Attwell shows determination in US

STATESIDE: Former Wanganui Collegiate athlete Max Attwell (right) and Kiwi touring partner Danica Davies (Otago) with their trophies after the Arcadia Invitational Multi Event competition.PHOTO/SUPPLIED

NEW Zealand Junior Decathlon Champion and former Wanganui Collegiate athlete Max Attwell had to dig deep at the prestigious Arcadia Junior Decathlon in California at the weekend. He once again demonstrated what an outstanding competitor he is over the two-day completion against a quality field of 16 from a number of American States.

Unlike the small fields Attwell faces in New Zealand in this demanding competition, all 16 athletes had qualified with a performance of 6000 points just 200 less than Attwell's winning performance at the New Championships at Hamilton in mid-February.

Attwell opened his account with a time of 11.62s in the 100 metres. He was slightly slow away out of the blocks and couldn't match his 11.43s effort in San Francisco five days earlier but was slightly better than in Hamilton. This was followed by a very disappointing long jump of 6.07m, 48cm shy of the best set in NZ. The performances were consistent, with all three being only 2cm apart but also consistent was his take off with two of the three at least 20cm behind the front of the takeoff board. The disappointing result placed Attwell back in the field.

This was followed by a better shot of 10.99m only just below his Hamilton best. Event four, the high jump, is where Attwell demonstrated his competitive attitude. The run up, that meant changing from artificial grass to the athletic all-weather surface, had Attwell struggling. At three consecutive heights he only cleared the bar on his third and final attempt. He ended up with a satisfactory if hard earned 1.87m metres (second equal of the competitors)

In the 400m, final event of Day 1, Attwell ran a calendar year best and decathlon best of 49.91 to finish third in the first of two seeded heats and also brought him up to fifth position and meant he moved to Day 2 with renewed confidence.

The second day started with a par 110m hurdle performance of 16.90, below his best but not far adrift of his 16.43 and above his decathlon best. In discus he had a good series and although 50cm below Hamilton he should be encouraged by the consistency of performance.

In the pole vault Attwell again had to dig deep. He had not vaulted since mid-February as his move to Canterbury University had meant no opportunity to vault. In a decidedly uncertain warm-up Attwell looked in danger of recording no height (a decathlon disaster). However, he cleared the opening height to remove that fear and struggled on to equal his personal best of 3.50m and only narrowly missed the next increment at 3.65m.

Javelin is Attwell's weakest event and this again proved to be so in California. The damage was not too severe in the final outcome and his 36.75 was in fact only just over a metre less than in Hamilton but had meant that he has slid to eighth place.

In the final 1500m Attwell ran a 4s personal best of 4 36.12 to finish second in the race (behind the overall winner Cory Reid) which elevated Attwell to sixth overall, less than 100 points below his best; if only he had performed better in the long jump he would have not only competed well but had the satisfaction of producing a best. There was much, however, to be pleased about and this was another step in a promising combined event career.

Attwell's touring teammate Danica Davies (Otago) finished seventh in the 24-strong Arcadia Invitational Heptathlon with a very big increase on her winning performance in the junior women's grade in the New Zealand Championships in Hamilton.

The 17-year-old distinguished herself with no less than five personal bests in the seven-event competition, her first overseas competition. Both athletes were awarded with coveted Arcadia top eight awards along with gifts of clothing and equipment.

Geordie Beamish competed at the same meeting as part of the 34-strong invitational 2-mile event, the marquee event of the Arcadia Invitational.

Beamish, who has struggled with injury after his superb New Zealand Junior 1500m title win, went with the leaders in a bold attempt to win. He perhaps paid the penalty by dropping back to mid field over the final two laps but nevertheless ran a solid 9m 5s. I am always happier to see athletes strive to win rather than settle for a time. I would have loved to see a fully fit Beamish line up with this quality field.

Next week back in New Zealand I will attempt to draw some comparisons of the sport from two different continents.