Athletics New Zealand – News – Quentin Rew and Roseanne Robinson win NZ walking titles, Julia Ratcliffe erases

HASTINGS
Long Distance Walking Championships, Whakatu – 24 October 2010
Quentin Rew of Wellington carved 27 minutes off his personal best time in winning the New Zealand 50km road walking championship at Whakatu in Hastings on Sunday.

 The 26 year old runner turned race walker recorded a time of 4h 25m 19s, to head in Graeme Jones of Hastings by five minutes.
It was Rew's second ever 50km race, having won the title last year in 4h 52m 55s.
"I've come a long way in a year," said Rew.
"With a bit more training and harder long sessions I should knock a further half hour off that. If I take 27 minutes off every time I race I should be in good shape come London Olympics," he added.
Rew believes he could make next year's world championships in Korea.
"Tony Sargisson, Graeme Jones and I have a 50km in April next year where we should all post a qualifying time," said Rew.
Roseanne Robinson of Otago won the women's 10km title (carried over from Christchurch after being cancelled due to the earthquake) and continued on in the same race to win the 15km title. Alana Barber of Auckland was second in both events.
Mike Parker of Auckland won the senior 10km in 50m 6s. Parker has achieved a unique piece of New Zealand athletic history in that he now holds the longest span (34 years) between his first senior title won in 1976 and his latest effort. It is also 29 years since he last won a senior title.
Men.- Senior 50km: Quentin Rew (Wgtn) 4h 25m 19s 1, Graeme Jones (Hastings) 4h 30m 44s 2, David Sim (Akld) 5h 40m 25s 3. Masters 60-64 50km: Peter Zwart (Pal/Nth) 5h 25m 42s 1. Senior 10km: Mike Parker (Akld) 50m 6s 1.
M16 5km: Matthew Holcroft (Ham) 25m 20s 1.
M16 10km: Holcroft 50m 1s 1. M19 5km: Daniel Lord (Cant) 27m 58s 1. Masters 10km, 40-44: David Smyth (Aust) 59m 59s 1. 45-49: David Wackrow (Taranaki) 59m 41s 1, Des Hussey (Tar) 1h 6m 17s 2. 55-59: Eric Kemsley (Tar) 54m 45s 1, Philip Grimmett (Wgtn) 1h 8m 55s 2, John Leonard (Wgtn) 1h 11m 4s 3.   
Women.- Senior 10km: Roseanne Robinson (Otago) 53m 10s 1, Alana Barber (Akld) 1h 0m 8s 2.
Senior 15km: Robinson 1h 22m 27s 1, Barber 1h 32m 0s 2.
W19 5km: Rowena Meikle (Cant) 33m 53s 1. W16 5km: Sarah-Amy Drummond (Akld) 33m 5s 1, Renee Moratti (Tar) 34m 31s 2.
W16 10km: Drummond 1h 7m 13s 1.
Masters 10km, 40-44: Nyle Sunderland (Nelson) 1h 1m 24s 1, Katie Tahere (Tar) 1h 10m 9s 2. 45-49: Vanessa Lowl (Tar) 1h 2m 24s 1, Serena Coombes (Tar) 1h 8m 42s 2. 55-59: Sue Hoskin (Pal/Nth) 1h 1m 17s 1, Anne Fraser (Tar) 1h 12m 29s 2. 60-64: Marlene White (Tar) 1h 7m 36s 1, Shirley Barber (Akld) 1h 9m 11s 2.
Masters 20km, 40-44: Sunderland 2h 5m 3s 1, Tahere 2h 23m 50s 2. 55-59: Hoskin 2h 6m 1s 1, Fraser 2h 31m 33s 2. 60-64: White 2h 17m 28s 1, Barber 2h 22m 51s 2.

North Island Combined Events, Regional Sport Park – 23/24 October 2010
Men Decathlon.- Senior: Callum McConachy (Manwtu/Wang) 5395 points 1, Darin Hunt (Manwtu/Wang) 3296 2.
M19: Ross Walker-Smart (Auckland City Athletics) 4565 1, Ben Harrison (Hastings) 4562 2.
M16: Pascal Kethers (North Harbour Bays) 5567 1, Richard Callister (NHB) 4326 2. Men Octathlon.- M16: Luke Davison (Tauranga) 5067 1, Joseph Reynolds (Taur) 4242 2, Alex Colvin (Taur) 3752 3. Women Heptathlon.-
W19: Portia Bing (NHB) 4838 1, Vianca du Toit (NHB) 3420 2.
W16: Paige Harwood (Pak) 4584 1, Rebecca Andrews (Taur) 3111 2.

NORTHLAND
Rod Dixon Invitation Mile, Otamatea High School, Maungaturoto – 23 October 2010
Brett Clifford of Timaru Boys' High set a race record of 4m 35.53s in winning the annual Rod Dixon mile. Clifford broke Ryan Smith's 2007 record of 4m 42.3s. Tadele Tekle-Haimanot of Mt Roskill Grammar made a move with 600m remaining, but Clifford overhauled him in the home straight for victory. Tekle-Haimanot was second in 4m 36.8s with Mt Roskill team mate Haile-Melekot Tesfaye third in 4m 42.79s. Ryan Slater of Kamo was fourth in 4m 47.6s.
Georgie Grgec of Diocesan also set a race record in the girls' race. Grgec recorded 5m 13.34s, breaking Hannah Newbould's 2008 record of 5m 22.91s. Ella Mangan-Walker of Epsom Girls' Grammar was second in 5m 27.09s with Tayla Going of Whangarei Girls third in 5m 43.91s.

AUCKLAND
Viaduct Harbour 5km Series – 19 October 2010
Gavin Stevens won in 16m 17s, from Kerry Weeks 16m 32s and Neil Madgwick 16m 33s. Amber Morrison led in the women in 18m 45s ahead of Rachel Bowie 19m 0s and Sinead Sinnott 19m 18s.

HAMILTON
Putaruru Bell Meeting, Porritt Stadium – 23 October 2010
Julia Ratcliffe erased Valerie Adams from the record book in the W17, W18 and W19 hammer throw with a New Zealand record breaking throw of 58.89m at Porritt Stadium on Saturday. Ratcliffe, now 17, also holds the national W16 hammer record with 56.68m, giving her a clean sweep of hammer records from W16 to W19.
Ratcliffe said the record coming at the beginning of the season was a surprise. "I've done it in training but I didn't expect it in competition at this stage – the goal was to do it at the end of the season it came sooner than expected," said Ratcliffe.
"The next goal now is 60 metres."
This could well come at the New Zealand secondary schools championships in Hastings in December.
Ratcliffe has recovered well from a sprained ankle which she sustained just before the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August.
"I still competed finishing 11^th," she said.
Ratcliffe was 11^th in the qualifying rounds with 50.41m and second in the B final with 50.49m.
Adams set the previous W17, W18 and W19 record of 58.75m in New Caledonia in 2002.

WELLINGTON
Athletics, Newtown Park – 23 October 2010
Yarride Rosario won the M19 100m in 11.29s (-0.1). Nick Kalivati won the senior 100m in 11.39s (-0.1) and the 110m hurdles in 15.92s (-0.7). In the 400m Jack Oliver M19 recorded 51.41s, Kieran McDonald M16 51.84s and Edward Hewitt (Masterton) B14 57.83s. Scott Thomson was out to 13.80m (+1.5) in the M19 triple jump.

Waterfront 5km Series – 19 October 2010
Jason Waite won in 17m 11s, three seconds faster than Michael Beaumont. Sarah Drought debuted in the women's section in fine style winning in 17m 51s. Stephanie Mackenzie was second in 18m 36s. John Roskvist won the walk in 31m 43s, two seconds ahead of Philip Grimmett. Daphne Jones won the women's walk in 35m 47s.

CHRISTCHURCH
Athletics, QEII Stadium – 23 October 2010
Kelsey Berryman won the 100m in 12.80s (-1.3) from Kathryn Stuart 12.93s and Rebecca Gibson 12.97s. Stuart went on to win the 200m in 26.27s (-2.2) from Berryman 26.69s. Gibson won the 400m in 58.41s.
Alex Jordan won the 100m in 11.11s (0.0) and the 200m in 22.31s (-2.0). Richard Fernado won the 400m in 52.83s. Ben Loh was over the high jump at 1.95m and Tim McKee cleared 4.20m in the pole vault. In the M19 discus throw Hayden Hall was out to 47.61m. Phillip Meikle M16 recorded 15m 2.12s in the 3000m race walk and Courtney Ruske W16 15m 33.80s.

DUNEDIN
Athletics, Caledonian Stadium – 23 October 2010
Lauren Wilson won the W19 100m in 12.53s (-1.1) and the 200m in 25.38s (-1.1). Alex Gorrie won the M19 3000m in 8m 48.02s from Glen Ballam 8m 57.33s. Ballam also won a 60m in 7.65s (NWI). Daniel Balchin won the 800m in 1m 58.66s.
Matt Dallow won the masters 35plus 2kg discus with a throw of 47.45m, Chris Donaldson was second with 32.04m. Donaldson also won a 60m in 7.24s (NWI). Elton Matternich was over the bar at 1.90m in the M16 high jump.

AUSTRALIA
Burnie 10km Road Race, Tasmania – 17 October 2010
Shaun Krawitz was ninth in 31m 7s. Won by Liam Adams in 29m 35s from Russell Dessaix-Chin 30m 8s.

USA
Pre-Nationals Cross Country, Indiana State University, Terre Haute – 16 October 2010
Further to last week's results at this event, in the women's 6km Blue race, Camille Buscomb (Purdue) was 47^th in 21m 15s.
Princeton Invitational, Princeton New Jersey – 16 October 2010
Laura Sinclair (George Mason) won her third consecutive race, recording 21m 41s for the 6km.

DIDIER POPPE ON JACKO GILL'S LATEST SHOT PUT PERFORMANCE
Didier Poppe, coach of Jacko Gill, said that Gill always exceeds what is expected of him each time he competes.
Last week's performance of 18.57m with the senior shot of 7.26kg was no exception.
"With Jacko we're always surprised and it is always a good surprise," said Poppe while attending the launch for ‘Throw for Gold' programme last Thursday.
"Honestly we were expecting from training something around 18 metres and that was basically the goal, but with Jacko he always does more – and 18.57m and that's absolutely enormous," said Poppe.
Les Mills New Zealand senior record of 19.51m (resident) and 19.80m (national) is something Poppe said is eventually achievable by Gill.
"That would be something, agreed that would be a good symbol because Les Mills is such a figure in New Zealand athletics as a thrower and a career he has done.
"To see a young fellow coming under track of Les Mills and breaking the New Zealand record would be really a great thing for both of them and I would like to have the picture of the two together on this day," he said.
Poppe said that Gill is in a building period at the moment leading up to the New Zealand secondary schools championships in Hastings in December.
"He will be looking to get more out of the 5kg shot, if he could eventually also go for the world record at that stage because he has still not digested the defeat in front of the Polish guy in Singapore and he wants to get his revenge," said Poppe.
Gill set a New Zealand M17 and M16 record of 22.60m at the IOC World Youth Games in August in Singapore for the silver medal. Krzysztof Brzozowski of Poland won with a PB and world's best of 23.23m.

CHRISTCHURCH
World class Track and Field returns to Christchurch
Sports fans will soon have the opportunity to see many of the medal-winning Delhi Commonwealth Games track and field athletes in action in Christchurch early next year with the announcement of Saturday 26^th February as the date for the 2011 International Track Meeting. This timing aligns the event with international meets in Australia and increases the possibility of enticing some of the sports elite international athletes over to compete in Christchurch.
With eight track and field medals, the New Zealand team's performance in Delhi was the best at a games outside this country since 1966, and ITM organisers expect that the interest generated by the successful athletes will mean that sports fans are keen to see their heroes compete in Christchurch during the build-up to the 2012 Olympics.
"Most of the Delhi athletes have already competed at the International Track Meet before, and have expressed their intentions to return, along with some exciting overseas stars" said meet director Craig Motley.    
"With the IPC (Parasport) World Championships also being held at QEII in January 2011, we are expecting a real surge of interest and enthusiasm for watching such amazing athletes in action here in Christchurch."
Corporate hosting packages are on sale now, with preferential seating and general admission tickets to go on sale in December.
For further details contact Paul Coughlan, paul@internationaltrackmeet.co.nz, or ph 027-2233-028; or Leyton Tremain, leyton@internationaltrackmeet.co.nz, or ph 021-719-900
For further meet information go to www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz
Leyton Tremain
Event Promoter

THROW FOR GOLD PROGRAMME LAUNCHED
The ‘Throw for Gold' programme was launched at Jellicoe Park in Manurewa South Auckland last Thursday.
It is the seventh programme to be established by the John Walker ‘Find Your Field of Dreams' Foundation. It has been set up to unearth a new Valerie Adams or Stuart Farquhar and is funded by SPARC and The Lion Foundation. The junior throws development programme will be delivered by Athletics New Zealand and its aim is to identify and develop potential future discus, shot put and javelin champions. The selected athletes will receive specialist coaching, equipment and nutritional and behavioural advice to support their development.
The programme is managed by head coach Nigel Edwards and is supported by four other coaches.
Edwards is excited by the thought of having a number of future champion throwers emerging from New Zealand.
"I'm absolutely fantastically excited – It's just brilliant we actually have talent, we actually have the future champions of New Zealand already here being launched today," said Edwards.
"We have a great team, we have five coaches, we have over 100 years of throwing experience, so it's just passion all the way, we just love it," he added.
Peter Miskimmin, CEO of SPARC said that they have been looking at talent development across all sports.
"We have been looking at where we think we have an advantage and where we can hone and focus on identifying and bringing through young talented athletes," said Miskimmin.
"Clearly this community and the talent pool that is here represent a huge opportunity. So working with Sir John, who had a vision of doing this and also Athletics New Zealand it was a fairly easy fit and I'm hugely encouraged by what's happened here today," he added.
"Look the potential, it's exciting. You come here and you get excited by it, so enormously talented kids, great programme, great coaches, you get the sense and feeling of what's that about. So that's wonderful."
Sir John Walker believes there are many future throwing champions among the thousands who attend secondary school in the Auckland area.
"I think that is where our future is. I mean we look at Valerie Adams and she's leading the way with Beatrice as well. I had a feeling that there had to be a lot more kids out in the schools where they don't get an opportunity because there's no money and there is no one there coaching, so what we do is devise a programme where we go into every school in South Auckland and make kids throw a shot, discus and the javelin and basically what we are looking for is raw talent and future champions," said Sir John.
"These are kids of our future, not so much on the track but as a new era of throwers. The Polynesians have been unrecognised for so long, they're raw, they're big, they're strong and talented, why not develop them into athletes," he added.
Sir John said that we have concentrated on running for quite some time.
"We've still got some good track athletes and the glamour is still there, but these kids are the future, cause we just don't know how good they are. If we come out with 30 athletes out of the schools, now it's up to the coaches to nurture and keep them going and if we do that we'll have some future champions and I've no doubt we've seen that already today," he said.
Siositina Hakeai, a member of the group, presented Sir John with the discus that she had secured a New Zealand W16 record of 51.52m with in Canada in July before going on to compete at the world junior championships.
Terry Lomax Athletics New Zealand High Performance Rio 2016 Performance Project Manager said that it is an excellent concept.
"This could be the start of an approach that could be very fruitful in terms of getting athletes into the sport and giving them a pathway to success.
"It is good to see the opportunity that is there for the talent to come out and to see some of the kids displaying their talents out here today, it's just a tremendous opportunity," said Lomax.

Murray McKinnon Communications Advisor Athletics New Zealand 0274 806086 murray@mckinnon.co.nz

 Athletics New Zealand – News