International atmosphere should bring out best in N.Z. athletes

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32252, 21 March 1970, Page 9

International atmosphere should bring out best in N.Z. athletes

(By

R. 0. DEW)

JX>R athletes on the bor-der-line of gaining nomination for the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games, the Kaiapoi Track and Field Classic—to be held on the grass track at Lancaster Park today and tomorrow represents air opportunity to impress the national selectors (Messrs C. Thompson, J. Borland and B. Hunt) which is too good to miss.

The majority of the country’s leading competitors have realised the importance being placed on this meeting, an official Commonwealth Games selection trial, and all but five national champions will make an appearance. Those missing, for a variety of reasons, will be M. Cull (Wellington, 400 metres), B. Hunter (Otago, 800 metres), R. Tayler (Otago, 1500 metres), Mesdames S. Potts (Otago, 400 and 800 metres) and V. Robinson (Waikato, 1500 metres). And of this quintet only Mrs Potts can be sure of a place in the Games team.

The selection panel has already made it quite clear that athletes must produce performances in their respective events right up to current Commonwealth standards if they hope to be chosen. Because of this, aggressive competition with the emphasis on performance should characterise the meeting.

But perhaps the most important incentive will be provided by the three international visitors, K. Keino, C. Asati (both Kenya) and B. Dyce (Jamaica). Their presence should give the meeting the international atmosphere which New Zealand athletes miss so badly, on home ground. Leading contenders for the Games team will certainly never have a better chance to improve their performances.

Those who consider the grass track inadequate only have to turn to the record book to find their fears groundless. It was at Lancaster Park that P. G. Snell set his world records for 800 metres and 880 yards. And it was on this track that J. L. Davies (Tokoroa) ran the fastest 5000 metres of his career.

For many the 5000 metres event on Sunday will be the highlight of a meeting which promises to be the finest held in Christchurch. Keino, at 30 the veteran of the overseas visitors, will be the man to beat He currently holds the New Zealand record for the distance of 13min. 24.25ec., set on his last visit to the Dominion five years ago. This is his best time.

At the Mexico Olympics, Keino won the 1500 metres final and his preparation for

the forthcoming Commonwealth Games is well advanced so a fast time is possible. If he runs the distance close to his New Zealand record time it seems unlikely that anybody will be able to stay with him. But such a performance would Undoubtedly tow others past the finish in times better than the Games standard of 13min. 48sec. There are several capable of bettering this time. Foremost among them is J. T. Power (Canterbury), who

won the national title at Auckland with a magnificent run in the rain last month. His best time so far is 13min. 53sec., set recently at Dunedin, and there is little doubt that he can improve on this tomorrow. However, he will face stiff competition from such talented distance runners as G. Thornley (Wellington), D. Sirl (Auckland), B. Rose (Wellington), P. Reeves (Auckland) and J. le Grice (Auckland). Thomey was runner-up in the national championship only a short time after running in the 3000 metres steeplechase. Sirl was unable to contest the national event because of illness but he won both the 1500 and 5000 metres Auckland titles. Le Grice, the New Zealand 1969 three miles champion, has had a poor season and finished only seventh in the New Zealand 5000 metres championship. He was left out of the official Auckland team and has travelled down at his own expense in an effort to reassert himself.

Keino is also the joint holder with Snell of the New Zealand 1500 metres record of 3min 37.65ec. He will race over this distance today against Dyce, A. Polhill (Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay). D. Quax (Waikato), P. Reeves (Auckland), M. Clarkson (Canterbury), B. Robinson (Canterbury), B. Rollo (Canterbury), P. Marks (Wellington) and P. Moy (Auckland). This event, too, will hold considerable interest for only two New Zealand athletes in the field. Quax and Reeves, have bettered the selection stand-

ard of 3min 44sec and both failed in the national championship.

The other two international events today will be the 400 metres and the 100 metres. Asati, who has a best time of 45.65ec and ran an anchor leg of the 4 by 400 metres relay for Kenya at the Mexico Olympics in 44.45ec, will be the man to watch. But he will face stern opposition from Dyce, who will also contest this event.

The New Zealand athletes in the 400 metres are J. Bailey (Canterbury), who won the national junior title, K. Kellow (Waikato), runner-up in the New Zealand championship, P. Kear (Wellington) and G. McKechnie (Canterbury). M. Cull (Wellington), who won the New Zealand 400 metres championship in a time only .2sec outside the Games qualifying standard, has unfortunately been forced to withdraw because <' illness.

The problem posed by the decision of the Kenyan Government to ban its athletes from racing against anybody who has competed against South Africans in the last three years has been partially solved by holding two separate events in both the 100 and 200 metres. Asati will appear in one race and L. D’Arcy (Wellington), the national 100 metres champion who visited South Africa last year, will compete in another on both days.

Asati comes to New Zealand with a tremendous reputation as a sprinter. He has covered 100yds in 9.4 sec, 100 metres in 10.2 sec and 200 metres in 20.6 sec—times which are all better than the existing national records. He could well finish the meeting with New Zealand records in the three sprint events.

The 800 metres event will be held tomorrow and in this Dyce will be attempting to show the form which made him the A.A.U. and national collegiate champion over 880yds last American season. Last year he ran the world’s fastest half-mile in Imin 45.95ec, the third fastest of all time.

At present attending New York University, the 21-year-old Jamaican represented his country at the 1968 Olympics. He will be matched against a field headed by O. K. Randall (Southland) and L. Barlow (Otago), second and third place-getters in the recent national championship. Others in the race include the Canterbury champion, M. Clarkson, the Auckland champion, L. Weichern, B. Robinson (Canterbury), A. Gilmour (Canterbury) and P. Moy (Auckland).