Athletics: Great start to season for Whanganui middle distance runner Daniel Sinclair

Daniel Sinclair headed the field at the New Plymouth East End parkrun. Photo / Supplied

Daniel Sinclair has picked up where he left off last summer and is building on his winter success in cross country.

In just about his only race of last summer, Sinclair ran 3 minutes 58.71 seconds for 1500 metres in a special schools' race conducted after the final Club Night in March. Sinclair's performance places him second in the Athletics New Zealand under-18 rankings.

In the winter, the now-17-year-old Sinclair finished fourth in the New Zealand Secondary Schools while still aged 16. In 2021, he finished eighth at the championships and was selected for the New Zealand Schools Team. Sinclair retained his selection this year, with the added bonus that the team was able to travel to Australia in August. Less than a week after his return from Adelaide, Sinclair was the second-fastest senior boy at Round the Lake Relay, helping his team to clinch second place after an epic battle with Havelock North High School.

Sinclair was joined by 20 other young Whanganui Collegiate athletes at the annual pre-season camp in New Plymouth. Leading jumps coach Ed Fern, an American who is based in Hāwera, conducted some outstanding jump sessions with former Whanganui middle distance medal-winner Jason Cressingham, joining Gil Barnitt and myself with the coaching.

The camp also allowed athletes to train at Inglewood, the venue for December's New Zealand Schools Championships. As in the past, the pre-season camp gave a "kick-start" to the season and included some invaluable planning sessions.

A new venture was taking the 10 middle distance runners to join the New Plymouth East End parkrun. The group enjoyed the coastal walkway course which, like our riverbank course, is scenically stunning with a similar out-and-back run format. The hilly sections make it a little more demanding than Whanganui.

Daniel Sinclair was the first runner home from more than 130 participants, with a solid 16 minute 9 second effort. His teammates James Hercus and Toby Caro, who treated the run as a tempo effort, were some 90 seconds behind, occupying the next two places. Harriet Douglas, new to the sport, was the first female home.

The season opener started in the rain on Tuesday and, although it stopped early in the one-hour programme, there was a distinct drop in temperature.

The first event at Cooks Gardens was the 2-kilometre road race that starts and ends on the track, with runners passing the Opera House as they run anti-clockwise around the block to re-enter by Maria Pl.

Daniel Sinclair, the last winner of the 2021-22 season, became the first winner of the 2022-23 season with a pleasing sub-six-minute effort (5:52.90). Sinclair went on to set a personal best over the 600m (1:26.63) after a close battle with his cousin James Hercus, who also recorded a first-up personal best. Oliver Jones was second on the road (6:39.58), only three seconds shy of his personal best. Greta Darke was the first female home.

A pleasing aspect of the opening night was the participation of a growing group of masters athletes, which will become a feature of subsequent Club Nights in preparation for the New Zealand Masters Games in February.

The pre-season coaching from coach Ed Fern had an immediate effect in the triple jump. New Zealand under-20 medal-winner Jacky Dai recorded his best-ever season opener with a jump of 12.60m, and Year 9 athlete Juliet McKinlay recorded a big personal best of 10.47m. McKinley also pushed the shot out to 8.78m, a pleasing start as she begins to explore the heptathlon.

The opening night clashed with a Whanganui High School prize evening, which meant there were fewer sprinters in action. Jonathan Maples won the three sprints (60m, 150m and 300m), looking good in all three, but missed the competition in what was his last night for some time, as he has been posted by the Air Force to Blenheim next week.

Paige Cromarty, Charlotte Baker and Josephine Perkins were prominent in the female sprints.

As indicated last week, Cooks Gardens has a busy start to the year, with the Colgate Games at the beginning of January, the Pak'nSave Cooks Classic at the end of the month and the New Zealand Masters Games just a week later. We now have a request to host the New Zealand Combined Championships at the iconic venue.

All these events place demands on officials and volunteers. Manawatū/Whanganui Centre is running courses directed at parents, volunteers, officials, coaches and anyone who would like to help at club level and local and national competitions:

Jumps events: Sunday, November 6, 1pm to 5pm, at the Function Room upstairs in the Main Grandstand at Cooks.
Throws events: Sunday, November 20, 1pm to 5pm, at the Function Room upstairs in the Main Grandstand at Cooks.
Track events: Sunday, December 4, 1pm to 5pm, venue to be confirmed.