Rain, wind no friend of athletics

UTU: On Tuesday Sophie Ensor led her relay partners to gain revenge going to the rankings with 50.45, slightly ahead of the junior's 50.47 at the regionals. PHOTO/Jo Murray

Drought stricken areas of the world might be interested in recruiting Jodie Brunger from Sport Whanganui to do a rain dance for their stricken areas.

For the second week in a row the vibrant club Monday night children's section organised by Brunger has been affected by heavy rain.

This week at least the younger groups got started and managed at least two rotations of the varied activities before the heavy rain had firstly the parents and then the youngsters scuttling from the Cooks Gardens infield.

The week before there had been a complete cancellation as a storm struck the city. On both weeks the older intermediate school aged athletes were unable to compete in the team's competition which is disappointing for athletes and organisers alike in their build up to both the Intermediate Schools Championships and Colgate Games.

Spring's fickle weather annually provides frustrations for athletes preparing for the major New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships in early December. This added to exam and other pressures means athletes have to show adaptability, resilience and good time management if they wish to succeed. This year the closure of the track for track marking maintenance from the Australian contractors for two days has added to this mix.

Athletes hate windy meetings as strong head winds influence performances. Early in a season athletes hope for encouraging signs and the motivation that personal bests can bring. This year has had more than the usual share of such head winds and athletes have fingers crossed that windy Wellington does not live up to its name for the final Regional League Meeting on Saturday.

We have however been fortunate that the senior club on Tuesdays has been more fortunate than the younger section on Monday. Both this week and last after a poor day conditions improved in the evening and by the end of this Tuesday's session even the wind had died away and overhead conditions were mild and clear.

New Zealand medal winning under 20 sprinter Harry Symes returned after injury to run a totally relaxed 300 metres winning 37.59 seconds achieved without any pressure on the hamstring. More significantly he combined with relay partner Sam Merson to record a slick 22.91 in the 2 x 100 metre relay that suggests Symes is on the comeback.

The whole Collegiate Senior 4 x 100 will be especially heartened by the fact that this was only 3 one hundredths faster than team mates Cody Hemi and Luke Foster in their pairing. Earlier in the evening Foster ran a best 150 m and a fast 60 metres into head winds to add to his growing confidence.

Another group on the comeback were last Year's "Golden Girls" who in 2015 won the NZSS Junior Girl's 4 x 100 metres title. In Wanganui at the second Regional Meet they were beaten by this year's Collegiate Junior Team who in winning outperformed the 2015 team's winning time last December.

On Tuesday the quartet of Sophie Ensor, Jordan Hume, Olivia Seymour and Grace Godfrey gained revenge and went to the rankings with 50.45 (the juniors ran 50.47 at the Regional). Hume and Seymour backed this up with a personal best 2 x 100 effort. The relay squads in all grades go to Wellington in good heart with the Junior B also showing good form.

Travis Bayler (High School) who has tended to compete over longer distances has shown good form in the Year 9/10 Schools League winning the 60 metres. His team mate Connor Munro won the 300 metres to assist High School's win by a solitary point from Wanganui Collegiate. Jack Gay (Collegiate) ran an encouraging best in the 2km road Race and team mate Logan Henry got out to 11.29 metres in the triple jump.

Caitlyn Alabaster (Collegiate) had another good battle with Rebecca Baker (High School) over the road with Alabaster reversing recent results.

Genna Maples, Tayla Brunger and Phoebe Collier ensured victory for the Year 9 Collegiate Girls. Collier had a close win over the promising Sophie Andrews (High School) in the javelin.

The successful Schools League concludes next week as does the Regional league in Wellington at the weekend.