Whanganui athletes warm up

Wanganui Harriers athletes Thomas Conder and Liam Jones (both right) finished a creditable fourth (Jones) and fifth in the older Under-20 men division of the Hughes Memorial in Hawera on Saturday.

The Dorne Cup held annually at Trentham Park in the Hutt Valley is one of the premier North Island cross country events each winter. This year's event will be held this Saturday and Whanganui runners will once again be competing.

The original cup was presented by Mr C Dorne to the Hutt Valley Harrier Club in 1925 and has been a highlight of the Hutt Valley and Wellington Harrier scene since then.

It has been placed on the calendar one week before the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships which in turn is fixed for the third Saturday in June.

Hutt Valley Harrier Club was clearly a forward thinking outfit in the 1920s not only instigating the major Dorne Cup but also in 1928 they were the first harrier club in New Zealand to cater for lady members with 10 joining that year.

The event, one week before New Zealand Secondary Schools, is seen by many as ideal in terms of preparation and for the major school's event. For that reason I have some runners taking part. However, for others the distances run and the age groups do not have a good match for NZ Schools-bound athletes.

The under 16 girls for example run 3000 metres at the schools event and the event for them at Trentham is over 4000 metres on a week many athletes would prefer an under distance race. The boys who are running seniors at NZ Schools a week later in Christchurch will appreciate the Dorne Cup distance of 4000 metres in preparation for the 6km race on the New Brighton course the following week.

I have long advocated the Dorne Cup organisers setting 2, 3 and 4 kilometre races for school age athletes allowing athletes to pick the best distance for their personal preparation with perhaps age group medals in each of these races.

The Wanganui Collegiate Cross Country reported on in Saturday's Chronicle was the final selection trial for Wanganui Collegiate athletes for New Zealand secondary schools.

The strong efforts by Kate Wells and Brittney Matthews were rewarded by addition to the team with Isabel Brabyn, who had missed Whanganui Secondary Schools through illness, added to the junior (under 16 team).

The depth of performance at Year 9 girls level justified taking seven runners at that level to Christchurch to allow entry in both the three and six-to-score events. Similarly Sam Yorston and Adam Lennox have been added to the four already selected in the junior boys.

That junior team is headed by the in-form Liam Back who once again ran impressively to win the Collegiate Intermediate race when he ran at 3 minute per kilometre pace for the whole race. He will be supported by the Collegiate Whanganui Schools Year 9 and Collegiate junior winner George Lambert and the reliable Sam Thrupp and Ben Conder.

In New Zealand we are in the midst of the winter branch of the sport whereas in the northern hemisphere the track and field season is moving steadily towards the IAAF World Championships in London in August where New Zealand will be fielding a strong team.
While Valerie Adams is not competing, Tomas Walsh has made a wonderful start to defending his IAAF Diamond League title finishing second to Olympic Champion Ryan Crouser at Eugene in his opening Diamond League with a promising 21.71 metre in a truly stellar field.

His no throw with the last landed well over 22 metres from the circle - that augers well.
Angela Petty ran a great 2.00.44 to qualify for the IAAF Championships while Camille Buscomb ran a best 5000 metres to gain a B qualifying standard.

A group of other athletes based in the USA have until the end of the week to qualify to be added to the New Zealand team for the World University Games in Taiwan.

Among these are the promising Rosa Flanagan (Christchurch) who's promising career has been on hold following injury and health issues. She runs a 5000 meres in Portland Oregon on Saturday just 24 hours before the qualifying closes.

I keep my fingers crossed for this former young Cooks Gardens Classic women's mile winner. Flanagan, like Buscomb, Petty and many other middle distance women runners, can thank the vision of the Hutt Valley Harrier Club way back in 1928.

FOOTNOTE: The Wanganui Harriers Club will also send a strong contingent of athletes to Trentham for the Dorne Cup this weekend. Many of those runners competed at the annual Hughes Memorial Cross Country in Hawera last weekend. Several have also gained selection to represent their schools at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country in Christchurch a week later.