Athletics: Farrell gets Seville out of his system

By MURRAY McKINNON

Shaun Farrell made a welcome return to racing following injury with victory in the mens 800m at the Marley Games in Christchurch last nigh.

Farrell who has overcome a stress fracture of the shin which forced him out of the World Athletics Championships in Seville last August showed no signs of the injury as he stormed to victory ahead of fellow Cantabrian Mark Rodgers in 1m 47.42s.

Rodgers who has shown dramatic improvement in the last week following a sub 1m 48s time in Canberra on Saturday, recorded another excellent 1m 47.60s but was unable to match the experience and determination of Farrell. "It's nice to be back in one piece and in good form," said Farrell who was not worried about the others in the field, including the American Bryan Berryhill who faded to sixth in 1m 49.51s.

"I was just glad to be out in front and do it the hard way. I just need a bit more race fitness and I'll be right," he said.

In the women's 800m, Toni Hodgkinson, never happy unless she is winning, put up a tremendous battle with Tina Paulino of Mozambique, just being squeezed out in the final 70m.

Paulino led with 200m remaining and Hodgkinson tried to take the inside lane down the final straight but it did not open up for her and Paulino went through in 2m 2.02s. Hodgkinson's time was 2m 2.1s with Australia's 1500m specialist Sara Jamieson taking third in 2m 6.05s.

"I felt Tina fade with 80m remaining and drifting out and I thought I might sneak in on the inside, but she squeezed me out," said Hodgkinson.

She now looks forward to a fast 1500m in Wanganui on Saturday night.

The athlete of the meeting was Canterbury sprinter Carlo Hunt who surprised herself with a win in both the 100m and 200m. She had perfect starts in both to come through for a fast 11.66s in the 100m and 23.81s in the 200m. The national 100m champion said the results had set her up well for the double on her home ground at the NZ championship in Christchurch in March.

Beatrice Faumuina was reasonably happy with her win in the discus, throwing 61.71m in round three. She had three further throws over 60m but said that it was the start of a long hard road to the Sydney Olympics. "I have just trained through on strength work at present with no technical work. I am reasonably happy but not as good as I would have liked," she said.

Chris Donaldson easily won the 100m in 10.42s, well clear of American Jake Jensen who recorded 10.79s.

He said: "That's a good time for starters for this international season and it is a good starting point at 10.42s."

Rowena Morton, former Timaru athlete, returned after seven years in the States to stake a claim for the Sydney Olympics in the 100m hurdles.

Morton now living in Auckland was a class above the rest of the field recording 13.83s to beat the New Zealand under 18 champion Andrea Miller who recorded 14.18s. Morton who has a best time of 13.42s needs 13.10s for Sydney.