Athletics: Selection thrills walker Robinson

Rozie Robinson
Rozie Robinson
New Zealand race walk champion Rozie Robinson (Hill City-University) has been named in the New Zealand athletics team for the Oceania championships in June.

Robinson (21), a physical education student, will compete in the senior women's 5km track walk.

Other Otago athletes in the team are four times New Zealand senior men's discus champion Marshall Hall and fellow Taieri athletes Jerram Huston (shot put) and Blair Grant in the junior men's 100m and 200m sprints.

Robinson has become the best female race walker in New Zealand over the last two years and stamped her dominance on the sport by retaining her senior women's 3km track walk and 20km road walk titles at the New Zealand championships at Auckland last month.

This will be the fourth time Robinson has represented New Zealand overseas. She finished second in the 10km road race at the Oceania championships in 2010.

Marshall Hall
Marshall Hall
"I'm rapt to have made the team again," Robinson said.

"I hope to do a personal best time."

Robinson demonstrated her class in a 10km road race at Timaru last weekend when she broke the 50min barrier for the first time. Her time of 49min 58sec was the fastest walked in New Zealand by a woman for 10 years.

Twenty-seven athletes have been named in the New Zealand team that will compete in the Oceania championships at Cairns from June 27-29.

Daniel O'Shea (Hill City-University) has been named in the New Zealand 4x400m relay team that will compete in two meetings against other national teams in Japan early next month. There is also a men's and women's 4x100m team competing.

The other members of the team are Alex Jordan (Tasman) and Aucklanders Tama Toki and Frazer Wickes.

 

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