If athletes had read the weather forecast on Saturday they would probably have decided not to travel to Palmerston North to the third Regional Athletic League meeting.
Those who did travel encountered strong winds for the opening event that then miraculously dropped away and the forecast rain was only a very light drizzle at the very end of the meeting. The athletes who made the journey were rewarded with a series of excellent performances that included 17 personal bests and a further five season bests. These are just what athletes need only a fortnight out from New Zealand Schools.
Harry Symes won the 200 metres in a personal best of 22.15 that propelled him to second in the NZ Youth rankings and sets the pleasing problem of having to choose between the 200 metres and the 400 metres in Timaru at the start of next month. Symes also ran good legs in the 4 x 100 (team finished in a season's best of 44.11 seconds) and in the 4 x 400 for another season's best.
Jane Lennox took no less than 14 seconds off her 2000m steeplechase performance to win in 7:21.73 to move to third in the NZ Youth rankings, less than a second behind the second ranked performer. Lennox is likely to make technical improvements over the immediate future that could further lift her in the rankings.
One athlete who is making a habit of setting personal bests is Charlie Waddy. Waddy has set a personal best every time he has stepped onto the track this season. At the first league meeting in Masterton in October he ran a best over 800 metres by more than seven seconds. A week later in the second regional meet in Palmerston North he made a further three-second improvement. At the weekend at the third meeting he ran a best over 400 metres which he bettered at the end of the meeting in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he earned himself a place in the A team.
On Tuesday evening a photo timing malfunction probably cost him yet another best over the one lap. Waddy is an exciting athlete who still has another year at school.
Another 400/800 metre runner to shine was Year 10 athlete Oliver O'Leary who impressed, stopping the clock at 2:02.68 to slice three seconds off his previous best 800 metres. O'Leary has stepped up from 400 metres and has merged as a real final prospect at New Zealand Schools in Timaru in the junior division.
Although narrowly beaten over both 800 metres and 1500 metres on Saturday Christian Conder is coming into good form. Had he been just a little more decisive he would certainly have gained the scalp of Wellington top middle distance runner Marcus Karamanolis. At the finish only hundredths of a second separated them.
In the 800 metres 90 minutes later Conder came within hundredths of a second from running under two minutes for the two lap race (2:00.85). In running this double he came so close to emulating what Wanganui junior national sportsman of the year Geordie Beamish achieved a year earlier when he went under four minutes for 1500 metres and under two minutes for 800 metres in the same afternoon.
The junior girls 4 x 100 metre relay team (Kate Tylee, Grace Godfrey, Jordan Hume and Olivia Seymour) again won bragging rights by narrowly beating their senior colleagues (Lexi Maples, Roimata Hipango, Lulu Kelly and Myah Jex-Blake). Both teams set best performances with the juniors running 51.12, a time that would have gained a medal in Wanganui at last year's New Zealand Schools. The Collegiate senior boys also ran confidence-lifting bests in both 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 metres.
Roimata Hipango, who back in April won the North Island Schools title, jumped over 11 metres for the first time this season (11.02 metres) which she bettered on Tuesday at club night (11.09). Hipango relishes good competition and can now travel south with renewed confidence. In the same competition on Saturday Lisa Lin jumped over 10 metres for the first time (10.15 metres) with her last jump.
Next week I will preview the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships to be held in Timaru from December 4 to 6.