N.Z. relay team easily beats Kenyan jour

Press, Issue 33846, 19 May 1975, Page 3

N.Z. relay team easily beats Kenyan jour

(Aew Zealand Press AssocianofD U JCKLAND. New Zealand decisive!) heat Kenya in the feature 4 \ 1500 m relay at llie Mount Smart stadium, \uekland, on Saturday night, al a meeting to mark the opening of the $200,000 Tartan running track.

But the New Zealand team with a time of I I min 50.2 sec was just 1.2 sec. oi* 10 yards. outside the world record. The Kenyan team finished 15 sec behind the New Zealanders.

The first runner for | Kenya, Nicholas Serem, took i an early lead over the New Zealand 1500 m champion. Stuart Melville. Serem went through the first 400 m in 58 seconds, but by the 800 m mark Melville and the Auckland team runner, Wayne Madden, had joined him in front. Melville and Serem were still together at the 1200 m mark then Melville opened up a gap of 20m before handing over to Rod Dixon. Melville’s time of 3min 41.5 seconds was a personal best, as were Madden’s (3min 42.5 seconds) and Serem’s (3min

44sec). ] Dixon soon built up a good ] lead, running the first three

laps in 57sec, 59sec and 62 seconds, and finished with a

time of 3min 44sec. By the half-way point New Zealand had a 25m to 30m lead but this was quickly cut as James Kipgnetich, who Hook over from Sam Kipgurgat, tore after Dick Quax

and overtook him. Quax! waited till the last 600 m be-! fore moving out after the! Kenyan, and regained the lead with 300 m to run.

Quax’s time was a disappointing 3min 48.5 sec, but the last New Zealand runner, John Walker, was in good form, doing the first lap in about 56sec. He then did two laps of a minute each and covered the last 400 m in 55sec.

The New Zealand team had run the event nearly 12sec faster in Oslo but a record then was disallowed on a technicality.

The afternoon’s programme; opened on a high note with] the 1956 Olympic 50kilometre walk champion, Norman Read (New Plymouth), taking the 5000 m, track walk in a personal best of 23min 16.2 sec. The former Commonwealth! Games representative* Mrs Sylvia Potts, in her final! appearance in competitive! athletics, won the women’s 800 m in the good time of 2min 9.ssec.

Bevan Smith (Wellington) recorded a double in winning_ the men’s 100 m and 200 m in 10.6 sec and 21.2 sec. The junior 1500 m was won by Geoff Shaw in 3min 59.2 seconds and the veterans’ 1500 m by Bill Baillie in 4min s.9sec.