Technical’s ‘flying squad’ clips relay time

Press, 10 February 1986, Page 26

Technical’s ‘flying squad’ clips relay time

By

ROD DEW

A new Canterbury 4 x 100 m relay record by the Technical “flying squad” of Nicky Doyle, Lynette Stock, Bev Peterson, and Kirsten Downie was the last — and by no means least — of the six provincial records set on the first two days of the track and field championships.

The Technical team whipped around the 400 m circuit in 46.505, clipping exactly half a second off the record set almost exactly 10 years ago by another Technical team.

The quality of the performance can be measured against the fact that the time was only fractionally slower than the time which Canterbury won the national championship in last season.

For Bev Peterson, it was the climax to an outstanding first two day in the championships. On Saturday she set a new Canterbury 100 m record of 11.745, and she played an important part in the record relay run yesterday. She is the only remaining member of the Technical team which set the record a decade ago.

Another happy member of the team must have been Stock, who is another in the best form of her career. The reigning New Zealand 100 m hurdles champion, she competed in Hamilton on Saturday in an attempt to break the Commonwealth Games qualifying Stand-

ard of 13.745. She won the race in a brilliant 13.55, only to have it ruled out by wind assistance. However, it was a performance which could hardly be ignored by the New Zealand selectors;

Apart from Darren Dale’s remarkable 400 m run of 46.985, there were three other Canterbury marks set. Stephen Mollings (Ashburton), who earned the junior "Athlete of the Day” award on Saturday, . recorded a splendid leap of 2.05 m in the under 18 high jump. This gave him the title and a new record. In the under-18 hammer, Andrew Crossland (Christ’s College) tossed the hammer out to a new record distance of 53.56 m and, in the under 16 grade, Michael Hickey (Technical), set a new high jump record of I.BBm.

Many other excellent performances were achieved during the two days. Elizabeth Ryan (Technical) won the women’s discus with a good distance of 46.12 m, a performance which makes her a strong contender for the national championship next month. Behind her was the evergreen Vai Young (Technical) with 42.32 m, a throw which kept her ahead of the rapidly improving Ashburton thrower, Christine Maxwell. Her best was 40.26 m. One of the field events surprises was the heavy defeat of the defending

New Zealand women’s javelin champion, Lyn Osmers (Technical). Her best throw on the day of 43.98 m was good enough for only third place. The winner was the talented young schoolgirl, Kaye Nordstrom (Technical), with a solid throw of 44.30 m. Second was Catherine Knowsley (Old Boys), still seeking her first senior championship win. She was runner-up in the last national championship. Osmers, who has already qualified for the Commonwealth Games in the heptathlon, gained some consolation from her win in the women’s high jump championship. She cleared 1.70 m, beating another heptathlon specialist, Karen Forbes (Old Boys), by five centimetres.

Forbes, however, also had her moment. She won the long jump with a leap of 5.75 m. This time, Osmers was the runner-

up, clearing 5.73 m. Chris Barrett (Technical) won the men’s discus championship with a stylish throw of 46.98 m. A junior, John Skurr (Technical), finished second with 42.02 m, pushing the experienced Mene Mene (Technical) into third place. Skurr won the junior title with a firstclass throw of 46.46 m.

Another 80m javelin throw eluded the tall Technical thrower, John Stapylton-Smith. But not by much. He won the championship with a strong effort of 76.18 m. Martin King (South Canterbury) was the runnerup with 53.56 m. Wayne Stewart (Old Boys) won the triple jump with a leap of 14.69 m, and Terry Lomax (Old Boys), now back in Christchurch after two years in Auckland, was second with 13.88 m. Lomax had the earlier satisfaction of winning the 110 m hurdles in 15.465.