New Zealand’s Premier Track Meet

By Daniel Wallis.

The International Track Meet (ITM) held at Queen Elizabeth II Park in Christchurch (March 18^th) is now New Zealand’s premier track meet, surpassing the Mayoral Mile as the best chance to showcase the cream of local and trans-Tasman talent. Last year the mile was billed as the event’s main showcase but faltered as Nick Willis was forced to withdraw while Britain’s top miler Andy Baddely was also a late scratch from the race. This year however Willis is back in town, this time for the 800m and is in record-breaking form. Although many of the events look to be dominated by the Australian contingent making the trip to the Garden City, several events contain some of New Zealand’s current best and brightest. 

 

 

The men’s 800m will be the highlight of the meet, simply because it will feature Nick Willis in top form, in his own country, against quality competition. The last time we saw this was in 2006 when Willis famously outkicked Craig Mottram in the Mayoral Mile in Wanganui. This time Willis will again face some of Australia’s finest with the likes of Lachlan Renshaw (Editors Note: Renshaw has withdrawn with a virus), Jeff Risely, and Nick Bromley.

 

While Willis (1.45.54) has the edge on Renshaw (1.45.78) in terms of personal bests, Renshaw is a more experienced 800m runner, and is far more suited to a one-off ‘Grand Prix’ style of race as opposed to running the rounds at a major championship, where Willis’ strength would give him a tremendous advantage. Thus, even if Willis has the better of Renshaw in Christchurch, the margin will likely be larger in Delhi if the two are to meet in the final.

 

Jeff Riseley (1.45.48) has a faster personal best than Willis, but is a very similar athlete in terms of range of ability, while like Renshaw has more 800’s under his belt. Nonetheless, his battle will likely be with Renshaw for 2^nd & 3^rd.

 

On paper, Nick Bromley (1.47.05) does not look like much of a challenge to the 1.45 club-members in the race, yet his four Australian titles mean he can race and beat the best on his day. Unfortunately for Nick, his best-days seem to be off a 1.47 pace kickers-race, and with Willis looking for Commonwealth Games qualification in the 800m this year it seems unlikely that we will see the tape broken over 1.46. I think he will be battling for 4^th.

 

The other 1.45 man in the race is Irishman David Campbell. Campbell has been to NZ on several occasions and has always been impressive. He is a tough racer and will not be intimidated by anyone, especially not by his Australian training-mates. He will stick with the pace and be hard to drop – my bet is we will see Campbell and Bromley battling it out a shade behind Willis and co.

 

The only other kiwi currently in the race is former NZ champion Tim Hawkes. With a personal best of almost four-seconds slower than half the current field (1.49.21), Hawkes will likely struggle with the pace. However, if it goes out slow – he could turn some heads and potentially go close to a Commonwealth Games qualifier. (1.48.00)

 

The men’s 5k will likely be very fast up front, with Australian Ben St. Lawrence (13.25.28) and kiwi Jason Woolhouse (13.35.71) both looking for Commonwealth games qualifiers. If the pace is only early, and these two can both push each other - we may see two sub-13.30 performances. Although on home turf, Woolhouse will be hard-pressed to get the better of St. Lawrence who has played a large role in the Australian Distance running Rennaisance of the last couple of years; most notably in finishing a close second behind Collis Birmingham in the Australian 10000m at Decembers Zatopek.

 

The only other sub-14 athlete confirmed in the field is Kim Hogarth (13.44). Hogarth will be focussed on the World Cross-Country Championships in Poland in late March but will likely feature in the second-pack that should go close to 14.00. That pack will likely include Otago’s Luke Hurring (14.04.71) and National XC Champion Andrew Davidson who will also be competing in Poland. One to look out for will be Junior Aaron Pulford who is targeting the World Junior 5000m standard of 14.15. Pulford has been in sensational form this season and could very well be the top kiwi finisher in the race.  

 

The women’s 200m will showcase the current NZ-record holder Monique Williams (Editors Note: Williams has withdrawn due to shin splints). Williams is yet to reach her best form, so is unlikely to have her way with the field in which she is the only sub-23.00 athlete. Her biggest challenge will be Irish 400m record holder Joanne Cuddihy (23.33).

 

The women’s discus is sure to be a true trans-Tasman battle with former World Champion and NZ Record Holder Beatrice Faumuina up against current World Champion Dani Samuels of Australia. Faumuina, or ‘Queen B’ is currently in sensational form, having already thrown over 60m multiple times this season. Samuels is however the current world champion, with a seasons best of 63.70m. Although Samuels will come into the event as favourite, she will need to be on her best form to beat a resurgent Faumuina on home soil.

 

 

Full entries and tickets are available at www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz