Strong Wairarapa presence at Games

Wairarapa will have powerful representation in the 2008 Pacific School Games to be held in Canberra, Australia next week.
Up to 4000 primary, intermediate and secondary school students will contest a wide range of events over five sports track and field, swimming , diving, hockey and basketball with New Zealand being one of 35 participating countries.
No fewer than eight Wairarapa athletes are included in the New Zealand line-up, seven in the track and field and one in the swimming, with the bulk of them being realistic medal prospects despite the high quality of the opposition.
One of them, Stevie Paine, has already tasted success at a Pacific School Games, earning a silver medal in the 800m at the tender age of 10.
This time she is competing in the girls 13yrs age group in the track and field, and will race over 800m and 1500m as well as be part of a four by 400m relay team.
Paine's coach Mark Harris is convinced she is in the shape to place in the top five in both the 800m and 1500m, something evidenced by her clocking a personal best time for the 800m just a fortnight ago and by registering a slick 61secs in a 400m workout on the grass over the past week. "Competition brings out the best in her, she's ready to fire," Harris said of Paine.
Other Wairarapa competitors on the track will be April Campbell, Vicky Paine, Chris Girling-McLean, Ellen Schaef and Zac Sinclair and they too have been preparing under the guidance of Mark Harris.
Campbell will race in the girls 13yrs 90m hurdles and the four by 100m relay. Most of the recent focus in her training has been on enhancing on her hurdling technique and her coach is happy with the progress made in that respect.
"She's got the speed and strength necessary to make a big impact, a top five placing isn't out of the question for her as well," Harris said.
Vicky Paine, a sister of Stevie, has raced successfully international opposition already this year, twice being a silver medallist at the Oceania championships in Fiji.
She will contest the girls 17yrs 400m and 4 by 400m relay in Canberra with coach Harris of the belief she is reaching her peak at the right time.
He sees her making it safely through the heats of the 400m and being "very competitive" in the final as well.
Girling-McLean will line up in the boys 17yrs 400m and the 4 by 400m relay and is faced in the individual event with the task of moving through heats and semi-finals before reaching the final.
"It's a big ask for him but he's got the speed and strength to have a decent crack at it," Harris said.
Schaef goes into a straight final in the girls 18yrs 400m and she is another who Harris believes is coming into her best form at exactly the right time.
"The signs are good for Ellen, she has risen to the occasion before and she's in the right shape to do it again."
Schaef will also be part of a 4 by 400m relay team.
Sinclair has been troubled by a leg injury in his preparation for the boys 18yrs 5000m walk and that has necessitated a change in technique to hopefully help him overcome the problem.
Harris still sees a place in the top 10 as being a realistic objective for him because of his competitive spirit.
"He'll give it his best shot, that much is guaranteed," he said of Sinclair.
Of all the Wairarapa contingent in the track and field, however, it is field event exponent Courtnay Fafeita who has the busiest programme in front of her.
She will contest the hammer throw, discus and shot put in the girls 15yrs section and under the tutorship of her coach John Quinn her training efforts have suggested a bold showing in each of them.
In the discus, especially, she is a definite medal prospect.
The lone Wairarapa member of the New Zealand swim team for the Pacific School Games is Isaac Foote and he too has a hectic schedule, being involved in six events & 1500m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 400m individual medley and 200m individual medley.
The 1500m freestyle is open to all age groups while the other races in which Foote will compete are in the 15-16yrs division.
Coach Anna Kitching has been delighted with the manner in which Foote has responded to a vigorous training programme and expects him to show the form which has already earned him a fourth ranking on Swimming New Zealand's XLR8 programme, which ranks swimmers nationally across a variety of strokes and distances.