Sanson’s searing 5000m leaves rest of field for dust
There were some more great performances at this week’s Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club night.
Chris Sanson’s 5000-metre run of 15 minutes 53.46 seconds was one of the night’s best. He went into the lead early and steadily drew away from the rest of the field. Andre Le Pine-day kicked clear of David Lovelock over the last 200m to come in second in 16m 5.46s, with Lovelock third in 16m 11.24s.
It was good to see two walkers complete the 3000m, with Bradyn Popow and Alex Willis both looking impressive.
Once again we had good fields in the women’s sprints. Pavinee Watson took out the treble, winning the 60m, 100m and 300m races.
She had to work particularly hard in the 60m, as the failure of the recall gun to operate allowed Monique Whiteman to get away with a flyer and she was only caught just on the finishing line. Watson won in 7.9s, ahead of Whiteman, 8s, and Kyra Tikitiki, 8.2s.
In the 100m, Watson crossed the line in 12.7s, with Tikitiki second and Whiteman third, both timed at 13.4s.
Outstanding times were recorded in the 300m race. Watson took victory in 43.94s, ahead of Whiteman, 44.01s, and Lydia Bamford, 44.9s. Monique Gorrie was next across the line in 45.89s – a great effort by this 13-year-old competing against much older athletes. She headed off Tikitiki, 46.07s, and Leah Powick, 47.26s, with another 13-year-old, Jayde Rolfe, finishing in 49.07s.
Another outstanding effort was that of 11-year-old Hayley Cornwall winning her age event in 50.8s, which was good enough to be listed on the club ranking lists.
Jordan Peters had success in taking out both the 60m and 100m sprints, but in the 300m it was Zac Topping who came out on top, in 35.29s, with Peters second in 37.04s and Mark Seumanu third in 38.98s. They were followed home by Joseph Chamberlain, 39.69s, and Forbes Kennedy, another youngster racing against older athletes, finishing in 45.55s.
In the field events we saw Aiden Smith get the javelin out to 46.39m, with Sam Mackinder throwing the women’s spear 32.3m. Some good efforts in the long jump pit saw Bamford record a 5.27m effort, Gorrie jumped 4.68m, Powick 4.57m and Kimberley Walsh, another 13-year-old, 4.47m.
The undoubted highlight of this week’s night was the number of under-5 children taking part in the Run Jump Throw programme.
I’m not certain on the exact numbers, but it was huge. Seeing all these youngsters along with their parents getting right into the spirit of the activities being brilliantly presented by Katrina Romerogemmell was well worth watching. There were high fives galore and big smiles were the order of the day.
Club nights are reliant on parent help to officiate at events and we are thankful for those who step in and help. It is also great to see some of our older athletes also offering to help out when they are not competing. We saw a great example of this on Tuesday when Emma Leader volunteered to take on the important role of starter, something she had never done before. And what a great job she did of this, growing in confidence as the evening progressed.
❚ Next weekend is a busy one, with the first round of the Central Teams Competition taking place in Hastings on Saturday. Palmerston North are the defending champions and will be hoping to get off to a good start to this competition.
The competition is designed as an ideal lead-in to the New Zealand Secondary School championships, with meets scheduled five weeks, four weeks and two weeks out from these championships.
The meetings are all open-grade competition, but where the fields warrant, races will be graded on ability. The Palmerston North club will be taking a bus to this meeting and members are encouraged to make use of this.
❚ Next Saturday, the Palmerston North club will be holding their ribbon day, which will also incorporate the Trans-tasman Challenge selection trial. These days are a great concept, with athletes from 7 upwards competing for ribbons.
❚ Congratulations to the Palmerston North Parkrun, which celebrates its first birthday next Saturday.
❚ It is great to learn that both the Ashhurst and Feilding clubs have had successful opening nights.