Busy track and field season

Press, 12 October 1988, Page 44

Busy track and field season

By

ROD DEW

New Zealand’s finest long distance track runners are expected to attempt to lay their foundations for 1990 Commonwealth Games selection with some bold performances in the national senior men’s 10,000 m championship at Queen Elizabeth II Park on January 28. If New Zealand is to produce another Dick Tayler gold medallist for the Auckland Games, then this is the event in which he can be expected to publicly parade his talents. The long distance championship classic, incorporating the Canterbury championship, has been allocated to the Technical invitation meeting. This has been moved from its usual December date and appears likely to develop into the highlight of the Canterbury track season which formally opens on Saturday. The meeting will also feature a round of the New Zealand track and field series, a new venture replacing the old grand prix series. Unlike the grand prix series, the meeting will feature a full programme of events and is likely to attract a high proportion of New Zealand’s top athletes. The first meeting of the series is planned for November 26, although this has yet to be confirmed, and it will continue right through to the New Zealand champion-

ships which will be held at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland on March 11 and 12 in what is expected to be the first dress rehearsal for the 1990 Games. One of the disappointments of the coming season is the abandoning of the annual Dorrie Leslie contest between Canterbury and Wellington. The high, cost of travel and the attraction of other events has resulted in dwindling interest from athletes and the Canterbury and Wellington centres have had no alternative but to agree to strike the traditional fixture from their programmes. The other regular interprovincial contest, the triangular event between Canterbury, Otago and Southland, has also undergone change. It will be held on December 10 in Dunedin, which will become the permanent venue. Canterbury is more than compensated for the loss of a home fixture every three years by the introduction of an annual South Island meeting featuring teams from Canterbury and the rest of the South Island. This season the meeting is scheduled for January 14. On the same day similar meetings will be held in the central and north zones, and the hope is that a national zone final will

be held in Wellington on February 6. This is still under consideration. The South Island meeting will, in a sense, interrupt one of the biggest sports festivals of the summer — the World Deaf Games. Canterbury athletics officials are deeply involved in the organisation of the track and field, which will be held at Queen Elizabeth II

Park on January 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15. Rival bookings of Queen Elizabeth II Park have provided some headaches. The park is not available for athletics on Waitangi Day week-end (February 4 and 5), when the provincial championships would have been held. Officials have been forced to reduce the Canterbury championship

programme to three days and to hold the first day on Sunday, January 29 — the day after the Technical meeting. The prospect of having to produce peak performances on successive days will appeal to few competitors. “I know it is unsatisfactory, but there is nothing else we can do,” the convener of the programme committee, Graham Vivian, said. “Some athletes will find themselves restricted in what they can do, although we are confident that we can complete the full programme without difficulty in the three days.” Some championship events will, as usual, be held outside the main programme. The Canterbury decathlon, heptathlon and 3000 m steeplechase will be held on December 17 and 18, much earlier than usual. This has been made necessary because of a desire to avoid a clash with the Robin Tait Memorial Meeting in Auckland on January 21 — the day when the multi-events programme would otherwise have been held. The Robin Tait Memorial is expected to attract a large number of leading Canterbury athletes. The under-age championships for the decathlon, heptathlon and steeplechase will, however, still be held on January 21 and 22. The New Zealand multievents championships will be at Hastings on February 18 and 19, a particularly busy track and field week-end. The Canterbury 3000 m championship will be decided at Queen Elizabeth II Park on February 18 and the Canterbury veterans’ champion-

ships will be held at the same venue the next day. Hamilton will be the venue for the New Zealand women’s 10,000 m championship on February 18, and also a round of the track and field series. The Canterbury children’s championships have been set down for March 4 and 5. The national club intercity championship qualifying meeting will be held at Queen Elizabeth II Park on November 19 and 20, and will be organised by the winner last year, High School Old Boys-Te Kura. The final is expected to be held in Auckland, although this is subject to confirmation. The club championships on October 23 and 29 will again be sponsored by the A.N.Z. Bank. A new sponsor, however, will wave its flag over the inter-club events from opening day. Trustßank Canterbury has taken over sponsorship of the inter-club events, and will also sponsor two “Athlete of the Week” awards — one for seniors and one for juniors. The uniform numbers will be sponsored by The Fowlhouse. Canterbury will be playing with a full deck of cards as far as school competition is concerned. The New Zealand secondary schools championships are pencilled in for Queen Elizabeth II Park on December 3 and 4, the Christchurch secondary schools championships will be held on March 18, and the South Island secondary schools championships will be held at the Ashburton Domain on April 1.