Wairarapa four for Oceania

Four Wairarapa athletes have been chosen to represent the first-ever Oceania under-18 squad at the Australian junior track and field championships to be held in Sydney from March 10 to 14.
Laura McKenna and Stevie Paine will don the Oceania colours on the track and Tim Girling-McLean and Alex Fafeita likewise in field events.
McKenna will race over 100m and 200m and Paine over 800m while Girling-McLean will contest the shot put and Fafeita the hammer throw. All four won gold medals in their age groups at the national secondary schools championships and they backed those efforts up with impressive performances at some of the major North Island meets last month.
The selection of the quartet in the Oceania squad was described yesterday as "something really special" by Masterton athletics coach Mark Harris.
He said they would be part of a squad containing some of the best young talent in Australia and the Pacific Islands as well as New Zealand and would be competing with budding champions from all states throughout Australia.
Five other Wairarapa-based athletes also have plans to contest the Australian junior championships, Molly Creagh and Tom Quinn on the track and throwers Jerry Peseta, Joel Farley and Josh Greig.