Athletics Insight: Outstanding performances in Whanganui Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships

The start of the boys' race at Dudding Lake.

Few venues are more attractive for cross country than Dudding Lake on a fine day.

Sport Whanganui and the weather delivered last Thursday for the postponed Whanganui Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships.

More than 100 athletes competed from the region’s schools. All grades except the senior boys ran the new 3000m course, which included a 2km lap of the lake and a further kilometre on the access road. The senior boys ran 4km (two laps of the lake) and the Year 9s and juniors (under 16) ran the 3km course with all grades competing together in the two races. This combination of grades provided good competition, especially in the girls’ races. However, post-race comparisons were not directly comparable as times were not taken.

Rosa Meyer (Whanganui Collegiate School) won the senior girls with a smooth and controlled running performance. Next across the line was the junior girls winner and Whanganui Collegiate junior captain, Hannah Byam.

Zoe Anderson (Cullinane College) was the second senior after a tenacious performance. Rebecca Boden-Cave (Whanganui Collegiate School) was the third senior home with her teammate Tilly Darke second in the junior grade, with Paige Conley (Whanganui High School) third. Sophie Cranstone (Whanganui Collegiate School) won the Year 9 grade with teammate Millie Boden-Cave second, making it a good day for the Boden-Cave family. Olivia Campbell (Whanganui High School) took the remaining Year 9 podium spot.

Oliver Jones (Whanganui Collegiate School) had an outstanding win in the senior boys. He was strongly challenged over the first kilometre by a chasing group but steadily increased his lead to head a Whanganui Collegiate trifecta with Blake Candish second and Theo Tripe third. Lucas Howard (Whanganui High School) won the junior boys from Dominic Arthur (Rangitīkei College) with New Zealand under-16 3000m hurdle medal winner James McGregor (Whanganui High School) third. Sean Frieslaar (Whanganui High School), who was a Whanganui schools track champion, won the Year 9 boys with an outstanding performance from Neko McDougall (Whanganui Collegiate School) with Whanganui High School’s Alex Payne third.

Hopefully, a three-to-score team will be reintroduced next year as a team event encourages greater participation and highlights that cross country is a team sport as well as an individual challenge. In many grades, there were two from a school and a team component would have encouraged additional athletes to enter.

Whanganui Collegiate was unofficial leader in the three girls grades with close battles between Whanganui High School and Whanganui Girls’ College in the Year 9 and under-16 grades, with each gaining a second unofficial team place. Whanganui High School would have been convincing unofficial team winners in the Year 9 and under-16 boys’ grades.

Almost 800 athletes from 135 New Zealand schools and a team from Queensland will compete at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships in Christchurch this weekend, returning to Ascot Park - the venue of the 2017 championships. The numbers are encouraging, especially considering the rising costs for travelling athletes. From the Whanganui region, Whanganui Collegiate will field a team of 21 athletes and there is one representative from Whanganui High School, Sean Frieslaar, and Dominic Arthur from Rangitīkei College. Nga Tawa, who is now affiliated to Manawatū Secondary Schools, travels south with 18 girls, highlighting the growth of the sport under Bill Twiss at the Marton school.

Frieslaar is the leading Whanganui Year 9 entrant and will have Neko McDougall for company. Whanganui Collegiate has a strong junior girls team led by New Zealand under-16 steeplechase silver medal winner Hannah Byam. Millie Boden-Cave and Sophie Cranstone move up a grade to make up a six-to-score junior team where they run the same 3km course as the Year 9s. Oliver Jones is the leading Whanganui senior athlete and leads a team of eight.

Meanwhile, current and former Whanganui athletes have been in successful action in Fiji, France and the United States.

Lucas Martin returned from the Oceania Championships with a gold (5000m walk) and silver (10,000m walk), with Jonathan Maples finishing fifth in the 400m, running 52.71s, a personal best by over a second. Juliet McKinlay added a fourth in the under-18 long jump (personal best 5.44m) to her heptathlon bronze.

Lexi Maples had another 61m throw (61.96m) in the hammer to finish 16th in the highly competitive NCAA Division 1 final in Eugene, Oregon. Brad Mathas demonstrated there is life in his 30-year-old legs by running a personal best in Dijon, France, of 1:49.59 backed up by a 1:49.61 three days later.