grade.
The team will enjoy the televised Track Stars evening when NZ’s leading athletes, including Jonathan Maples, will be in action along with celebrity events.
Whanganui pioneered such a programme back in the late 1990s with great success. It is great to see it returned in an enhanced form.
