O'Connor has outstanding competition with a full line-up of her New Zealand Schools Cross Country team mates. There is local interest in the male event in the shape of New Zealand Schools medal winner Christian Conder.
There is excellent variety in the meet starting with women's hurdles, which opens the programme, where Singaporean athlete Kerstin Jing Rong who will be chasing both the performance incentive bonus and the ground record bonus.
Attention will quickly shift to the sprint track with the 200 metres. The men's field is headed by Tauranga's Jonathan Miller who topped the ranking last year and will look to further build on his athletic CV.
The women's race will be run in two divisions and has drawn most of the leading New Zealand sprinters who will have international opposition from Christine Wearne (Australia) and Veronica Shanti Perei from Team Singapore.
The sprinters will be back in action in the 2x100 metre relay which has drawn large entries particularly in the women where there is strong competition for places in the national team.
The other sprint event focuses on youth with an under 18 100 metres that puts local New Zealand Schools junior 100 metre winner Genna Maples against athletes from an older group. This comes immediately after "the fastest kid on the Block:" that puts our youngest athletes in competition representing their suburb. In that short bracket of sprints all our successful gold medal Colgate Relay team are in action.
The field events are headed by Olympic finalist and former World Junior Shot Champion and record holder Jacko Gill. With Olympic bronze medal winner Thomas Walsh not competing until later in the season Gill may lack opposition as he chases two major incentives. A 20 metre throw which has significant reward and also the Ground Record set back in 1980 in the Pan Am series by R Stahlberg (20.06) which is highly possible and carries further reward.
There is no shortage of competition in the Javelin where all throwers compete on a handicap basis. It brings together a big field all vying for the major prize. Former Palmerston North athlete Ben Langton-Burnell now working with Debbie Strange in Hamilton is rapidly establishing a strong reputation and is filling the very large boots of former training partner, the retired three time Olympian Stuart Farquhar.
Langton-Burnell is accompanied by fellow highly-ranked Hamilton thrower Alex Wood with the first and second from New Zealand Schools and local Oceania silver medal winner Opetini Dryden in the field.
They also have to contend with the leading woman Javelin thrower Tori Peeters, New Zealand Schools medal winners and Para Olympic medal winner Holly Robinson who are all in the winner-takes-all competition.
The same format is being used in the pre-meet Discus which features New Zealand World Championship representative Siosetina Hakeai.
The track also has one major handicap event run on the same basis over 400 metres. The Australian 800 metre star Alex Rowe will have to be at his best to beat on handicap time 15 other 400 metre runners.
The mile as always brings the curtain down on the evening's event at 9.05pm. Almost all the 63 sub 4 minute miles have been run after 9pm, starting with Peter Snell with the World Record and first at the famous venue in 1962. While all three who set the mark last year will not be running over the mile, although one of the three, Eric Speakman, will set the pace through 1200 metres allowing the field a genuine chance especially our international visitors Kazuki Kurokawa from Japan and rising young Australian star Joshua Torley who are both capable of reaching the milestone and adding themselves to the impressive roll of honour.
