Canty athletes do well

Press, 16 December 1985, Page 29

Canty athletes do well

Special correspondent Canterbury athletes provided the individual highlights, but had to bow to the superior team performance of Otago in the triangular track and field meeting at Dunedin on Saturday. Lynette Stock, Kieran McKee, Philip Clode and Lyn Osmers were among the Canterbury athletes to impress at the Caledonian track, but the under-strength team could not match the consistency of Otago, or Southland for that matter, in the team’s competition.

Otago easily took the contest, after leading all the way, by 91.5 points, with Southland 7.5 points ahead of Canterbury. Stock, a New Zealand representative at the Pacific Conference Games in the United

States, is pinning her hopes of Commonwealth Games selection on the 100 m hurdles, and she showed on Saturday that she must be close to her target. She cleared out to lead all the way and won in the good time of 13.85, one of the fastest in New Zealand this summer. She then showed she lacks nothing in the way of speed on the flat track by winning both the 100 m and 200 m. McKee, New Zealand’s top pole vaulter, had the chance of improving his own national record at 5.03 m, but after going close on his second attempt had to content himself with a creditable winning vault of 4.80 m.

Terry Lomax added some sparkle to the high jump competition when he competed by invitation. Lomax cleared 2.12 m well

on his second attempt and optimistically set the bar for a national record attempt at 2.19 m. Lomax missed on all three attempts, but looked sharp and appears to be approaching top form. Clode surprised many when he came through to win the senior men’s 100 m in the closest contest of the day. Just 0.3 s separated him, his Canterbury team-mate, Colin McDonald, and third placegetter, Andrew Bunce (Southland) in a desperate dash for the line. Clode clocked Imin 52.3 s for the distance.

Osmers, a top all-round athlete, had her best performance in the women’s long jump. She betters six metres in her top effort of the season. Evan Peterson completed the Canterbury dominance of the long jump with a 7.39 m winning

leap in the senior men’s event This was just 3cm off his best. Chris Barrett, of Canterbury, fought off the challenge of his team-mate, Mike Leech, to take both the shot put and discus events.

Other Canterbury winners were:

Senior men: Matt Leech 49.72 m, hammer throw; Derek McKee 13.63 m, triple jump. Senior women: 4 x 100 m relay, 47.55; Elizabeth Ryan, 42.74 m, discus; Lyn Osmers, 45.80 m, javelin.

Junior men: G. Condick, 1:58.75, 800 m; A. McCondick, 3:58.45, 1500 m; E. Monasterio, 15:51.45, 5000 m; R. Dominkovich, 56.95, 400 m hurdle; S. Muir, 6.94 m, long jump; J. Skurr, 44.48 m, discus.

Final points in the team competition: Otago 410.5, Southland 319, Canterbury 311.5.