Maples opened his season by winning the Cooks Classic 400 metre hurdles backed with a personal best in breezy conditions at the recent MWA Championships.
Maples was due to run at the Sir Graeme Douglas Continental Bronze Meeting in Auckland on Sunday but wisely withdrew as he had a repeat hamstring niggle after an impressive hurdle session.
Indications are he has recovered well for the championships at the weekend. He will have strong competition from Whanganui clubmate and former New Zealand Schools hurdles medal winner Nat Kirk, who finished just behind Maples at the Cooks Classic but was later disqualified for a hurdle infringement.
Lucas Martin defends his senior 10,000-metre walk championship and also starts in the 3000-metre walk where he will face strong competition.
Martin walked to a solo win in the MWA 3000 metre championship at his home Cooks Gardens track in mid-February where he demonstrated he is coming into form.
Daniel Sinclair seeks to retain his under-20 1500m title. Sinclair ran a world qualifying mark in Hamilton at the Porritt Classic in early February as did remarkably three others. Sinclair ranks fourth in an event with only a second separating all four.
With only two places per country in the August championships the under-20 1500 metre final takes on added significance. Sinclair travels to Adelaide to the Australian Championships in April for further strong competition
Year 11 Whanganui Collegiate athlete Juliet McKinlay splits her training between the Massey Community Track in Palmerston North and Cooks Gardens.
Last year, as an under-16, she returned from the championships with a collector’s set of medals (gold in triple jump, silver in long jump, and bronze in hurdles).
In December at New Zealand Schools she took gold in the junior (under-16 80 metre hurdles and silver in the jumps .
McKinlay moves up to the under-18 grade for a busy weekend contesting in both hurdles (300 and 100 metre hurdles) and both long and triple jumps.
McKinlay competes as an under-18 a step up that means she faces older athletes.
McKinlay confirmed she is in good form at Tuesday’s Whanganui Secondary Schools, where she won the 80-metre hurdles (12.67), long jump (5.11 metres- taking only one jump), triple jump (10.57) and 200 metres (26.93) confirming she travels south in excellent form.
Hannah Byam impressed in Tuesday’s Secondary Schools Championships, winning the intermediate girls 1500 metres taking seven seconds off her best, which will lift her confidence for Wellington in the under-16 2000 metre steeplechase hoping to move to a higher step on the podium having finished second last year.
Lulu Dufty impressed in the Intermediate girls’ triple jump at Whanganui Schools with an excellent series of triple jumps and headed McKinlay until Round 3.
Dufty also recorded a personal best over long jump (4.73) to finish second and added a win in the high jump.
Dufty competes in all three jumps in the under-16 grade at her first NZ Championships and will have the support of her Whanganui High School training partner Annabelle Brown.
South African Kaylee Bischoff, featured a fortnight ago in Insight, will make her Athletics NZ debut in Wellington in the under-16 grade in both 100- and 300-metre hurdles and starts in both the 100 metres and 200 metres.
She won the latter at Whanganui Schools and impressed over 80-metre hurdles, finishing second to McKinlay.
Paige Cromarty starts in the 400-metre hurdles, where she faces overseas opposition but could be in the mix for a domestic medal while Pascale Bowie will contest the under-20 800 and 1500 metres.
Rosa Meyer the senior 1500 metre winner on Tuesday starts in the under-20 1500 metres.
Damian Hodgson has his first run in the under-20 400-metre hurdles encouraged by his 100/200 metre double at Whanganui Schools.
James McGreggor, who travels to his first NZ Championships for under-16 middle distance events, sharpened up with a Whanganui Schools Intermediate win over 400 metres, while Filipe Bayly starts in the under-18 100 metres.
