Dixon’s fine double in N.Z. athletics

Press, 6 March 1978, Page 17

Dixon’s fine double in N.Z. athletics

From ROD DEW in Wellington

A fine 1500 metres i double by the Christchurch i international, Rod Dixon (Canterbury), earned the un-j reserved admiration of! spectators as well as van- i quished rivals on the finalday of the New ZealandRothmans track and field! championships at Newtown - Park Stadium, Wellington,! on Saturday. Showing all the stamina,! resilience, and judgment which have served him soi well at the highest levels,! Dixon was in a class of his! own. His was a performance! of rare quality, and he! appears to be building up! for a gold-medal perform-! ance at the Commonwealth ! Games in August. Dixon, who is 27, corn-] pleted the first part of his| demanding assignment when! he won the 1500 m final in! an impressive 3min 41.75, ‘ matching the previous fast-! est recorded in the cham-l pionship by another Olympicrepresentative, Tony Polhill! (Auckland), six years ago. It was so fast that Dixon’s! hopes of winning the 5000 m! appeared to have diminished.! However, just 50 minutes later the tall figure in the! red Canterbury singletstepped out again satisfied

-that he could complete the -double. He disappointed no-one. | ; Always handily placed in! 'the leading bunch, Dixon! I sprinted clear down the back! i straight on the final lap of; J the 5000 m and won comfortably from another New Zea- ! land representative, Geoff I Shaw (Auckland). Dixon’s j time was a respectable I I3min 57.65. The wins were Dixon’s I first in a senior New Zea- , land championship. “I’ve got Imy medals — that is all I was worrying about,” he I said afterwards. “I didn’t think I would have to run ! sb' fast in the 1500 m but ithat makes the double even -more pleasing.” j Dixon said the gap between the two races seemed - like five minutes rather than ! 50. but in the longer race he had never felt he was in! i trouble. “If Shaw had piled lon a few 63s or 64s laps 'when he took over it might I have rocked me,” Dixon isaid. “I was just cruising in -! the last mile. Every move I the others made I had covjered.” I The early laps were un-| -'spectacular but by the end--of the seventh the leading bunch had been reduced to

four — Baryy Jones ' (Auckland), Shaw, Dixon, i and the winner of the ' 10,000 m the previous day, -Alan Thurlow (Otago). The I four stayed together until ! the last lap, when Shaw stepped up the pace. Dixon went with him, and in the back straight he swept into the lead. Shaw responded gamely but there was no catching Dixon, who had 3m on Shaw entering the finishing straight and maintained this margin to the finish. Shaw recorded 13min 58.4 s and Jones was third in 14min 6s. Earlier, Dixon played a much more dominant role in the 1500 m. He led the field through the first lap in 61s, dropped back into the bunch for a lap, and then surged once more to the lead. At the bell he was comfortably in front and on the last lap [steadily drew away from his nearest rivals. Tony Rogers (Waikato) was second in 3min 45.55. The defending champion, Tom Birnie (Canterbury), was well placed early but found the finishing pace too [fast, finishing sixth. [ If Dixon stole the lime- ! light, the field events double by the talented young Canterbury junior, Stephen McKee, was also a particularly worthy effort. McKee won the junior triple jump with a distance of 13.59 m before adding a win in the junior pole vault. In this he cleared 3.80 m, winning the title his brother, Kieran McKee, held last season. This provided the icing on the McKee family’s championship cake. On the first day, Kieran McKee was second in the senior pole vault and third in the senior high jump on a count-back, after clearing the same height as the winner. Undoubtedly the closest finish of the championships was in the senior 400 m hurdles final. Graham Weavers (Auckland) tripped and went sprawling a metre short of the finish, just as he Was caught by Canterbury’s David Long. Long sprinted across the line for an apparent win but Weavers’s momentum also carried him over the line. The official photograph was unable to separate the pair and so, for the first time in more than a decade, a tie was declared in a New Zealand senior championship. Both men were credited with the same time, 52.535. Chris Strange (Waikato), the defending champion, had to be satisfied with third in 52.655. It was a fine performance by Long, aged 22, who had a sore hip which prevented him hurdling properly. “I nearly did not start,” he said. “But then I thought I would give it a go.” Coming off the final bend, Long was only third, but his strong finish saved the day. “I always seem to come home well. The day I also run a good bend will be the day I run a really fast time,” he said.

The women’s 400 m hurdles produced the only national record of the day. Karen Green (West Coast North Island) won in 60.40 s to take ,59s off the record. Yvonne Timmer (Auckland) was also inside the record in finishing second in 60.925. Euan Robertson (Otago) reinforced his claim to a place in the Commonwealth Games team with a splendid win in the 3000 m steeplechase, his time of Bmin 36.9 s being comfortably inside the Games qualifying standard of Bmin 425. However, the two who finished behind him complicated selection procedures by also running inside the standard. Howard Healey (Auckland) was second in Bmin 38.9 s and Martin Couldwell (Canterbury), who set the pace for more than half the distance, was third Bmin 41.95. The two Auckland evergreens, Robin Tait and Ross

Pownall, once again kept younger rivals at bay. Tait, who turned up at. the' championships in spite of announcing his withdrawal the previous week, added a twelfth discus title to his remarkable list of successes with a throw of 56.40 m. He must now be assured of Games selection. Pownall overcame very strong opposition to win the 110 m hurdles title for the twelfth time in succession. He recorded 14.535, heading the promising Peter Allan (Wellington) and a former sprint champion, Craig Daly (Hawkes Bay-Poverty Bay). Pownall too, seems assured of Games selection. The incomporable Valerie Young (Canterbury) went within an ace of regaining the shot-put title from a rormer training partner. Barbara Beable (Wellington). Mrs Young took the lead in the third round with a throw of 14.32 m and extended it to 13.52 m on her fourth attempt. Mrs Beable was languishing on 14.28 m and was clearly in trouble after a no-throw on hetfourth attempt. However, she composed herself and with her final throw recorded the winning distance of 14.66 m. Mrs Young was unable to improve with her final throw.

“I’ve got a few grey hairs after that. I just couldn’t relax,” Mrs Beable said afterwards. The senior men’s 800 m title was won by Dennis Norris (Auckland) in Imin 48.65, a mere .6sec outside the Games qualifying time. The minor placings went to Canterbury runners. Rendell Mclntosh-ran well to finish second in Imin 50.5 s and Andrew Stark was third, half a second behind.

Jan Healey (Auckland) was an impressive winner of the women’s title in 2min 11.45. The 500 m winner the previous day, Alison Wright, did not start.