Family affair for Macdermids at Whanganui’s Cooks Classic
The Macdermid family provided the standout performances by Manawatu¯ athletes at Whanganui’s Cooks Classic.
The Athletics New Zealand under-20 3000-metre championship was part of the programme on Tuesday night and Noah Macdermid ran a fine race to finish third in 8 minutes and 40.19 seconds, taking 20 seconds off his personal best.
Kara Macdermid won the women’s mile race, in 4m 52.52s, well clear of the remaining runners.
Jordan Peters showed he is approaching top form, winning the long jump with a 7.3m best leap.
One of the feature events on the night’s programme was the 1500m, featuring Nick Willis, who did not disappoint the crowd, taking out the event.
Several of our local athletes took the opportunity to race with Willis.
The best of these was Benjamin Wall, crossing the line in 4m 00.86s, in eighth place. Andre Le Pine-day was 12th, in 4m 16.95s; Liam Wall 18th, in 4m 24.28s; and Robert Norman 19th, in 4m 25.28s. This was certainly a great experience for these younger athletes.
Our sprinters did not have such a good night. Zac Topping finished fourth in the 200m, in 22.46s, just ahead of Brayden Grant, who was fifth, in 23.04s.
Earlier, Grant recorded the fifthfastest time in the handicapped 400m, crossing the line in 50.87s.
Monique Whiteman recorded 61.99s to be the third fastest of the women in this event, with Pavinee Watson fourth fastest, in 63.43s.
Athletes in this event ran the full distance and their handicap was deducted from their finishing time. This determined the overall placings.
Richmond Wells managed to complete the energy-sapping 400m hurdles in under a minute, crossing the line in second place, in 59.58s.
Two former club members were among the meeting standouts. High jumper Hamish Kerr set a stadium record with his 2.22m clearance and 14-year-old sprinter Sophie Williams took out the under-18 women’s 100m in 12.20s, again heading off national champion Genna Maples.
❚ Last week I covered the local successes of our younger athletes at the North Island Colgate Games in Hamilton.
The South Island Colgate Games were held in Dunedin and three local competitors, that I know of, attended.
Ashhurst’s Ari Bennett was a gold medallist in the 11-year-old boys’ walk at Hamilton and he was able to add a South Island gold medal to his collection, winning his age-group walk in Dunedin.
Stella Groube had a busy time, coming home with a silver medal in the 10-year-old girls’ 100m. She was unfortunate enough to get that dreaded fourth placing in her 200m, 400m and long-jump efforts, and a fifth place in the high jump. Younger sister Chloe won a thirdplace pennant in the girls’ 8-year 100m.
❚ There are plenty of opportunities for athletes to experience good competitions over the coming weeks and it has been disappointing to see many of the athletes who have expressed a desire to compete in the national championships not making the most of what is on offer. This is a general comment, not one aimed at only local athletes.
The Capital Classic was in Wellington this week and the North Island under-18 and under-16 teams’ inter-provincial is in Palmerston North on Saturday.
Hawera hosts its iconic Jumps to Music on Wednesday. I hope the weather gods are kinder than in the past, when race organisers have used a bit of Kiwi No 8 wire technology in bringing in a fleet of buses to act as a wind break.
On Saturday next week, Hastings hosts the Allan and Sylvia Potts Classic.