Athletics New Zealand - Weekly Roundup

MOTUEKA.

New Zealand Running Championships – Mt Campbell, 17 April 2010

Six times world mountain running champion Jonathan Wyatt had no trouble collecting his fourth New Zealand title in the race up Mt Campbell on Saturday.

Wyatt was on a brief visit back in the country from his base in Italy which worked in well with the timing of the national championships. The 37 year old took the lead early on in the gruelling climb which took the runners from nearly sea level to just over 1300m. He crossed the finish in 68m 11s, a minute and a half in front of James Coubrough of Wellington.

Wyatt said he was pleased with his run which was half a minute faster than his winning time up Mt Campbell in 2008.

“I broke away reasonably early, got a lead where I could look back and see what was happening behind me,” said Wyatt.

“I was working hard and kept it going steady, no fireworks, just a nice consistent run,” he added.

Wyatt returns to Europe in a week’s time for another season of racing.

“I have races starting in May and I will do some mountain marathon races again. I have not yet decided if I will race the world mountain running championships this year in Slovenia,” he said.

Phil Costley of Christchurch was third across the line in 71m 25s, easily the first master runner. Third in the senior championship was the defending champion Glenn Hughes of Wellington in 71m 58s.

Wyatt’s wife, Italian Olympic cross country skier, Antonella Confortola won the women’s 7.20km race in 43m 45s. Anna Frost, who is based in the UK, was second in 45m 35s collecting her first New Zealand mountain title. Judith May of Tauranga was third.

Wyatt said it was an honour for them to win their respective races.

“That was a great run from Antonella coming off a hard five weeks of cross country skiing with no running, just a little bit of running before the race,” he said.

Shay Williamson of Whakatane won the junior men’s title, with the junior women’s going to Josie Wilcox of Nelson. Paula Canning of Waimea was the best of the masters women clocking 51m 21s for the 7.2km up hill run. 

Results:

Men.-

Senior 14.2km: Jonathan Wyatt 68m 11s 1, James Coubrough (Wgtn) 69m 48s 2, Glenn Hughes (Wgtn) 71m 58s 3.

Junior 7.2km: Shay Williamson (Whakatane) 43m 27s 1, Claude Meffan (Nelson) 48m 35s 2, Tim Stewart (Kapiti) 50m 28s 3.

Masters 14.2km: 35-39; Brian Kemp (Waimea) 84m 0s 1, Josh Barber (Nelson) 86m 45s 2, Jon Linyard (Waimea) 87m 16s 3. 40-44; Phil Costley (Cant) 71m 25s 1, Thomas Pettersson (Nelson) 81m 45s 2, Chris Jordan (Papanui TocH) 82m 54s 3. 45-49; Cliff Bowman (Waimea) 76m 54s 1, Glen Ferguson (Dunedin) 78m 44s 2. 

50-54; Patrick Meffan (Nelson) 77m 19s 1, Paul Forster (Wgtn) 80m 49s 2, Anthony Rogal (Chch) 92m 13s 3. 55-59; Michael Morrissey (Tasman) 90m 57s 1, Derek Shaw (Tasman) 95m 22s 2, John Thirkettle (Waimea) 103m 20s 3. 60-64 7.2km; Ian Morrison (Nelson) 55m 33s 1. 65-69 7.2km; Norman Carrington (Waimea) 59m 16s 1, David Trow (Hutt Valley) 69m 28s 2.

Women.-

Senior 7.2km: Antonella Confortola (Italy) 43m 45s 1, Anna Frost 45m 35s 2, Judith May (Tauranga) 49m 26s 3.

Junior 5.7km: Josie Wilcox (Nelson) 36m 24s 1, Kate Forster (Wgtn) 47m 19s 2, Karly Ryder (Cant) 50m 5s 3.

Masters 7.2km: 35-39; Paula Canning (Waimea) 51m 21s 1. 40-44; Colette Read (Nelson) 59m 3s 1. 45-49; Dawn Pascoe (Waimea) 61m 52s 1. 55-59; Linda Sillery (Waimea) 65m 34s 1.

 

AUSTRALIA

Australian Track and Field Championships – Perth 16-18 April 2010

Day 1, 16 April

Women 100m: Rochelle Coster 11.87s (+2.3) Q, Andrea Koenen 11.78s (+1.3) Q, Monique Williams DQ, Anna Smythe 11.61s (+1.4) Q.

Men 100m: Carl Van der Speck 10.64s (+0.8) q.

Men 800m: Glen Ballam 1m 52.28s DNQ.

Men 400m hurdles: Daniel O’Shea 53.12s q.

Men discus: Marshall Hall 48.65m dnq.

Women triple jump: Nneka Okpala 12.51m (+2.1) q, Marissa Pritchard 12.73m (+1.7) q.

Men Wheelchair, 100m: Matthew Lack T54 15.39s (+2.0) q, 400m: Lack 51.92s q, 800m: Lack 1m 43.36s 2nd.

Women 100m Ambulant: Kate Horan T44 14.13s (+0.5) q.

Men discus secured: Joe Flavell F58 29.55m 2nd.

Women discus ambulant: Holly Robinson F46 27.73m 5th.

Day 2, 17 April

Men 1500m: Brent Tingay 8th Heat 2 3m 49.06s DNQ. 

Women 100m S/F: Anna Smythe 11.72s (+0.2) Q, Andrea Koenen 11.93s (+0.5) Q, Rochelle Coster 12.07s (+0.5) q. Final: Smythe 11.72s (+0.2) 2nd, Koenen 11.97s 6th, Coster 12.10s 7th.

Men 100m S/F: Carl Van der Speck 10.68s (+0.4) DNQ.

Men 400m hurdles: Daniel O’Shea 52.29s 6th.

Women 3000m steeplechase: Sarah McSweeney 11m 2.34s 5th.

Women javelin throw: Keshia Grant 47.83m 5th, Hannah Blair 47.25m 6th.

Women triple jump: Marissa Pritchard 12.69m (0.0) 6th, Nneka Okpala 12.25m (0.0) 9th.

Men Wheelchair 100m final: Matthew Lack T54 15.63s (-0.1) 4th, 400m: Lack 51.83s 4th, 1500m: Lack 3m 16.32s 4th.

Women Ambulant 100m final: Kate Horan T44 14.20s (+0.3) 4th, 200m S/F: Horan 29.54s (-1.4) q.

Men Ambulant javelin throw: Rory McSweeney F44 37.37m 1st.

Women Ambulant javelin throw: Holly Robinson F46 28.46m 2nd, shot put: Robinson 8.96m 3rd.

Women Secured javelin throw: Jessica Hamill F34 13.15m 2nd, Rebecca Hayman F55 13.55m 4th.

Day 3, 18 April

Men 200m: Adam Somerville 22.09s (-1.6) DNQ. James Dolphin 21.32s (-1.8) Q, Final 20.83s (+1.4) 3rd.

Women 200m: Andrea Koenen 24.02s (+0.2) Q Final 23.67s (+1.3) PB 3rd.

Men javelin throw: Stuart Farquhar 81.01m 2nd.

Men shot put: Jerram Huston 15.29m 7th.

Women long jump: Marissa Pritchard 5.71m (-1.3) 7th.

Women Secured shot put: Jessica Hamill F34 7.19m 3rd, Rebecca Hayman F55 5.43m 4th.

Men Wheelchair 200m: Matthew Lack T54 27.93s (-0.5) 4th.

Women Ambulant 200m: Kate Horan T44 28.38s (+1.2) 2nd.

 

AUCKLAND

O’Hagan’s 5km series, Viaduct Harbour – 13 April

Scott Winton won for the second week in a row in 15m 25s. Melissa Norris was the first woman in 18m 16s.

 

HASTINGS

Hastings Half Marathon – 18 April

Ben Walters won in 1h 16m 26s. Erin Furness won the women’s section in 1h 27m 13s. Quentin Rew won the half marathon walk in 1h 41m 18s. Vanessa Lowl in second was also the first woman in 2h 8m 21s.

 

UNITED STATES

Mt Sac Relays, Mt San Antonio College, Walnut California, 15-17 April 2010

Edwin Henshaw, Tulsa Alumni, was 20th in the Invitational University Open 10,000m in 29m 53.82s. Fiona Crombie was fifth in the 3000m steeplechase in 10m 15.80s. In the 1500m, Hayden McLaren, Providence, 3m 43.95s, Dominic Channon, Providence 3m 45.09s, Julian Matthews Providence 3m 47.64s. Women’s 5000m Paula Whiting, Tulsa, 16m 03.18s. 5000m Andrew Davidson 14m 24.65s, Daniel Wallis 14m 11.20s. 

At the EMU Twilight Michigan’s Brendon Blacklaws won the mile in 4m 07.02s while Dallas Bowden came 6th in 4m 11.99s and on day two Blacklaws came 4th in the 800m in 1m 54.78s with Tarefe Ejigu of EMU 8th in 1m 55.84s. 

EKU Open Eastern Kentucky’s at Tom Samuels Track, Daniel Jones was 5th in the 5000m with a time of 15m 32.10s. At the Cal State Los Angeles Twilight University of Hawaii Te Rina Keenan placed second in both the shot put and discus events with 13.38m in the shot and 50.45m in the discus.

Larry Ellis Invitational 1500m Villanova’s Carl Mackenzie placed first in 3m 44.37s while team mate Mathew Mildenhall came 4th 3m 45.97s while in the 3000m steeplechase Hugo Beamish came 8th in 9m 12.68s. At the 2010 ACC Outdoor Championships David Ambler, Florida State, ran the second-fastest time in qualifying for the final in 10.37s (+3.7). In the final Ambler was fourth in 10.44s (+2.8).

 

JACKO GILL SETS WORLD AGE RECORDS

It has been confirmed that Jacko Gill has achieved world best performances for his age in the shot put. 

Gill now holds the world’s best for a 14 year old with the 5kg shot with his 20.42m set at the New Zealand secondary schools championships in Timaru on the 13th of December last year. This betters the previous best of 18.54m set by Nikita Nesterenko of Ukraine in February 2006.

Gill also now holds the world’s best for a 15 and 16 year old with the 6kg shot with his 19.92m at the New Zealand championships in Christchurch in late March. Gill’s distance eclipses by one centimetre the 19.91m set by Sun Bin of China in September 2006.

 

OBITUARY

PHIL ‘TAFFY’ JONES DIES

Popular Wellington throws coach Phil Jones has died, in his home country of Wales, from cancer.  

Taffy, as he was known as, will be remembered for his dedication to the athletes he coached and the successes that they achieved.

The taxi driver focussed on technique and used video analysis to appraise every throw.

His early success came with Shaka Sola who won the New Zealand shot put title in 2002, 03, 04, 05 and he also won in 2006. Sola also took the national discus title in 2003, 05, 05 and also won in 2006. Sola represented Samoa at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. Jones coached Serefina Akeli New Zealand javelin throw champion in 2002, 04, 05 and also the winner in 2006. He had earlier coached Fale Seve who collected the New Zealand junior shot put title in 1996 and 1997 as well as winning the national junior hammer title in 1997.

In recent years he has been successful with athletes from Wellington College and from the Titahi Bay Athletic Club. His most outstanding athlete from the last three years has been Ryan Tinkle who holds the national M16 hammer record with a throw of 63.36m. Taffy would travel every lunch hour to train not only Ryan but any thrower interested in learning how to throw. From the Bay he coached leading junior discus thrower Leesa Lealaisalanoa, who improved on her New Zealand W16 discus record to 51.41m at the national championships last month.

Jones was born in Wales, about one mile from Cardiff Arms Park, and he watched rugby for a good part of his life. The first time that he watched athletics was in 1958 at the Empire Games in Cardiff. He came to New Zealand in 1965 and played rugby for Marist. The coaching course he attended in Auckland in 1996 with Klaus Bartoneitz really kindled his interest in coaching.

In May 2008 Jones was recognised by Sport Wellington as “Coach of the Month”.

From time to time I received emails from Taffy regarding New Zealand records or failing to mention a prominent result from the weekend, all in the same style, all low case with no break down into sentences. Here is an excerpt from one I received in March 2009; “leesa lealaisalanoa's excellent throw of over 48 metres for the women's 16 discus did not get a mention leesa is only 15 and i sometimes think that the omission of her results has something to with the difficulty of spelling her name correctly.”

Taffy will be missed, we will miss his sense of humour, honesty and sheer dedication to those who loved to throw.