Otago Interclub T&F, Sun 21 March 2010
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
At the last Athletics Otago track and field meeting of the season, Alan Funnell ran a perfectly judged 1500m leading from start to finish while battling a strong and gusty headwind on the front straight, he crossed the line first in 4 minutes 32.76 seconds. Bill Kenny (6min 50.47sec) was the other runner in this race finishing off his home season in style in preparation for the NZ Masters Track and Field Championships in two weeks time in Christchurch. Megan Balchin (4min 57.61sec) was in top form finishing second in the senior women’s grade 1500m.
Dave Barton had a marathon day on the track and field. He finished second in the master men’s 35, 100m sprint. He also took part in the Weight Pentathlon earning Leith 15 points and 4th place in this competition.
Marc Boulle ran the 800m, 400m and 200m in preparation for Christchurch in two weeks time.
Otago Interclub T&F, Sun 14 March 2010
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Neale McLanachan had to battle a tough headwind in the back straight during the 5000m at the Athletics Otago Weekly track and field meeting held at the Caledonian on Sunday morning. He finished fourth in 16min 28.81sec. The evergreen Bill Kenny ran a strong 800m despite the strong gusty wind finishing 5th in the master men’s 35 grade.
Athletics Otago Twilight T&F, Wed 3 March 2010
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
At the Athletics Otago Twilight Meeting on Wednesday at the Caledonian, David Barton had a field day in the master men’s 35 grade. He won the discus throw, javelin throw and shot put.
Neale McLanachan (9:7.92) finished second in the Men’s 3000m. McLanachan (4:13.25) also finished second in the Men’s 1500m and Jason Palmer (4:23.61) finished fifth. Kirsty Morris (4:43.26) ran her best time of the season finishing second in 4min 43.26sec while Megan Balchin (4:58.1) finished second. Alan Funnell (4:30.66) won the master men’s 35 grade 1500m, with John Bayne (4:44.13). Funnell also ran in the 3000m winning the MM35 grade ahead of Paul Beauvais and Bayne (3rd). Mark O’Donnell (4:57.8) won the separate MM35 grade 1500m race; he also finished fourth in the MM35 grade 3000m.
Marc Boulle won both the master men’s 35 grade 200m and 400m. The evergreen Jim Flynn finished the 3000m in 16min 33.49sec.
Otago T&F Championships, Sat 20 and Sun 21 February 2010
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Leith competed at the Otago Track and Field champs held on the weekend at the Caledonian held in fine sunny weather. Jason Palmer achieved personal bests of 4min 20.67sec in the senior men’s 1500m and 2min 7.03sec in the 800m. Megan Balchin lowered her personal best for the 1500m to 4min 54.98sec. Kirsty Morris finished third in the senior women’s 1500m. The Leith Master Men’s 35+ team of David Barton, Mark O’Donnell, Marc Boulle and Steve Skilling won the Otago Championships title for the 4x100m Relay and finished second in the 4x400m relay. Skilling finished fourth in the Men 35+ 800m in 2min 17.58sec. O’Donnell showed a welcome return to form with a 4min 49.74sec 1500m finishing 5th in the MM35+ race. Barton had two second place finishes in the MM35+ Javelin and Discus Throws. Paul Johnston finished second in the MM35+ hammer throw and third in the weight throw.
Otago Interclub T&F, Sat 13 February 2010
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Kirsty Morris won the Senior Women’s 1500m race keeping behind the front running Katrina Finn (Ariki) throughout in a race where the headwind in the back straight was a significant factor. She took the lead with just over 200m to go and ran on strongly finishing in 4min 48.11sec to deny the Ariki runner a chance of winning. Megan Balchin also had a fine race running a personal best of 4min 59.16sec. Sue Cuthbert (5min 12.55sec) won the Master Women’s 1500m. David Rush ran in the Men’s A grade 1500m but suffered from a recurring injury to finish in 4min 56.61sec and Mark O’Donnell (5min 4.36sec) ran in the mixed 1500m.
Neale McLanachan finished second in the 5000m in a time of 16min 1.6sec.
O’Donnell ran in the 200m (29.72), Marc Boulle ran the 100m (15.35), 200m (30.51) and 400m (66.71) while the evergreen Bill Kenny also ran the 400m (82.61).
Otago 3000m Championships, Otago Interclub T&F, Sat 6 February 2010
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Kirsty Morris (10min 22.42sec) won the Otago Senior Women’s 3000m track title at the Caledonian ground on Saturday. Megan Balchin (10min 33.28sec) finish second.
Neale McLanachan (9min 3.44sec) finished fifth in the Otago Senior Men’s 3000m Champs. Jason Palmer (9min 24.29sec PB of 12secs) finished seventh. Bill Kenny finished 8th in the MM35 grade.
David Barton won the MM35 Javelin throw, shot put, 100m and 200m.
NZ Masters Games T&F, Fri, Sat, Sun 29-31 January 2010
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
At the NZ Masters Games track athletics at the Caledonian on the weekend: Bill Kenny (4 gold), Sue Cuthbert (3 gold), David Rush (2 gold), Alan Funnell (2 gold), Jan Brosnahan (1 gold), Jim Kerse (1 gold, 1 silver), Jan Craig (2 silver) and Richard Hendry (2 bronze) all put in some great performances. Funnell (4min 30.62) achieved a personal best in the 1500m.
Leith also had success in the 5km road race. Ray Knox (17:56, gold MM45-49) won the race outright with John Bayne (silver MM45-49) second. Jill Alexander (20:20) won gold in the Women’s 50-54.
At the Otago Peninsula Challenge, Andrew Lonie finished third in 1 hour 37minutes 11 seconds. Neale McLanachan (1hr 42min 28sec) finished fourth. Louisa Andrew won the women’s race in 2hr 52min 52sec, while Sarah Toomey finished second in 2hr 56min 08sec. Joy Wylie (2:16:45) finished seventh. Christine Leith (2:46:50) was sixth master woman.
Otago 5000m Championships, Interclub T&F, Saturday 23 January 2010
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Kirsty Morris kept Hill City’s Shireen Crumpton within her sights throughout the 5000m Otago Senior Women’s Championship race held at the Caledonian on Saturday. At one stage she looked like she was making significant ground on the Hill City runner, but Crumpton (17:40.43) dug deep to hold out a never-say-die Morris (17:47.63) by just 7 seconds. Megan Balchin finished third. Neale McLanachan finished fifth in the senior men’s grade.
The masters’ grades Otago 5000m Champs was held separately this year. Alan Funnell fought a terrific duel with Kevin Duggan (Hill City) for most of the race, eventually pulling away to convincingly win the master men’s title in 17min 8.16secs with Duggan about 8 seconds back. Richard Hendry (17:34.34) held out Ray Knox (17:52.20) for third place. Sue Cuthbert (19:10.98) comfortably won the master women’s title.
In the sprints, David Barton (100m, 13,87sec, 2nd), (200m, 28.69sec, 3rd) showed steady improvement.
Otago Interclub T&F, Caledonian Mile, Saturday 16 January 2010
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Bill Kenny won the Scottish Shop Caledonian Handicap Mile held at the Caledonian track on Saturday by 20 seconds. He was the first runner to start and he never relinquishing his lead and improved on his recent form by running the distance in 7mins 5.83secs (an improvement of over 20 seconds for the mile on the time calculated from his recent 1500m form). Second Leith runner to finish was Mark O’Donnell (7th) and then Richard Hendry (9th) just 5 seconds behind him. Fastest Leith runner was Hendry (5:15.29) with Kirsty Morris (5:17.47) second fastest.
Earlier, Morris had won the SW 1500m in 4min 53.60 and David Rush the M35 1500m in 4min 44.66sec.
Andrew Lonie won the M35 5000m in 16min 55.18sec with Ray Knox finishing second in 18min 4.69sec.
David Barton won the M35 Discus (27.09m) and the Hammer Throw (21.03m) with Paul Johnston finishing second in both events.
Otago 10,000m Championship, Interclub T&F, Saturday 19 December 2009
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Alan Funnell won the master men’s Otago 10,000m track title on Saturday at the Caledonian. He powered away from his opposition despite the strong headwind in the front straight to record a strong 36min 7.94sec win. Ray Knox (37min 30.3sec) finished second having broken away early from Richard Hendry (37min 37.88sec) who finished third.
Contesting the Otago senior men’s title, Neale McLanachan (35min 30.86sec) was in the lead bunch for the first third of the race, but drifted back to finish third in 35min 30.86sec.
Megan Balchin contested the Otago senior women’s title and finished strongly in second place in a time of 39min 16.26sec.
Paul Johnston (MM35 grade) competed in the field for Leith, finishing second in the javelin throw and shot put.
Jason Palmer (9min 43.51sec) won the senior men’s 3000m as well as finishing second in his first 800m race in a time of 2min 12.82sec (PB)
Otago Interclub T&F, Saturday 12 December 2009
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Leith highlight at the Athletics Otago Track and Field Meeting Leith was the second 1500m largely contested by MM35, SW and MW35 grades. Steve Skilling initially took the lead but Richard Hendry (4:47.5) soon surged to the front never to be overhauled again as he strode comfortably to the finish. Skilling (4:54.6) finished comfortably in second position ensuring a Leith domination of this race. Megan Balchin (5:4.94) won the senior women’s grade. Sue Cuthbert won the MW35 grade. Alan Funnell (4:39.23) was the best Leith MM35 1500m runner having run in the Men’s A grade race.
David Barton won the MM35 grade discus, hammer throw, 100m, and 200m. The evergreen Jim Flynn showed his versatility by running the 200m and 400m.
Thanks to Bill Kenny, Ray Knox (and kids), Steve Skilling, Marc Boulle, Jason Palmer, Margaret Knox and Megan Balchin who assisted in Leith duty club tasks during the meeting.
South Island Masters Track and Field Championships, Fri/Sat/Sun 4, 5 and 6 December 2009
Memorial Park, Mosgiel
Leith athletes were in medal winning form at the South Island Masters Track and Field Championships held at Memorial Park, Mosgiel on the weekend. Jan Brosnahan (Gold) women’s 50-54 grade 400m in 81.3secs, (Bronze) women’s 50-54 grade 800m in 3:09.4. Bill Kenny (Gold) men’s 70-74 grade 400m in 81.3secs, (Gold) men’s 70-74 grade 800m in 3:19.6, (Gold) men’s 70-74 grade 3000m in 14:30.7. Jan Craig (Gold) women’s 50-54 grade 800m in 2:50.5, (Gold) women’s 50-54 grade 3000m in 11:58.2, (Silver) women’s 50-54 grade 1500m in 5:31.8. Marc Boulle (Gold) men’s 55-59 grade 800m in 2:26.2. Jim Flynn (Silver) men’s 75-79 grade 800m in 3:39.7, (Silver) men’s 75-74 grade 3000m in 16:43.0. David Rush (Gold) men’s 40-44 grade 1500m in 4:36.4. In the field, David Barton (Gold) men’s 35-39 shot put 8.76m, (Silver) men’s 35-39 discus 24.42m. Paul Johnston (Gold) men’s 45-49 shot put 6.58m, (Gold) men’s 45-49 discus 17.33m.
Otago Interclub T&F, Sat 28 November 2009
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Leith track and field athletes competed at the Caledonian on Saturday. New members David Barton and Paul Johnston did well in the Men’s 35+ grades in the field. Barton’s results: Discus (1st), hammer throw (2nd), long jump (2nd) and 100m (4th). Johnston’s results: Hammer Throw (1st) and Discus (2nd).
Neale McLanachan (4min 15.67sec) competed in the A grade 1500m finishing third Senior Man (5th overall). Alan Funnell (4min 36.94sec) won the MM35+ grade in the 1500m. Kirsty Morris (4min 45.83sec) returned to form with a fine run finishing first in the Senior Women’s 1500m. Marc Boulle claimed fourth place in the MM35+ grade 1500m race.
In the 5000m Neale McLanachan (16min 5.77sec) had a solid run to finish third overall and second in the Senior Men’s grade. Alan Funnell (1st MM35), Ray Knox (2nd MM35) and Mark O’Donnell (3rd MM35) all had good runs. Bill Kenny (80.5sec) tackled the 400m.
Otago Interclub T&F, Sat 21 November 2009
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
On Saturday at the Caledonian, Jim Flynn set another MM75-79 record of 3min 35.78sec in the 800m (fifth weekend in succession). In the 3000m, Neale McLanachan (9:16.89) finished third overall and was first in the senior men’s grade. Jason Palmer was fourth overall and second senior man. Ray Knox won the MM35+ grade while Mark O’Donnell was second. Steve Skilling (2:20.24) finished 3rd in the MM35 grade 800m. On the field new Leith man, David Barton won the Men’s 35+ Shot Put and Javelin
Otago Interclub T&F, Sat 14 November 2009
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Jim Flynn for the fourth consecutive week set a new Otago track record. He set a new MM75-79 record for the 5000m of 27min 30.53sec at the Caledonian on Saturday. Glen Ferguson was well outside his best, but did enough to win the MM35+ grade in 16min 19.98sec.
Jason Palmer (1st SM, 4th overall) ran a personal best of 4min 24.47sec for the men’s 1500m. He also ran a personal best of 27.48sec for the 200m. Andrew Lonie won the MM35+ grade in the men’s 1500m in 4 minutes 22.33 seconds. Kirsty Morris was finished first in the senior women’s grade 1500m in 4 minutes 51.02 seconds.
Leith had two athletes contesting the Ness Cup Handicapped Mile. First Leith runner was David Rush who finished 9th for third best time of 4min 57.92sec, while Alan Funnell took it easy after having earlier run the 1500m in a time of 4min 43.87sec.
Otago Interclub T&T, Sat 7 November 2009
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Glen Ferguson started the ball rolling for Leith’s Otago record attack in the 10,000m on Saturday at the Caledonian. Despite the strong wind on the back straight, he did so in fine fashion to win the race in 33min 29.77 breaking the 20 yr old Otago MM45-49 record of 33min 58sec set by Allan Davis (Ariki) in 1989.
Jim Flynn was pursuing the MM75-79 Otago standard of 60 minutes for the 10,000m. He had to battle around the track on his own, but he stuck to his task and conquered the windy conditions to finish with a flourish setting a record of 59min 35.43sec.
Not to be outdone, Sue Cuthbert broke her own 3000m record in the women’s aged 40 to 44 grade with a time of 10min 55.06sec in winning the master women’s grade.
Others to shine on the day were Kirsty Morris, Rebecca Keat, and Megan Balchin
Otago Interclub T&F, Sat 31 Oct 2009
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Jim Flynn set an Otago record of 7min 20.35sec in the master men’s 75-79 grade for the 1500m at the Caledonian on Saturday afternoon.
Glen Ferguson (15min 43sec) had a great win in the Men’s 5000m taking the lead over the final laps. Andrew Lonie (16:27.39) featured prominently in the first half of the race while Alan Funnell (17:07.86) set a steady pace throughout to emerge as third place finisher in this grade.
Jason Palmer (4min 27.52sec) showed a turn of speed to win his B grade 1500m race, while senior women’s runner Kirsty Morris (4:49.47) and master women’s runner Sue Cuthbert (5:03.05) won their respective grades.
Lachie Ashton tackled the 1500m, 400m (twice) and the 200m in a solid display of interval training, while Bill Kenny ran the 5000m and 400m.
Rebecca Keat (5:01.7) and Megan Balchin (5:04.8) dominated the senior women’s grade in their 1500m race
Otago Interclub T&F, Sat 24 Oct 2009
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Neale McLanachan finished second senior man and fourth overall in the Senior Men’s grade 3000m run at the weekly Otago track & field meeting at the Caledonian on Saturday. Alan Funnell won the master men’s 35 grade (8th overall) with Ray Knox 3rd MM35 (10th overall).
In the separate 3000m master men’s 35 race, Mark O’Donnell overcame a recent injury to finish second with Lachie Ashton seventh.
Jim Flynn set a new Otago record on the track for the Men’s 75-79 age grade 3000m race. The Otago standard was 17 minutes for the 3000m on the track and he cracked it by 54 seconds to set the record at 16min 6sec. Bill Kenny assisted by keeping pace with him over the entire distance.
Rebecca Keat was another to shine winning the senior women’s race in a smart time of 10min 49.4sec and Marc Boulle won the Men’s 50+ 800m race
Otago Interclub T&F, Sat 17 Oct 2009
Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Drive, Dunedin
Neale McLanachan and Jason Palmer got things going for Leith at the weekly Otago Track and Field Meeting at the Caledonian on Saturday with good efforts in the 1500m race. McLanachan finished second in the SM grade and Palmer third.
Kirsty Morris finished second in the SW grade. Sue Cuthbert (1st MW) and Megan Balchin (3rd SW) crossed the line together in a thrilling photo finish. Rebecca Keat (4th SW) was just a second back.
Richard Hendry won the MM grade 1500m race finishing second to junior Joe Beamish (Hill City) in an exciting duel.
McLanachan, Glen Ferguson and Jason Palmer dominated the 5000m with McLanachan winning the race overall as well as finishing first in the SM grade. Ferguson finished second overall and first in the MM grade while Palmer finished third overall and second in the SM grade.
The evergreen Bill Kenny had a run in the 400m
