News & Updates
Weekly Round Up: 5 August
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Zoe Hobbs, 100 m. Photo Credit: Alisha Lovrich
INTERNATIONAL RESULTS
FRANCE
Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, 2024 Olympic Games, Stade de France, Paris – August 2024
Friday 2 August – Highlights
- Sam Tanner after being boxed towards the back of the field finished 13th in his heat forcing him to run a repechage.
- Zoe Hobbs , after her qualifying race said: “I felt awesome out there today. When there was about 30 or 40 metres left, I knew I was in second and just needed to relax and let it flow. If I can add another element in the semi-finals, so that’s pretty exciting.”
- Requiring a qualifying throw of 21.35m Tom Walsh and Jacko Gill qualified for the final of the shot put. Walsh said it was all about qualifying, “which I managed to do in the second round about the same time as Jacko did, so that’s pretty cool for us to get into another final, eight to ten finals together on the world stage, so pretty cool for New Zealand.”
Saturday 3 August
Jacko Gill finished seventh in the final of the shot put with a throw of 21.15m. He has been most consistent in the last three Games, with ninth place at both Rio and Tokyo and now seventh.
Gill said he will now train towards Los Angeles 2028.
“I just love the training at home with my family and I love every day training with them, I just so lucky to do what I love. To finish in the top eight means I get funding and that support so it’s amazing that I’ve got to do this for another four years with my family.
Tom Walsh, failed to secure a throw in the three rounds of the shot put final after an injury flared up during his second throw.
“It’s kind of been an injury that’s been there or there abouts that has allowed me to train and throw and stuff like that for the last month, and it’s been getting gradually better,“ Walsh said, confirming he had problems with the adductor groin he hurt in the final during the last few months in the States and Europe.
“And we did a great job in terms of getting me here in somewhat healthy shape, healthy enough shape to still throw a long way.
“And then the second round, I just blew it to bits.’’
“It’s always pretty special and get out here at the Olympic Games, compete and try a throw far,” said Walsh who added he will be back.
Zoe Hobbs narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the 100m. Requiring a top-two finish in the third of three semi-finals, or one of the next best two times, the 14th fastest athlete during the heats Hobbs was slow out of the blocks and faded over the final 20 metres after briefly surging through the middle stage of the race.
“I just didn’t execute a good race. I think I let it go from the get-go. My reaction wasn’t great, and over the first 10m I was already behind.
“So, I just let it slip through my fingers and that’s just the reality of the 100 metres. Sometimes you’ve got to put together a perfect race, and especially to make an Olympic final.’’
Sunday 4 August
Lauren Bruce was out to 68.93m in the qualifying rounds of the hammer throw short of the automatic qualifying distance of 73m. Bruce improved from 67.03m in round two to 68.93m in round three for 11th place in group A. At the Tokyo Olympic Games she was 12th in group B with 67.71m.
Results
Friday 2 August:
Sam Tanner 1500m heat 3:39.87 (13H3), to repechage.
Zoe Hobbs 100m heat 11.08 -0.8 (2H2) Q.
Tom Walsh shot put qualifying 21.48m (2GroupB) Q (20.65, 21.48).
Jacko Gill shot put qualifying 21.35m (4GroupA) Q (21.14, 21.35).
Saturday 3 August:
Sam Tanner 1500m repechage 3:40.71 (13R2). DNQ
Tom Walsh shot put final NM (12).
Jacko Gill shot put final 21.15m (7) (x, 20.81, 21.15, x, 19.23, 20.47).
Zoe Hobbs 100m semi-final 11.13 +0.2 (6SF3). DNQ
Sunday 4 August
Lauren Bruce HT qualifying 68.93m (11GroupA) DNQ (x, 67.03, 68.93).
AUSTRALIA
Race Walking Challenge, Middle Park, Melbourne, 27 July: Jonah Cropp 10km RW 44:43 (1).
REGIONAL RESULTS
NAPIER
New Zealand Cross Country Championships, Mission Estate Winery, Poraiti – 3 August 2024
![](https://athletics.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ALPH240803_50437_1-300x205.jpg)
ATHLETICS NZ – National Cross Country Champs at Mission Estate, Napier, New Zealand, Saturday, 3 August 2024. Photo by John Cowpland / alphapix
Hannah Prosser fresh from a break in her track and field and Cross Country Scholarship at Boston University ran away with the Senior Women’s title over 10k around the Mission Estate Winery in Napier.
Lisa Cross led from the start with Prosser, Eva Pringle, Annika Pfitzinger and defending champion Anneke Arlidge forming the leading group.
The 20 year old Prosser who has a background in the triathlon pushed hard from the front of the group and with 6k to go was leading with twice previous champion Cross.
Her relentless pressure eventually led to a divisive break and she went on for the title in 37:31, a minute ahead of Katrina Andrew who rallied well over the last lap to pass a tiring Cross on the last hill climb. Andrew a former national road champion claimed the silver medal with Cross taking bronze.
Prosser explained that it was the first time she had tackled the longer distance.
“I’ve never done a 10k before so I wasn’t really sure on how that would go for me, I do more of the shorter distances like 6k. So I just thought I’d stick with the front group and stay in control and see how I feel.
“After the first 5k I was feeling really good so I picked up the pace a bit and see who would go with me and run my own race.”
Prosser controlled the hill well using it to her advantage in each lap.
“I just ran the downhill as fast as I could as I wasn’t expecting it to be as muddy so I tried to go on the least muddy parts,” she said.
“I did the cross country season at Boston last year and then I had a bit of an injury so I’ve only just got back into running.”
Prosser is with the Aspiring Athletics Club and her earlier success at national championships was a gold in the under 20 5000m and a silver in the 3000m last year. Auckland won the senior women’s teams title from Canterbury.
Connor Melton of Canterbury relished the conditions and the course to win his first national title. The 25 year old was delighted to win the 10km in an impressive 32:08 beating former national junior champion Toby Gualter by 15 seconds.
William Little set the early pace from the start, before Gualter was controlling a group of seven. Melton gave the hill a good nudge and manged to drop a few of the group leaving just three Melton, Gualter and Ronan Lee with 3k remaining.
Over the final 500m David Lee came through to take the bronze, finishing five seconds ahead of Ronan Lee.
Melton said he was confident going into the race.
“It is my first national cross title in four years after injuries and sickness. I’ve just had my best ever build-up for the last three months leading into it with no interruptions.
“I had no expectations, I just felt really good the legs felt good and it didn’t start hurting so I kept winding it up and on the last lap I thought I could win, and I drove hard to home.
“The intention was to go over the hill each time and keep the momentum going on the downhill as I’m more a strength runner rather than a speed guy and I used the mud to try and run strong.
Melton is coached by Sam McLean and he said that the coach would be pleased with the results
“He also coaches myself, David Lee, William Little and Cameron Clark so to have two on the podium today he’d be pretty stoked, said Melton who led Canterbury to victory in the teams title beating Auckland and Wellington.
Victories were achieved by leading from start to finish by Rachel Felton in the master women, Jake Hendrickx in the master men, Catherine Lund in the women under 20 and Brynne Gordon in the women under 18. Daniel Prescott had the final say in the under 20 men after the lead changed continuously over the second half. George Wyllie and Hamish Murray crossed the finish together in the under 18 men with Wyllie fractionally ahead for the title.
Results:
Men
Senior 10km: Connor Melton (Canterbury) 32:08, Toby Gualter (Wellington) 32:23, David Lee (Canterbury) 32:28, Ronan Lee (Auckland) 32:41, Matthew Taylor (North Harbour Bays) 32:59, William Little (Canterbury) 33:15. Teams: Canterbury 16, Auckland 34, Wellington 41.
Masters 8km: Jake Hendrickx (Auckland) 28:03, Oliver O’Sullivan (Otago) 28:19, Dwight Grieve (Southland) 28:22. Teams 35-49 Auckland 13, Canterbury 29, Hawkes Bay Gisborne 43, 50-64 Wellington 16, Auckland 24, Manawatu Whanganui 44. 6km: Ian Calder (Whangarei) 25:12, Todd Krieble (Wellington) 26:49, Tony Price (Wellington) 27:22. Teams 65+ Waikato BoP 6.
Under-20 8km: Daniel Prescott (Canterbury) 27:22, Finnley Oliver (Waikato BoP) 27:26, Joshua Gordon-Glassford (Auckland 27:30, Nick Dobbie (Taranaki) 27:31. Teams Auckland 22, Canterbury 29, Wellington 42.
Under-18 6km: George Wyllie (Waikato BoP) 20:20, Hamish Murray (Waikato BoP) 20:21, Corban Holmes (Waikato BoP) 20:29. Teams Waikato BoP 17, Auckland 28, Wellington 35.
Under-16 4km: Sam Ruthe (Waikato BoP) 13:29, Duke Cutts (Auckland) 13:46, Leo de Monchy (Canterbury) 13:53. Teams Waikato BoP 10, Manawatu Whanganui 29.
Under-14 3km: Jacob Radcliffe (Chch Avon) 10:46, Leo Green (Pakuranga) 10:49, Matthew Meiklejohn (Trentham) 11:00.
Women
Senior 10km: Hannah Prosser (Otago) 37:31, Katrina Andrew (Auckland) 38:32, Lisa Cross (Auckland) 38:36, Annika Pfitzinger (Tasman) 38:41, Eva Pringle (Canterbury) 39:40, Anneke Arlidge (Auckland) 40:05. Teams Auckland 12, Canterbury 27.
Masters 6km: Rachel Felton (Taranaki) 23:45, Sally Gibbs (Manawatu Whanganui) 24:24, Karen Donaldson-Barron (Auckland) 24:32. Teams 35-49 Auckland 17, Waikato BoP 29, Manawatu Whanganui 32. 50-64 Wellington 14, Manawatu Whanganui 25.
Under-20 6km: Catherine Lund (Otago) 22:16, Tess Hannigan (Brisbane) 23:21, Charo Heijnen (Waikato BoP) 23:25, Sascha Letica (Auckland) 23:49. Teams Auckland 10.
Under-18 5km: Brynne Gordon (Canterbury) 18:57, Siena Mackley (Southland) 19:14, Scarlett Robb (Auckland) 19:22. Teams Auckland 10, Wellington 37, Manawatu Whanganui 47.
Under-16 4km: Indie Williams (Auckland) 15:13, Maddie Worrall (Speedplay) 15:17, Leah Marais (Auckland) 15:32. Teams Auckland 10, Manawatu Whanganui 30.
Under-14 3km: Anna Phillipps (Hamilton) 11:54, Tayla Sturgeon (Hawera) 12:13, Mackenzie Hetherington (Tauranga) 12:18.
Para Athlete 4km: Sasha AL-Dazhani (Taranaki) 20:41.
New Zealand Cross Country Club Mixed Relay Championships – 4 August 2024
4 x 2000m
50-64 Mixed: Olympic (B Borlase, M Van Looy, D Gordon, K Jenkins) 32:08, Wellington Harrier Athletic 33:04, Napier 34:39.
Mixed Social: Trentham (M Meiklejohn, K Wealleans, F Robinson, T Millar) 30:11, WHAC 30:21, Tauranga 50:51.
Mixed 35-49: Wanganui AHC (B Sharratt, B Sharratt, G Jones, S Gibbs) 30:38, Tauranga 30:51, Feilding Moa 31:54.
Mixed Under 16: Olympic (J Gregory, J Moorhead, T Pescini, H Wade) 28:38, Pakuranga 28:44, Tauranga 28:58.
Mixed Relay 1: Olympic 28:38, Tauranga 28:41, Pakuranga 28:44.
Mixed Senior Relay: Whippets (J Paine, T Hollyer, D Lee, E Pringle) 25:45, North Harbour Bays 26:15, Tauranga 26:35.
Mixed Under 18: Tauranga (C Holmes, E Pugh, G Wyllie, H Fausett) 26:35, Auckland City Athletics 27:14, Olympic 27:31.
Mixed Under 20: Olympic (R Mackay, E Lowden, M Doherty, A Sutherland) 27:37, Tauranga 28:11, WHAC 28:44.
ROAD AND TRAIL RACES AROUND THE COUNTRY
AUCKLAND, NORTHLAND
Fox Trot 5km, Viaduct Harbour, 30 July: Owen Mitchell 17:09, Daniel Coates 17:24, Harry Harris 17:29. Caitlin Peers 17:42, Tia Knight 18:58, Phumzile Sikakana 22:18.
Rat Race 5km, Takapuna, 31 July: Damon Nicholas 18:40, Joel Martin 19:30, Andrew Harvey 19:40. Mira Bi 22:15.
Te Hiku Forest Trail Run, Kaitaia, 3 August: 21km; Sam Rout 1:16:37, Nathan Ryken 1:20:34, Trey Subritzky 1:26:40. Simone Ackermann 1:35:01, Tamsin Horne 1:38:58, Mariona Wesselo-Comas 1:43:51. 11.5km; Tommy Earl 44:56, Ben Keyte 46:29, Grayson Sutherland 49:50. Michiko Cooper 50:42, Kaylee Earl 50:58, Charley Angell 58:13.
Tamaki River Half Marathon, Pt England Reserve, 4 August: 21.1km; Stuart Eland 1:14:07, Ben Parker 1:14:40, Jamie Pohl 1:17:02. Laura Holyoake 1:27:54, Talia Copestake 1:28:35, Kate Moyle 1:29:15. 10km; Kieran Hedley 36:05, Tom Morrish 39:06, Nathan Hayhurst 40:31. Charlie McCurdy 44:14, Dominique Kluts 45:30, Katie Babbott 45:46. 5km; Louis Hewitson-Townley 18:56, Neil Cheetham 19:23, Lilia Kluts 26:16.
TAUPO
Taupo Marathon, Tongariro North Domain, 3 August: Nathan Tse 2:37:03, Ryan White 2:39:49, Ben Twyman 2:42:24. Brittney Litton 3:02:52, Gabriela Diver 3:11:19, Melissa Toy 3:19:10. Half marathon; Cullern Thorby 1:06:43 PB, Michael Voss 1:09:42, Ben Wilson 1:14:32. Sarah Gardner 1:21:32, Anna Williams 1:25:22 PB, Jamie Roles 1:27:13. 10km; Jeroen Mattheus 34:14, Blake Weston 35:45, Oli Barnett 37:19. Letizia Hay 39:38, Katherine Hutchison 40:44, Laura Park 43:50. 5km; Tito Hay 17:08, Lawrence Cornett 17:11, Rory Patterson 17:26. Naomi Mcewan 19:21, Ximena Smith 19:51, Steph Neilson 19:51.
ASHBURTON
South Island Half Marathon, Lake Hood, 4 August: Hayden Zervos 1:13:27, Naoki Kobayashi 1:15:36, Abe O’Donnell 1:16:33. Ange Wreford 1:29:32, Kasey Mackinnon 1:33:26, Annabel Merrett 1:35:23.
TE ANAU
Meridian Half Marathon and Mitre 10 10km, 3 August: Lee Cook 1:15:58, Thijs Hubber 1:23:10, Aaron Eyles 1:23:49. Kristy Eyles 1:29:22, Alice Cuthbert 1:33:04, Hayley Holmes 1:35:10. 10km; Guirec Menguy 36:42, Marijn Wouters 36:53, Adam Miles 39:50. Angela Waters 40:13, Sara Metzger 43:43, Rachael Tucker 47:36.