Outstanding triple readies Stewart for national champs

Press, 24 February 1986, Page 23

Outstanding triple readies Stewart for national champs

By

ROD DEW

A splendid triple jump of 15.18 m by Wayne Stewart (Old Boys) earned him the New Zealand Permanent Building Society “Athlete of the Week” award at the Canterbury interclub track and field meeting held at Queen Elizabeth II Park in windy conditions on Saturday evening.

Stewart was just five centimetres short of the 13-year-old Canterbury record, set by the former New Zealand champion, Ken Simpson (Toe H). He has already beaten Simpson’s long-standing mark this season, but failed to obtain official recognition on a technicality. Now, Stewart looks nearly ready for a strong tilt at the New Zealand championship, which will be held at Queen Elizabeth II Park next month. His distance on Saturday would have been good enough to give him second place in the national championship last season, and it is clear that the Canterbury record is well within his reach.

Dean Bolton (Toe H) was the runner-up on Saturday with 13.59 m after a keen tussle with Stephen McKee (Toe H).

The junior “Athlete of the Week” award went to Kerryn Brown (Cashmere - Hillmorton) for her excellent win in the 3000 m track walk in 17min 29.65. One of the stars of the meeting was the heptathlon specialist, Lyn Osmers (Technical), who won the women’s javelin with an outstanding throw of 45.54 m — the sort of distance she will need if she is to successfully defend her national crown next month. The performance into a strong northeast wind was less than her personal best this

summer of 46.80 m, but still one of the best recorded in New Zealand in recent times.

Osmers, who recently qualified for the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games in the haptathlon, has been a little inconsistent with her javelin throwing this season, which is understandable. The javelin has had to take a secondary role to preparing for the heptathlon.

“The conditions were pretty bad,” she said after her win on Saturday. “Hopefully, all my events are on the up.” The New Zealand heptathlon championship in Auckland is just three weeks away and this is where Osmers plans to concrete her Games selection.

She will, nevertheless, seriously defend the javelin title she won last year, and fully realises that she has a fight on her hands. "The depth of ability in the javelin is the best it has been for ages,” she said.

On Saturday, she had the satisfaction of outperforming two of those who will be rivals in the national event — Catherine Knowsley (Old Boys) and Kaye Nordstrom (Technical). Knowsley finished second with a best throw on the night of 41.24 m. Nordstrom, competing in the under-19 grade, recorded 44.22 m, down on her recent best but still a very good effort. The New Zealand men’s javelin champion, John Stapylton-Smith (Technical), produced an excellent throw of 75.38 m and can be expected to sharpen up over the next few weeks for another 80m-plus throw at the nationals. A surprise visitor was the New Zealand long jump champion, Stephen

Walsh (Auckland), who showed his class with a winning leap of 7.39 m, but has has yet to better the Commonwealth Games standard of 7.80 m. Second was Terry Lomax (Old Boys) with 6.90 m. Lomax won the high jump with a clearance of 2.04 m. In a show of considerable versatility he also won the 110 m hurdles, recording the fast time of 15.75. The New Zealand 100 m hurdles champion, Lynette Stock (Technical), had hoped to make an attempt on the Commonwealth Games qualifying time but decided that it would have been a waste of time in the strong wind.

She restricted her activities to a run in the Canterbury 4 x 100 m relay team, which won its race in the impressive time of 46.55. Others in the team were Vicky Lewis, Bev Peterson and Nicky Doyle. The aim is to reduce the time to below 46s before the national championship. The new Canterbury senior sprint champion, Darren Dale (New Brighton), had to be content with third in the 100 m. Dougal Cockram (St Andrew’s College) won the race into a stiff head wind by a very narrow margin from Even Peterson (Technical). Both sprinters recorded the same time, 11.55. Dale, the winner of the Canterbury senior 100 m, 200 m and 400 m championships in recent weeks, was a tenth of a second slower.

wind by a very narrow margin from Even Peterson (Technical). Both sprinters recorded the same time, 11.55. Dale, the winner of the Canterbury senior 100 m, 200 m and 400 m championships in recent weeks, was a tenth of a second slower. Wayne Paul (Papanui Redwood) took a break from qualifying attempts in the 400 m hurdles, racing instead in the B grade 100 m sprint, which he won in 11.75. Later in the evening, Peterson ran strongly into the breeze for a good win

in the senior 200 m in 22.85. Paul finished second in 235. The in-form Bev Peterson (Technical) easily won the women’s 100 m in 12s, an excellent time considering the wind. Nicky Doyle (Technical) was second in 12.3 s and Vicky Lewis (Toe H), who appears to be struggling to find her old form this season, was third in 12.55.

The Canterbury 5000 m champion, Tom Birnie (New Brighton), was untroubled to win the men’s 3000 m in Bmin 37.15. He built up a huge lead in the middle stages, and never looked like being caught. The men’s 1500 m, which promised to be the main event of the meeting, lost some of its prestige when the new provincial champion, Phillip Clode (University), and the man he beat so narrowly, Colin McDonald (Technical), decided the wind was too strong for a fast time. Both are seeking a qualifying time for the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games and wisely decided to reserve their efforts for a better day. Peter Pearless (Nelson), who represented New Zealand in the 800 m at the last Olympic Games, had earlier agreed to take the field through the first 1200 m. In spite of the withdrawal of the two top runners, Pearless set the pace for the 1200 m. This left the way for two other visitors, Murray Grant and Ross Thurlow (both Dunedin), to fight out the finish. Grant had the better of the finishing sprint, crossing the line in 3min 47.65. Thurlow was second in 3min 48.1 s and Andrew Stark (Christchurch) came through for third in 3min 48.85. A bonus from the race was the fine run of another Otago athlete, Robbie Johnson. He recorded 3min 51.9 s for a new Otago junior record.

Anne Marie Tweedie (University) proved too strong for her rivals in the women’s 1500 m. She set her own pace and by the bell was out on her own. She reached the finish in 4min 32.95. Sharon Hughes (New Brighton), who allowed herself to drift a long way back at one stage, sprinted past a tiring Caroline Barrie (New Brighton) in the finishing straight to claim second place. Matt Leech (Technical) confirmed his placing as Canterbury’s top-ranked hammer thrower with a good win. His best effort on the night of 50.26 m left him well clear of the former Canterbury champion, Bernie Harland (Technical). Elizabeth Ryan (Technical) was also in convincing form after her recent shot-discus Canterbury championship successes. She won the shot with a solid heave of 12.58 m from Vai Young (Technical), who was just two centimetres short of the 12m mark. The Commonwealth Games heptathlon candidate, Karen Forbes (Old Boys), filled third place with 11.47 m.