N.Z. mark falls to schoolgirl

Press, 9 February 1981, Page 19

N.Z. mark falls to schoolgirl

By

ROD DEW

A 15-year-old Christchurch Girls’ High School pupil Angela Pule (New Brighton) broke the New Zealand junior and senior women’s high jump record with a ~ superb leap of 1.78 m while competing in the Canterbury under-18 pentathlon championship at Queen Elizabeth II Park on Saturday. . Miss Pule, who made her debut for New, Zealand in the Pacific ' Conference Games a week earlier, now has her sights set on becoming the first woman in New Zealand to clear the old 6ft, (1.80 m barrier. She made three attempts on this height after her record leap, all unsuccessful. But she is confident that she can go higher in the weeks leading up to the New Zealand i championship in March. “I am keeping my fingers < crossed," she said. “We will just have to see what comes.’’ j One of the brightest | young prospects in New ; Zealand athletics, Miss Pule ■ went on to wit? the Canter- j bury pentathlon championship with a solid score of ' 3583 points. With only the ; 800 m remaining, she needed j a time of 2min 41s to break .1 the New Zealand junior; record of 3710 points. How- < ever, the earliest events had 1 taken their toll and she . could manage only a modest ‘ 2min 55.55. 1 “I was very tired, and I I got the stich on the last j lap,” she said afterwards. t Nevertheless, it was an 1 outstanding performance in * what was only her second J pentathlon competition. In spite of this, the pentathlon 3 will remain of secondary im- j portance to the high jump, j and the 100 m hurdles, an- 1 other event at which she { excels. f Her high jump, worth a I remarkable 1012 points in ’ the pentathlon, bettered the existing New Zealand senior £ record of 1.76 m, set by .’ Karen Whimo, of Auckland, in 1976. The jump also broke the Canterbury senior s and under-18 records of * 1.75 m, set by Penny Rich-1 ards, of South Canterbury, ' two years ago. * Miss Pule, who must now 5 be regarded as a contender t for the team for the Bris- I bane Commonwealth Games next year, received her i grounding in the sport from ' Mr Russell McKee, who has j quietly Contributed a great ( deal as a coach and official a to the sport. But since the c beginning of this season she 3 has been in the care of f Terry Lomax, who proved p he was still New Zealand’s a greatest high jumper by ® becoming the first to clear 7ft in the Pacific Conference c

I Games. He has no doubts i that ‘Angela Pule has the ability to jump the 6ft bar- ) rier. I “She just flew over 1.78 m. The jump was worth at least I.Blm. Clearing I.Bom is just : a psychological thing now,” he said. Saturday was a particularly successful day for Lomax, who found -himself in the lead of the Canterbury decathlon championship at the end of the first fve events, notwithstanding his coaching commitments. If his mind was. not entirely on his own performances, he could hard!}' bo blamed for this. Another of the athletes he coaches, Karen Forbes (Old Boys), produced another excellent all-round performance, winning the Canterbury senior pentathlon championship with a score of 3683 points. This was 50 points less, than her personal best, and she admitted afterwards to being a little disappointed. “I was a bit sick last week and my leg power Is a bit down,” she said. Her shot was down on her training distances, and she had been hoping for 1.68 to 1.70 m in the high jump. Instead, she was halted at 1.64 m. She finished the 800 m in a personal best of 2min 22.345. which was some compensation.

However, she could not help but be pleased with her title win her third in succession and her fourth since she started specialising in pentathlons. Now she is turning her attention to the New Zealand championship, which will be held on home ground at Queen Elizabeth Park on March 17. Two of her rivals in the national event will clearly be Lyn Aben (Technical) and Annette Hermans (Technical), who filled the minor placings. Aben, a specialist javelin thrower, should find the forthcoming switch to. the heptathlon to her advantage because the javelin is one of the two extra events. She finished second on Saturday with a score of 3329 points. Miss Hermans also topped the 3000 point mark, scoring 3191. The star performance in the inter-club events came from the New Zealand Pacific Games representative, Jan Bishop (Technical), who recorded a personal best of 49.43 m in the javelin. She achieved this on her third attempt, but had four others of more than 45m and one other in excess of 48m. Bev Peterson (Technical) looked verj' sharp in.her 11.8 s 100 m win, a time which confirms she is still among the top sprinters in the country., Joe Leota (Old Boys) won his section of the men’s lOOin in Ils, but suffered defeat at the hands of a visiting Auckland athlete, David Oxton. in the 200 m. Oxton won in 21.95; Leota was well beaten in 22.45. Sue Bruce (New Brighton) advanced her claims as Canterbury’s top middle distance runner with a very comfortable win in the senior 1500 m in 4min 235. Fresh from his exploits in the Pacific Games, Michael Gilchrist (Technical) cruised to victory in the 800 m 1n Hnin 52.35. The promising junior, Vern Roberts (Toe HI. was second, a tenth of a second slower. Jeff Elliot (Olympic) was a comfortable winner of the senior 3000 m, a good omen for the, forthcoming Canterbury championships. In the junior javelin, there was another performance of considerable merit from the blondheaded John Stapylton-Smitli (Toe H'. His throw of 63.94 m left him far ahead of his nearest challengers.