Coach has high hopes for Greene, and Oakley
Coach Craig Kirkwood is on track for a national championship double with in-form middledistance charges Rebekah Greene and Julian Oakley in today’s Capital Classic athletics meet in Wellington.
The pair are running well and have their sights on bigger ambitions in 2023, with Kirkwood confident both are capable of lapping up the challenges for the 3000m national titles that will be at stake during the Classic meet to be staged in expected blustery conditions at Newtown Park.
Dunedin 29-year-old
Greene brings blistering form after recently slashing 6sec off her
PB for the mile while setting a New Zealand resident record of 4min 32.92sec to claim the national title at the Cooks Classic in Whanganui last Saturday. Her 3000m best of 9:17.22 was set in Ireland last July, and might be under threat if that breeze drops.
Greene is expected to be pushed hard by defending champion Laura Nagel who won last year’s title in Hastings in 9:28.87 as part of a national gold medal haul that also included 1500m, the mile and 5000m. Her PB of 9:01.35 was set in Boston in 2014.
Kirkwood, who guides Greene and Oakley in a middle-distance stable out of Tauranga that also includes star 1500m runner Sam Tanner and champion triathlete Hayden Wilde, is confident of another strong showing from Greene as she tunes up for the world cross-country championships in Australia on February 18 where she will run in the mixed relay with Tanner, Annika Grogan and Eric Speakman.
‘‘The focus for her this year is on the 1500,’’ he told Stuff. ‘‘We’ve set out with a goal of qualifying her for the world championships in Budapest this year.
‘‘Racing and planning have been angled around that. It’s not an easy task but she’s showing good
form and signs she could there.’’
Today’s 3000m slots in as a nice endurance test for the Dunedin athlete, as well as a decent shakedown for the cross-country where she will run a 2km leg in the mixed relay.
There is some quality elsewhere in the field, including top distance runner Hannah Miller, but Kirkwood expects Greene and Nagel to kick clear when it matters.
Kirkwood took Oakley, the son of Kiwi squash legend Dame Susan Devoy, on board last December and is rapt with the progress they have made after deciding to give the 5000m a crack this year. Like Greene, the hope is that the 29-year-old can run his way into contention for Budapest, though he too has his work cut out battling skyhigh auto standards and challenging selection criteria.
Oakley won the national 10,000m title in Wellington last November and nudged out training partner Tanner to claim the 5000m at December’s Night of 5s in Auckland in a race record and PB of 13:29.74. Oakley (with a PB of 7:44.34 from 2017) will be defending the 3000m title he won in Hastings last year in 8:00.96, and is expected to be pushed hardest by Oli Chignell and Speakman.
There is plenty of quality on show at the Capital Classic, spearheaded by Olympic bronze medallist Tom Walsh in the men’s shot put, where he will go up against Aussie champion Aiden Harvey, and an expected sizzling women’s 200m showdown between Georgia Hulls and Rosie Elliott.
Lauren Bruce (hammer), Tori Peeters (javelin), Lisa Adams (shot out) and Imogen Skelton and Keeley O’Hagan (high jump) will also look to showcase their class, while there will be plenty of interest in the form of young sprinter Tommy Te Puni who has been running well this year.