He who puts his best torso forward wins the race
The men’s 60-metre race at this week’s Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club’s meeting was a great example of the benefit of using a dip finish.
Track races are judged by the order athletes’ torsos reach the finishing line. Heads, arms, legs and feet do not form part of the torso, so are not considered when judging a finish.
Brayden Grant and Jordan Peters were locked together as they crossed the finish the line on Tuesday. However, the photo-finish image showed Grant had dipped at the line so his shoulders were the first part that reached the line.
Peters crossed in a more upright stance, so it was his chest that was the part of his torso judged. The image clearly showing the dip was the difference, with victory to Grant by two hundredths of a second.
Personal bests to Pavinee Watson in the 200m, 27.37 seconds, and Braydn Popow, 16 minutes and 12.53s for the 3000m walk, were among the top performances on the night.
In the open 800m, Grant ran out an impressive winner in 2m 4.64s. Monique Whiteman was the first woman home in a good 2m 25.28s.
In the 3000m race, Benjamin Wall won comfortably in 9m 20.13s. David Lovelock produced another of his solid finishes to head off Theo Purdy and Liam Woolford for the minor placings.
❚ Although not athletic, we extend our congratulations to club member Anabel Romero-gemmell on becoming the New Zealand under-13 squash champion. She knocked out the No 1 and No 2 seeds in hard-fought matches, showing determination, composure and fight. She was also awarded the prestigious most valued junior girl for 2018. This award has many great squash players engraved on its plate and, at just 11, she is the youngest to be awarded this honour. Perhaps this is not surprising as both her parents excelled at sport. Her father, Victor, was a Mexican Davis Cup tennis representative and her mother, Katrina, was a New Zealand athletic age champion. ❚ Congratulations to Matt Field, who competed at the Australian Organ Transplant Games on the Gold Coast. He has highlighted what can be achieved with courage and resilience, winning the 100m, 200m, 400m and long jump, and grabbing a second place in the high jump. This organisation celebrates participation and the second chance at life. There are events for supporters. Janey, Matt’s partner, won all of her events – a 5km fun run, two swimming races and long jump. To add to Field’s list was a win in the 5km fun run and a bronze in tennis. His achievements were further recognised when he was awarded the shield for the most successful international competitor across all of the sports codes at the games. ❚ At the New Zealand Road Relay Championships last weekend, the Feilding Moa junior team finished fourth and their men’s team 10th in the C grade. Highlights were both Samuel Phillips and Liam Wall recording the second-fastest times for their laps, with Andre Le Pineday the fourth fastest. Perhaps the biggest news was the announcement that Feilding will be the venue for next year’s event.
❚ Congratulations are also in order for the Wanganui Collegiate athletes selected to represent New Zealand secondary schools at the Australian All Schools Championships in Cairns, Australia, in December. Liam Back, Tayla Brunger, Emma Osborne and Genna Maples are in the team of 16 athletes.