Athletics: Stayer and sprinter in line-up for 3000m title

Andrew Davidson is the stayer and Malcolm Hicks the sprinter.

The Canterbury pair are expected to dominate the New Zealand men's 3000m championship at the Caledonian Ground this evening.

Davidson (28) has been in top form this season with a win in the Otago 10,000m before Christmas and a courageous third place behind internationals Will Leer (United States) and New Zealand's Nick Willis in an international meet on a grass track in Christchurch earlier this month.

Davidson, a doctor, knows he will need to apply pressure from the start to make life hard for Hicks, who has the faster finish.

Davidson has the ability to set a tough pace and maintain the pressure to the tape, as he demonstrated when he won the Otago 10,000m title.

He has a best time for the 3000m of 8min 3sec, which he ran in 2009, and has a strong finish.

Davidson, who represented Otago when he was a medical student in Dunedin, is studying in Christchurch to become a plastic surgeon.

Hicks, the latest New Zealand sub-4min miler, will be hard to beat if he is in front at the bell.

He followed up his sub-four with a win over 1500m at the Porritt Classic in 3min 44.48sec.

He has a best 3000m time of 8min 11.51sec, which he ran in Belgium last year.

The other strong contender is Daniel Balchin (Otago), who ran 8min 15.17sec at the Capital Classic in Wellington last month. He has a strong finish over the last 300m.

An outsider could be Matt Lambert (Nelson), who has a personal best time of 8min 17.83sec.

Other contenders for a podium spot include Callan Moody (Otago), Luke Hurring (Canterbury), Dougal Thorburn (Otago) and Brett Tingay (Canterbury), who ran 8min 13.89sec in 2008.

The men's 3000m is a relatively new event on the championship programme, having been initiated in 1989, suspended in 2006 and reinstated in 2009. The women's championship has been conducted since 1976.

Fiona Crombie (Canterbury), the national champion in 2009 and 2010, will be keen to regain her title in the women's 3000m.

She has a best time of 9min 16.31sec, set in Christchurch a year ago. But in that race she was beaten by Timaru teacher Kellie Palmer (Canterbury), who ran 9min 14.22sec.

Palmer won the Brian Taylor Memorial women's 3000m at the Christchurch international track meeting two weeks ago in 9min 32.35sec.

Also in the field are Otago runners Rachel Kingsford, who was fifth last year, and Christina Taylor.

The women's race will start at the Caledonian Ground at 5.15pm and the men's event at 5.30pm.