Jim Flynn
Jim Flynn (Leith) reached the pinnacle of his athletics
career when he smashed the Otago masters record at the
Caledonian Ground on Saturday.
Flynn (75), an emeritus professor of political science and
psychology at the University of Otago, ran the 3000m in 16min
6sec to take 54 seconds off the record in the masters men
aged 75-79 grade.
"I'm very happy," Flynn said after the race.
"I thought I'd be doing well if I ran 16min 30sec. I didn't
believe my time was possible."
Flynn came to New Zealand from the United States in 1963 and
joined the Otago University staff four years later.
Though he first competed in athletics in the United States 64
years ago, the weekend's result was just the second record of
Flynn's career.
He hopes to add the 1500m and 10,000m over the next few
weeks.
Daniel Balchin (Caversham) sped round the final lap in 66sec
to win the men's 3000m in 8min 46.83sec to beat Alex Gorrie
(Hill City), who ran a personal-best time of 8min 48.74sec.
Anna-Lisa Uttley (Ariki) led from the start to win the
women's 3000m in 10min 16.33sec from Sarah McLaren (Hill
City), who improved by 13 seconds with her time of 10min
45.43sec.
Arthur Green (Taieri), a fourth-year physical education
student, had a consistent series of throws, with four greater
than 50m, when he won the men's javelin with 54.71m.
National junior champion Guy Archibald (Taieri), a student in
sports performance at Otago Polytechnic, won the junior men's
event with a throw of 53.14m.
Toby Flett (Hill City) won the men's sprint double with his
100m in 11.61sec and 200m in 23.12sec.
Lauren Wilson (Hill City) won the women's 100m in 12.79sec
and the 200m 26.05sec.
Liz Wilson (Hill City), Lauren's mother, won the masters
women's 100m 14.64sec and 200m in 29.21sec.
The Hill City 4x100m relay team of Zak Watt, Sam Watson,
George Woodhouse and Chris McNoe broke the record for
13-year-old boys with a time of 51.76sec.
The team came together six years ago and they have broken the
Otago children's records in their age group for each of the
past five years.
This was their first open age-group record.
The third record of the day came in the pole vault, where
Rosie Craven (Hill City) improved her own Otago girls aged-13
record by 5cm with a height of 2.05m.
The Paul Gibbons-coached athlete is a keen rock climber and
has a head for heights, which enables her to be more
aggressive when leaping upside down over the bar.
Callan Moody (Ariki) ran 56sec for the first lap but slowed
to 60sec in the second lap when winning the men's 800m in
1min 56.05sec.
Hill City's Ben Jowsey (16) ran an encouraging 1min 59.39sec
for second place.
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.