Matt Taylor, 23, of Palmerston North, who won the 6000m senior men's steeplechase, still flies the Hastings Harriers flag. Photo/Mark Roberts
Matt Taylor, 23, of Palmerston North, who won the 6000m senior men's steeplechase, still flies the Hastings Harriers flag. Photo/Mark Roberts
He was born in Feilding, has studied in Hastings and now lives in Palmerston North but Matt Taylor still flies under the Hastings Harrier Club banner.
It's that sense of allegiance which saw Taylor claim the marquee 6000m senior men's race of the annual club steeplechase at the Hawkes Bay Showgrounds on Saturday.
The 23-year-old junior project manager clocked 21m 8s in taming the 1500m-lap course which lured 115 athletes in myriad age and gender categories from the host, Napier Harriers, Palmerston North Athletics and Wairarapa Track & Field clubs.
The former Lindisfarne College pupil lauded schoolteachers Murray Smith and Darren Brown for not only their tutelage but also helping mould a template of "balance" that made codes mutually beneficial to each other.
"I was never discouraged from playing other sports such as rugby and all the other kinds of things all the way through," said the former post-school, club three-year openside flanker, after his first race on Saturday since finishing third at the senior men's 1500m national championship in Hamilton in March.
"At no point did my running coaches ever tried to pull me away. They always supported doing lots of sport and understanding that they can have benefits for each other."
Taylor felt it was significant not to place limitations on youngsters too early.
His incremental gains have resulted in his selection to a New Zealand team of 28 to compete in the Oceania Polynesian Regional Championship on October 4-5.
Taylor saw Hastings steeplechase as a great entree to "blow away the cobwebs" at the start of the athletics season.
"Obviously not having run since the track season I'm sort of building into the winter season and it gives you a good indication of where the training is."
The jury's out on whether Taylor is a track specialist or someone who will make the road and crosscountry his domain but suspects he is more suited to the track, especially the 1500m to 5000m distance.
He wasn't sure why he gravitated towards running in a farming background but did realise early that he has the attributes for the sport although he didn't take it seriously until he started attending Lindisfarne College (2007-12).
"That's when I sort of first started training and then had a bit of success in crosscountry and then that flowed through to the track, where I had some great coaching from a couple of staff members," he said of Smith and Brown.
On Saturday, the Massey University business studies graduate pulled away just before the beginning of the last lap from runner-up Theo Purdy to win by 45 seconds. Liam Woolford made it 1-2-3 for Palmerston North.
Hastings Harrier Kane Elms, who won the 4500m men's 19 race in 15:36m. Photo/Mark Roberts
Hastings Harrier Kane Elms, who won the 4500m men's 19 race in 15:36m by 35s from Liam Lamb, of Masterton, and Todd Douglas, of Hastings, had a symbiotic existence by staying in touch with the senior men before pulling away from them to finish strongly in the last 500m. But Taylor fed off Elms' pace as well.
"A younger Elms was only doing 4.5km so he started to push the pace on his last lap, which was my second last lap, so I decided to go with him to open a bit of a gap from the rest of the senior men," he said, after finishing fourth here in 2016 but returning to running after a three-year hiatus from rugby.
Taylor is hoping to explore the horizons this summer with trips to Australia also on his agenda before turning his focus on Europe in June, July and August next year.
He intends to slip on a Hastings Harriers singlet and hasn't had any pressure to switch his allegiance to a Palmy North club.
Taylor, who has competed at the annual Allan and Sylvia Potts Memorial Classic in the past two years, clinched the 5000m Gold Coast Commonwealth Games qualifying race at the HB Regional Sports Park in January this year.
"It's quite an honour," he said, appreciating the trials' standard qualifying time was pretty high.
He hopes to find better traction this summer to ascertain where he should channel his energy between 1500m and 5000m.
Mark Harris, of Masterton, is his coach.
Hastings club captain Phil McKay won the 6000m masters men's race in 23:31 after helping set up the course with other members in the morning.
Alia Wentz on the way to winning the 16-year girls' 3000m race. Photo/Mark Roberts
Former Hastings Harriers member Andrea Harris, of Masterton, clocked 21:06, to win the masters and senior women's races over 4500m. Ex-member Monica Burnard, now of Palmerston North, registered 20m to finish runner-up.
It was touch and go in the 3000m boys' 16 race but Napier Harrier Ollie Marshall prevailed in 10:18 by 13s over club mates Max Taylor and Reid Livingston, respectively.
In the 3000m girls' 16 race, Napier Harrier Alia Wentz won in 12:05 although Hastings Harrier Ruby Brett for the first lap before moving away to win by 24 seconds in the last lap.
Yuki Namerikawa, of Napier Harriers, won the women's 19 and club mate Guy Harrison, of Napier Boys' High School, ran 3000m in 13:59 before picking up his Hawke's Bay Disabled Sportsperson of the Year Award the same night.
It was Hastings Harriers treble as Karsen Vesty won the 3000m boys' 14 race from Tom Goodison with Charlie Roil 3rd. In the girls' equivalent grade, Anielia Apperley, of Napier Harriers, won ahead of Zoe Elliot (Hastings Harriers).
The biggest race of the day was the combined for boys and girls' 12 and 10-year age groups, with 44 athletes running the 1500m lap.
Tyler Waite, of Hastings Harriers, won the boys' 12 race and club mate Sian Llewellyn the girls' one.
Oscar Hayes, of Napier Harriers, ruled the roost in the boys' 10 race and club mate Jamie Dunnett the girls' equivalent.
6000m, male masters men: 1 Philip Mckay (Hastings Harrier Club) 23:31; 2 Tony Price (Wairarapa Track &Field) 25:15; 3 Mike Hayes (Napier Harrier Club) 25:27.
Senior men: 1 Matt Taylor (Hastings Harrier Club) 21:08; 2 Theo Purdy (Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Cl) 21:53; 3 Liam Woolford (Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Cl) 22:06.
4500m, female masters women: 1 Andrea Harris (Wairarapa Track & Field) 21:06; 2 Annie Kane (Napier Harrier Club) 23:51; 3 Dale McMillan (Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Cl) 24:16.
Senior women: 1 Monica Burnard (Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Cl) 20:00.
Male M19: 1 Kane Elms Fellingham (Hastings Harrier Club) 15:36; 2 Liam Lamb (Wairarapa Track & Field) 16:11; 3 Todd Douglas (Hastings Harrier Club) 16:39.
Scott Robertson has resisted any temptation to rotate his side for the All Blacks’ year-ending test against Italy, naming as strong a side as possible for Sunday’s clash.
