Andrews-Paul runs world qualifying time

Alison Andrews-Paul is all smiles after qualifying for the world junior championships. PHOTO/FILE

GUN Masterton middle distance athlete Alison Andrews-Paul has cracked the qualifying time for the women's 800m at the world junior track and field championships to be held in Poland in July.

Andrews-Paul needed to equal or better 2min 7sec to place herself in contention for selection in the New Zealand squad to attend that event and she achieved that feat at the Auckland Track Challenge held at the Trust Arena last Thursday evening.

Competing in the senior 800m Andrews-Paul posted a time of 2.06.84 to place third behind this country's top female runner over the 800m distance, Angie Petty, and Australian Brittany McGowan. Petty clocked 2.02.32 and McGowan 2.06.25.

For Andrews-Paul the race tactics were simple.

The presence of a pacemaker meant there were always going to be plenty of early speed and so it was a matter of striving to keep handy to the obvious favourite Petty through the first 500m and trusting she had enough left over the closing stages to beat her targeted time.

"I guess everything went pretty much according to plan," Andrews-Paul said yesterday. "We had the right conditions and quality opposition, it was my big chance and fortunately I managed to take it."

The time registered by Andrews-Paul was a personal best by almost 2s and while it doesn't guarantee her selection for Poland she now has every reason to be looking forward to the naming of the New Zealand squad which is expected to happen next month.

"The big thing was to make the qualifying time, it was always the main objective for this season so it's nice to get it out of the way." she said.

This weekend Andrews-Paul, from the Athletics Wairarapa club, will don the Wellington centre colours at the New Zealand track and field championships in Dunedin, where she will contest both the junior women's 800m and 1500m events. After that she will turn her attention to the Australian senior championships.

Several other Wairarapa athletes will be chasing titles at the Dunedin nationals as well.

They include Alex Howsen (senior men's 100m and 200m), Max Spencer (under-18 800m and 1500m), Liam Montgomery (under-18 200m and 400m), Jony Morison (under-20 100m and 200m), William Tait (under-20 hammer throw), Tom Quinn (senior men's hammer throw), Cameron Clatworthy (under-18 hammer throw), Gerard Hickey (under-18 high jump) and Grace Quinn (senior women's and under-20 hammer throw).