Wilson sets hectic pace in Games bid

Ace Wairarapa sprinter Michael Wilson is a man on a mission.
Wilson,21, has hopes of making New Zealand's 4 by 100m relay team for the Commonwealth Games in India in October and, along with coach Mark Harris, is prepared to move heaven and earth in his bid to enhance his prospects of doing just that.
What that means is a hectic schedule over the next couple of months, kicking off with the Capital Classic at Newtown Park in Welliington this Friday evening and including appearances at major meets in places like Auckland, Christchurch, Wanganui and Hastings and also across the Tasman in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.
Harris believes Wilson will have to get his 100m time down to 10.60secs by the time of the New Zealand track and field championships in March to have any realistic chance of fulfilling his dream, a big ask when you consider his best time so far is 10.79secs.
"It is possible.....we wouldn't be putting the effort in if we didn't think he could do it, "Harris said. "There is still good scope for improvement, that's the key.".
Wilson will probably contest three events at the Capital Classic, 100m, 200m and 4 by 100m relay, and will go into them on the back of a training regime which has mainly seen him focus on 400m races this season, a plan aimed at building endurance before the focus returned to competing over the sprint distances. That stage of his preparation has now arrived and coach Harris considers that while Wilson will perhaps be inconvenienced to some degree by trialling a new starting technique which requires a lower body position and bigger initial strides in his Capital Classic races a 100m time of around 10.90secs should be achievable there.
"He's obviously not right at his peak yet but this is an important step along the way," Harris said. "A personal best is probably not on yet but he shouldn't be too far from it all the same."
Wilson will be one of a number of leading Wairarapa athletes strutting their stuff at the Capital Classic.
Others likely to star on the track include Ellen Schaef, Cameron Sinclair, William Simpson, Laura McKenna, April Campbell, Bevan Brown and the three Paines, Vicky, Stevie and Kurtis, while the Faifeitas, Courtnay and Alex, Tim Girling- McLean and Josh Greig should be prominent in the throwing events.
Meanwhile, Wairarapa's reputation as a breeding ground for budding champions has been given a further boost by the selection of seven athletes- William Simpson, Molly Creagh, April Campbell, Tom Quinn, Stevie Paine, Laura McKenna and Maria Taylor- to participate in a Young Olympians training course in Wanganui later this month.Coaches Harris and John Quinn will also be in attendance there.