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John Davidson / photosport
Jacko Gill won the men’s shot put at the Porritt Classic (FILE PHOTO).
Jacko Gill has a habit of beating Tom Walsh.
Gill matched his personal best to overtake Walsh for the fourth consecutive event and triumph in the men’s shot put at the Porritt Classic in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Aucklander’s 21.52 meters on his second attempt was the same distance he threw to win last Saturday’s International Track Meet in Christchurch.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images
Gill beat Tom Walsh, pictured, for the fourth consecutive event (FILE PHOTO).
Walsh started well with his first two pitches (21.39m and 21.45m), but seemed frustrated as the Cantabrian South continued to fight once Gill led and was unable to reduce the 7cm difference.
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The national track and field championships in Hastings on March 5-7 will be another clash event before considering going abroad before the Tokyo Olympics in July, if Covid-19 permits, and Gill he’s in the best shape of his career while Walsh, a former world champion and medalist at the recent Olympics (bronze) and Commonwealth Games (gold), is stalled.
Meanwhile, Dame Valerie Adams eliminated Maddison-Lee Wesche’s challenge to comfortably win the women’s shot put, throwing more than 18 meters on all six throws.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images
Dame Valerie Adams won the women’s shot put at Hamilton (FILE PHOTO).
The two-time Olympic champion roared for her best shot since her fifth attempt and reached 18.68 meters. She was happy with her performance, but said there was more to come.
“All the points are coming together really well,” said Adams, pleased to pass 18 meters with each throw.
Wesche retired from the second round and passed his last three shots to save himself for the Nationals, he said. His best throw was 17.43 m.
On the other hand, in the women’s 100 meters, Zoe Hobbs headed for victory, setting a meeting record of 11.39 seconds, and was again close to beating Michelle Seymour’s national record (11.32 seconds).
Hobbs (23.89 seconds) was later beaten for the second week in a row by Georgia Hulls (23.78 seconds) in the 200 meters.
In the men’s races, Edward Osei-Nketia overtook fast Tiaan Whelpton (10.30 seconds) at the finish line after coming down the home stretch to win the 100 meters with 10.28 seconds.
Joseph Millar appeared to recover from injury early in the race and limped home with the slowest time (17.09 seconds) at the men’s field.
In the 200 meters, neither Millar nor Whelpton ran and Osei-Nketia won with 21.46 seconds on a tight field.
Additionally, Julia Ratcliffe and Lauren Bruce resumed their battle in the women’s hammer throw with the latter winning by almost six feet with a bout record of 73.32 meters.
In the women’s 1,500m, Camille Buscomb (4min 13.47sec) triumphed after holding off a late challenge from Rebekah Greene (4min 14.81sec).
