Seven Hawke's Bay athletes chase Oceania gold

Napier sprinter Ryan Shotter, 17, selected for the Oceania championships in Australia in June, pictured (centre) in 2016 as a North Island Colgate Games winner, aged 10. Photo /NZME

Hawke's Bay has one of its biggest representations in a New Zealand track and field team with seven athletes chosen for the Oceania Area Championships in Mackay, Queensland, on June 7-11.

The team include recognised senior runners Georgia Hulls and Holly Manning, who race the women's 200 metres and 800 metres respectively at the Brisbane Track Classic in Queensland tomorrow(Saturday), having competed last week at the Australian track and field nationals in Sydney.

Hulls will have a busy campaign in McKay, in her specialty 200m as well as the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, as New Zealand reflects potential boom times in the sport with a team of 104 across the Senior and Junior men's and women's ages.

Manning would run both the 800m and 1500m, while fellow senior athletes Eric Speakman and Nick Palmer will contest the 5000m and shot put respectively.

Younger members of the team from Hawke's Bay will be Napier Boys High School sprinters Ryan Shotter and Rylan Noome, together in the Under 18 men's 100m and 4x100m relay, and Lindisfarne College runner Callum O'Keefe in the Under 18 men's 800m and 4x400m relay.

The Oceania meeting has been a pathway mainly for the Under 20 and Under 18 grades in recent years but now attracts athlete points towards global rankings and World championships eligibility.

Five Tokyo Olympians and five Tokyo Paralympians will feature in the team headlined by World Indoor high jump bronze medallist Hamish Kerr, who will look to build on an outstanding 2022 campaign.

Other Tokyo Olympians include Maddi Wesche, who set a shot PB of 19.10m at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships in March, Oceania hammer record-holder Lauren Bruce, Olympic shot put finalist Jacko Gill and middle-distance runner Sam Tanner, who is entered in the men's 1500m.

Record-breaking sprinters Zoe Hobbs and Tiaan Wheldon are also in the team.