Source: Radio New Zealand
Zoe Hobbs shows her rivals a clean pair of heels over the sprints at the Douglas International. David Rowland/Photosport
Kiwi speedster Zoe Hobbs has shown her readiness for a full international programme, cracking the still respectable 11-second mark over 100m at the Sir Graeme Douglas International in Auckland.
Running with the benefit of an excessive tailwind, Hobbs tore down the backstraight in 10.99s to punctuate a day that also saw her qualifying for the world indoor championships over 60m.
With winds fluctuating in direction throughout the evening, she recorded her 7.18s into a similar headwind to the one that later carried her home over the longer distance.
“Great day at the office,” Hobbs agreed. “Most of my focus has been around the 60, so to have a 10 in front of the number over 100 is a bonus.
“Even though it’s an illegal wind, I’ll take that.”
The Kiwi sprinters have been somewhat plagued by weather and winds so far this summer, with headwinds at the Potts Classic in Hastings and massive tailwinds at the Cooks Classic at Whanganui.
In the end, the West Auckland winds probably cancelled themselves out sufficiently to produce ideal results all round.
“I really needed to get the weight off my shoulder with that qualifier and the first two comps if the season have unfortunately been cold ones,” Hobbs said. “The conditions haven’t been the best, but I knew today I really had to take advantage of the warm weather.
“It was nice not to run in tights today and to actually run in proper comp kit. It felt good to be at a home meet as well, with family here and the comfort of staying at home.”
Tiaan Whelpton dominated his opposition for a pair of sprint victories at the Douglas International. David Rowland/Photosport
Hobbs has twice reached the world indoor final over the shorter distance and has now booked her ticket to Poland in March.
Another to check that off his priority list was male counterpart Tiaan Whelpton, who was hampered by the same headwind over 60m, but nailed his qualifier en route to a 10.10s meet record over 100m.
Unlike Hobbs, his time over the longer distance was a personal best, matching his time at the same venue last year.
“Big shout out to the officials for setting that up for us, so we could get a 60 split in the 100,” Whelpton said. “Unfortunately, we had a headwind in the 60 and 6.63s was still pretty good, but I knew there was more in the tank and the 100 metres absolutely produced that.
“That 6.55s with a legal wind should stamp my ticket to Poland for my third world indoor campaign, which I’m very excited for.”
Whelpton clocked 10.02s over 100m at Whanganui with a massive wind at his back that ruled out what would have been a national record, but he’s sure Eddie Oseai-Nketia’s 10.08s mark is not far away under the right conditions.
Another to master the swirling winds was pole vaulter Eliza McCartney, who cleared 4.63m on her third attempt to prove she’s in great physical and mental shape.
She needed three attempts to achieve her opening height of 4.30m, squirmed over 4.50m on her second, but stayed in the game to soar over 4.63m, before calling it quits, after one miss at 4.70m.
“Things have been tracking really, really well over the last few months, so to have good conditions today made it really easy,” she said.
Eliza McCartney soared over 4.63m at the Douglas International. David Rowland/Photosport
“It was challenging, but certainly not the most challenging you have to deal with in pole vault. When it moves around a bit, it’s tricky to get your marks right and you can imagine, when you’re carrying a long pole, it’s getting blown around and doesn’t help your run either.”
McCartney’s career has been plagued with injury and illness, but she’s buoyed by this performance and will now reconsider her next move, with world indoors also her most immediate goal.
She’s keenly aware that training partners Olivia McTaggart and Imogen Ayris are in top form on the European indoor circuit, she’s now considering bypassing the rest of the NZ summer to chase more benign conditions under the roof.
Shot putter Tom Walsh also hopes to defend his world indoor title next month and declared himself pleased with his 20.80m winning effort in his first competition of the year.
“There were a lot of good things,” he assessed. “Things seemed to work easily – I’ve tried a lot harder and thrown about the same, especially early in the season.
“I haven’t been this strong all round this early in the season. Yes, my squat’s been better or my bench has been better, but not all together.
“All the numbers are better than they’ve ever been together, so we’re ready to go.”
Tom Walsh was in solid early-season form at the Douglas International. David Rowland/Photosport
Elsewhere around the stadium, Rosa Twyford ran a big personal best 4m 14.10s over 1500 metres, while Lex Revell-Lewis could not hold off the challenge of Danish champion Gustav Lundholm Nielsen over 400 metres, clocking 46.64s.
Whelpton returned to the track for an attempt on the national 4×100 metres mixed relay, but while his team clocked 43.04s, they ran out of their zone on the last change and were disqualified.
“To know we can run that time with a couple of sloppy changes tells me we can shave off another half a second and that would put us top 10 in the world,” he reflected.
“Absolutely, we’re going to keep working on it – the relay’s a major focus for me. I see it as an awesome opportunity to represent New Zealand on the world stage.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand