Buildup to secondary schools' champs under way

OPINION: The athletics season is really in full swing now with lots of activity at the track.

Many schools are holding their championships this week, leading into the Manawatu secondary schools' championships on Saturday, March 13.

Younger athletes have the Manawatu-Wanganui teams' competition to look forward to on March 14. This year they are being hosted by Feilding.

Last weekend saw the Central championships with close on 200 competitors taking part.

They produced great performances with up to 11 stadium records established.

I guess those who were reluctant to move their vehicles from the hammer throw area now realise we were not joking when told they were in danger once Hardeep Kaur started throwing.

Hardeep, the Indian recordholder, bettered her own stadium record when she tossed the hammer 56.08m.

On the track, there were a couple of outstanding 800 metres. Wanganui's Brad Mathas ran the country's fastest 800 by a 16-year-old this season with a 1min 53.78sec effort, while Steph Dickins showed lots of aggression in setting a G14 800 record.

Andreas Brehm's fine 56.29sec over the 400m hurdles saw him claim the M19 record.

Olivia Burne ran herself to a standstill in the 5000 metres but was disappointed with her time. However, it was still the fastest time by a woman on the track, taking almost a minute off the old record.

Watching the nine-year boys' races and seeing Levin's identical twins, Bayley and Dylan Vine, finish locked together brought back memories of the Signal twins.

Brenda and Rachel Signal competed for Feilding as children before going on to achieve considerable success as senior athletes when members of the Palmerston North club. I recall many tight finishes, none closer than the 1998 New Zealand secondary schools' 400m where Brenda took the title by 0.004sec from Rachel.

Rachel now lives in Auckland and is married to leading New Zealand sprinter Craig Bearda, while Brenda is on the staff of Horowhenua College. She has the responsibility of organising this year's Manawatu Secondary Schools Athletics Sports, the next major meeting on the local scene.

Both Brenda and Rachel were coached by Tara Smith (Rolfe), who was last year's organiser when St Peter's was the host school.

Like Brenda and Rachel, Tara was also a national champion. She was coached by George McConachy, who is still very much the kingpin in local athletics.

This week I will look at the finish.

Races are judged by the first part of the torso (the body, excluding head and limbs) that crosses the finishing line. Electronic timing makes this a lot easier.

The timer is triggered by the impulse of the gun and as the athletes cross the finish line, their image is captured and saved on the computer. By matching the cursor to the front of the athlete's torso, times are determined.

You will still see manual timekeepers and judges on the finish line, but they are used only as back-up.

- © Fairfax NZ News