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Sunday, 4 February 2018

2018 Wellington Track & Field Champs Newtown Park Day 2 Sun 4 Feb

The sun shone brightly on day two although the wind did seem to come up later in the day as forecast.

There were plenty of good performances, including personal bests and possibly a record or two. A truckload of medals were handed out to the new champions which is the reward for getting involved and competing.

As usual the officials did a grand job at keeping the meeting on track (no pun intended) and conducted in accordance with the rules. This includes Peter Baillie and Ed Hutchinson in charge of electronic timing and photo finishing and Karen Mcilroy who tirelessly looks after the entries and results.

Out in the field Mike Ritchie is on hand to make sure that everything goes smoothly with the equipment. Not to mention that he is a jumps supercoach.

Shaka Sola was on the microphone once again sharing the announcing duties with Charlie Nairne.

Shaka in Oct 2004

These two actually work quite well and I like what Shaka does to let the spectator’s know who is who and to give a running commentary (always generous and often humourous) on the efforts of the athletes.

I didn’t get much feedback on how the new track is shaping up but there does seem to be one or two issues that might need sorting. This includes possible water seepage and the uneven surface of the javelin runway at the edge of the track curb.

Highlights and observations of the day:

Deborah Lynch’s runaway win in the women’s 3000m

Sean Pay doing everything

Despite his small stature Kaleb Sola can throw things a long way

Will Tim Robinson eventually be able to challenge his brother Cam in the Javelin

Billy Crayford jumping to 2.05m

Louis Northcott has an identical twin brother called Ted!

Amazed by the stuff that Alan Stevens knows.