Shot putter shows how it’s done
Athletics Alan Adamson
There were some outstanding performances by Manawatu¯ athletes at the Porritt Classic in Hamilton.
Jack Lewer, competing in the open men’s shot put last Saturday, bettered the athletes with disabilities M20 New Zealand record for the second time this year. His throw of 11.04 metres improved on his effort at the Potts Classic a fortnight earlier.
Corinna Minko took out the women’s long jump with a best leap of 6.05m, ahead of Kelsie Berryman, the current national champion.
Jordan Peters made it a longjump double for Anne Thomsoncoached athletes, taking out the men’s event with 7.05m.
Our high jump women once again all cleared the same height, going out of the competition after clearing 1.6m. After the countback, Ranae Saville was placed 8th, Courtney Trow 13th and Lea Muetzal 14th. It is particularly pleasing that Trow is now clearing similar heights as her more experienced training partners. The big question is will she be able to jump as high as her mother did?
Kara Macdermid once again showed good form, finishing fourth in a high-class 1500m race, running 4 minutes 20.58 seconds.
Benjamin Wall also finished fourth in the men’s event in 3m 52.55s, showing he is in good form for his trip to Idaho, where he will compete in the 1600m at the Simplot Games.
This event is one of the premier school-age athletics events in the United States. The size is staggering. In the 1600m there are 19 heats of 16 athletes a heat. His 1500m time was a personal best, as was that of Noah Macdermid, who finished seventh in 3m 57.16s. Liam Wall was 16th, just ahead of David Lovelock.
Robert Norman was another to come up with a personal best – 2m 3.99s in the 800m.
Ben Langton Burnell had to be content with second in the javelin, with a best throw of 71.56m, but would have enjoyed the chance to compete against an Olympic representative from Japan.
❚ The close-off date for the those wanting to compete in the Athletics NZ championships in Christchurch is Thursday.
❚ At the Peter Snell Meeting in Whanganui on March 2 there is a Secondary Schools Teams’ challenge between teams from Manawatu¯ , Taranaki and Whanganui.