Andrew Whyte (South Otago
High School) and Rebekah Greene (St Hilda's Collegiate)
rewrote the record books with dynamic running in Wellington
yesterday.
They broke long-standing 39th annual New Zealand secondary
schools championships at the Newton Park track.
Whyte (18) took 0.95sec off the senior boys 400m record that
Sam Higgie (Palmerston North Boys' High School) ran in 1999.
His time of 46.91sec was a personal-best by 1.19sec and puts
him second on the New Zealand senior men's ranking list this
season. It was an A qualifying standard for the world junior
track and field championships in Barcelona in August next
year.
It is an Otago men's
aged 18 and 19 record and just 0.34sec off the Otago senior
men's record set by Cory Innes nearly six years ago.
Whyte, named as a senior male athlete of the meeting, also
ran a personal-best 100m when second to Kodi Harman (Mount
Maunganui College) in 10.89sec.
Greene (17), named the athlete of the meeting, secured the
tough senior girls middle-distance double when she won the
1500m in 4min 21.39sec and the 3000m in 9min 23.40sec.
Greene lowered the records former New Zealand representative
Sonia Barry set in the 1980s. Barry's 1500m time, set in
1985, was lowered by 4sec and the 3000m time, run in 1986, by
10sec. Greene met the A qualifying standard for the world
junior championships in both the 1500m and 3000m.
Both Otago athletes are coached by Jim Baird.
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