Athletes come out on top after a late recount

I was particularly proud of the performances of Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club athletes at the final round of the Central Region Teams’ competition in Masterton.

The team topped the points scoring for the day last Saturday, with 209 points. Ka¯piti Mana were second, with 186 points, and Whanganui third on 146.

At the end of themeeting the points from the series were totalled and Ka¯piti Mana were announced as thewinner, 71⁄ points clear of Palmerston North.

However, it was later discovered that due the misreading of a competitor number the incorrect athlete was placed in an event and points awarded to the wrong team. The adjustment made to correct this error had a drastic effect on the series result, with Ka¯piti Mana’s total adjusted downwards and Palmerston North declared the winner by half a point.

The final totals were: Palmerston North, 537 points; Ka¯piti Mana, 5361⁄ points; and Whanganui, 4371⁄ points. To have only half a point separate the two top teams after three meetings highlighted the success of the competition.

In the men’s 300 metre hurdles Aden Porritt finished second in 41.03 seconds. Braxton Kauri was fourth in 41.52s. Kauri later in the meeting won the 100m hurdles in a personal best of 15.48s.

Large fields in the 100m meant therewere three heats in the women’s race and five in themen’s race.

Brianna Gorrie found herself in the A grade race and produced a personal-best 13.54s for sixth. In the B grade race Kyra Tikitikiwas victorious, recording 13.23s. Leah Powick was third in 13.54s. In the C grade race Eden Rolfe was fourth in 14.3s and Juliet Mckinlay sixth in 14.44s. These two scored valuable points for the team in the hurdle races, with Julietwinning the 70m and 80m and Eden coming second in the 70m and third in the 80m.

In the men’s 100m Dylan Calder finished sixth in the C grade heat and Andrew Matsuoka-webber won the E grade race.

Monique Gorrie produced another personal best inwinning the 400m in 56.91s. Kimberley Walsh ensured the team claimed maximum points, finishing second in 58.47s.

Jayde Rolfe ran a personal-best 61.56s in finishing second in the B race. Louis Northcott ran 50.63s for second in the A grade 400m and Greg Austin ran a personal-best of 53.95s for sixth.

Hayley Cornwall ran personal bests in the 1500m, where she was 11th in 5minutes and 8.01s, and in the second heat of the 800m, where she was third in 2m29.80s.

The women’s 1500m had a large field of 23 starters. Angela Jukes had the misfortune to be knocked over and spiked in the tussle for positions shortly after the start. To her credit she quickly got to her feet and continued the race.

The men’s 800m had many entries, so was split into four heats. Dirk Botha was third in heat 2 in 2m 05.42s, finishing just ahead of Nick Fee, whose time was 2m 05.77s. Daniel Pinkney was fourth in heat 3.

In the women’s 200m Kimberley Walsh was second in the A grade race in 25.94s, just ahead of Monique Gorrie’s 26.16s.

The B grade racewas a Palmerston North benefit, with Leah Powick first in 27.37s, Jayde Rolfe second in 27.66s and Courtney Trow third in 27.86s.

In themen’s race Angus Lyver was second in the A grade race in a smart 22.38s. Forbes Kennedy took out the C grade heat in 23.48s, with Caleb Evans running a personal best of 23.73s for second.

Noah Macdermid benefited from some Benjamin Wall pacemaking, which dragged many athletes through to personal bests. Noah Macdermid finished third in 8m 37.18s. Kara Macdermid was the first women home in 9m 40.38s.

Andre Le Pine-day came first in the men’s 5000 metres.

Forbes Kennedywas once again consistent, winning the long jump with a best effort of 6.53m. Special mention goes to 12-year-old William Rolfe, who recorded a personal best of 4.34m.