Williams breaks record twice

Versatile Masterton athlete Andrea Williams was in record-breaking form at the North Island Masters Track and Field Championships in Wellington last weekend.

Competing in the women's 40 years grade, Williams set new marks for this meet in winning the 2000m steeplechase (8m 17.31s) and the 400m hurdles (87s).

And for good measure, she also won the 800m in 2m 37s and was second in the 5000m in 20m 37.06s, a time which also bettered the previous North Island record for her age group.

Several other Wairarapa athletes competed with success in a Wellington centre meet held in conjunction with the masters championships, with Sian Chapman and Alex Howden registering personal bests over 100m.

Chapman clocked 12.97s in the women's 16 years division and Howden 11.69s in the men's 16 years grade. They also shone over 200m, where Chapman was timed at 26.91s and Howden 24.23s.

Also competing over 100m were Laura McKenna (13.57s) and Keelan Ward. The latter was in the AWD (athletes with disability) grade and had good reason to be satisfied with his time of 15.37s. He also ran a creditable 31.28s over 200m.

Two PBs were achieved over 800m: Alison Andrews-Paul with 2m 17s and Samantha Hodgins with 2m 39.05s. They were both in the women's 16 years grade, as was Stevie Paine, who returned a time of 2m 20s.

The 400m saw a host of Wairarapa runners in the men's 16 years grade and all performed up to expectations. Tom Quinn was fastest in 53.59s, followed by Edward Hewitt (54.06s), Dhruv Raman (55.35s), Dylan Lord-Bune (PB of 56.34s) and Michael Hammond (PB of 58.38s). It was Hammond's first time under the 60s mark.

In the women's 400m races, Molly Creagh indicated she was returning to her best form with a smart 59.60s in the 19 years grade and Tessa Laven was almost as impressive with 63.91s in the 16 years division.