PREPARATION COMPLETED BUT... Lack of strong competition a hurdle for N.Z. champion

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33065, 4 November 1972, Page 4

PREPARATION COMPLETED BUT... Lack of strong competition a hurdle for N.Z. champion

(By

R. O. DEW)

Shortly before the start of the last track and field season the talented young Christchurch hurdler, Rendell Mclntosh, was a passenger in a car which ran off the motorway near Belfast. His neck muscles were badly strained in the crash and it was two months before he could resume full training. His athletic future at the tune looked bleak but with a great show of resilience he bounced back a few months later to win his first New Zealand senior 400 metres hurdles championship on the all-weather track in Porritt Stadium, Hamilton. It was a popular victory and, for those aware of the background to his build-up, an indication of tremendous potential. However, to Mclntosh the car crash was not the biggest hurdle he had to overcome. It was the lack of stem opposition. He succeeded in spite of this but now, as the 1972-73 season gets under way, he is faced with the same problem. "The lack of competition is what will count against me,” he said after making his debut for the season in an 800 metres event at Rugby Park last week-end. A plan to visit Australia in search of constant strong competition was finally rejected because of the cost and the 20-year-old High

School Old Boys athlete is now looking ahead to another rather frustrating season of racing against the clock. “I have got to chase competition whenever I can,” he said when asked if he contemplated travelling outside Christchurch during the season. Unfortunately, two hurdlers who could provide him with the rivalry he needs— J. Walter and A. Cranshaw —both live in Auckland. "That is a long way to go but if the chance presents itself I will take it.” Cranshaw, a former Canterbury and Otago athlete, was runner-up to Mclntosh in the national final last season and Walter is a former holder of the championship. As the reigning national champion, Mclntosh is not unaware of the greater pressures he will be under this season and has been preparing with more diligence than ever before. He has just completed the biggest winter stamina buildup of his career and in the opinion of his coach, Mr P. Davies, is in excellent shape. His chief aim in the near future is to win a place in the New Zealand team to contest the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch. He fully realises the importance of a bold showing at the Ne\. Zealand championships, to be held in Wellington in March next year, and his training is

directed towards reaching a peak at this time. If he can retain his title he must be regarded as a leading candidate for the New Zealand under 23 team which will be visiting Australia next year. And he also has the Pacific Conference Games in Canada in the back of his mind.

But he is aware that his times will have to improve if he is to achieve all these aims. His best performance so far for the 400 metres hurdles is 53.45ec, achieved in the last national championship final. He has, rather modestly, set 53sec

as the time to better this season but if he continues to progress at the same rate he did last season he should soon be challenging the New Zealand record of 50.9 sec, held by the former Otago hurdler, R. Johnson.

Mclntosh is keen to "cross swords” with Johnson, who is expected to return to New Zealand shortly after studying in America on an athletic scholarship for the last three years.

It can only be hoped that the intensive competition Johnson has been having since he left New Zealand will not have deadened his enthusiasm. As a former New Zealand Commonwealth and Olympic Games representative, he obviously has much to offer in both competition and coaching.

Mclntosh's main event appears likely to remain the 400 metres hurdles but he has a dislike of putting all his eggs in one basket and is keen to discover what ability he has as an 800 metres runner. He has been advised by several athletic authorities that he should be able to do well at this distance and he has already run it in Imin 59sec.

It is in this event, rather than the hurdles, that he should be able to find the rivalry needed to bring him to a peak of fitness. Last Saturday he ran in the B grade 800 metres race at Rugby Park and emerged a comfortable winner. Afterwards, he jocularly suggested that perhaps he should stick to this event.

Although his win in the senior national hurdles championship was by far his most important, success is not new to Mclntosh.

He won the New Zealand junior 400 metres hurdles championship the previous season and before that was

the athletic champion at Ashburton College in every grade until his last year. Then he had to share the honour with T. Cochrane, now one of Canterbury’s top sprinters. The son of a Mid-Canter-bury farmer, Mclntosh has already achieved much in his brief athletic career. But it is very obvious that his best years are still to come.