Day1 Barcelona Juniors

Greene and Whyte Perform Well on Day 1 at World Junior Champs

Rebekah Greene

Rebekah Greene has placed seventh in the 3000 metres on the first day of the World Junior Athletics Champs in Barcelona.

Greene, from Otago ran a smart race in a tightly bunched field, keeping out of trouble and placing herself well during the middle stages.  She was still in contact with the leaders with 600m to run but couldn’t lift her pace when the African runners upped the pace. She finished with a personal best of 9 minutes 21.23 seconds. Greene will also contest the 1500 metres, starting on Friday.

Fellow Otago athlete Andrew Whyte  produced an outstanding run in his heat of the 400 metres, finishing 3rd and stopping the clock at 46.62 seconds, a new personal best, improving on the 46.73 time he set  last week. He qualified for the Thursday morning semi-final where he will be ranked 13th of the 24 starters.

In other results on day 1, Julian Oakley (3.49.43) and Ben Moynihan(3.50.59) both 8th in their respective 1500m heats and did not qualify for the final. Finishing in the first three of each of the three heats or a time of 3.46.37 was required to make final. Oakley competes in the 800m later in the week.

Sprinter Kodi Harman placed 6th in his 100m heat, recording 10.99 seconds. He did not qualify for the semifinals. A time of 10.65 seconds was needed to get through the first round.

Nicholas Southgate contested the Pole Vault qualifying round where he cleared 4.75 metres, failing at 4.95 metres. A clearance of 5.05 metres would have got him to the final.

The championships continue with Jacko Gill competing in his qualifying round Wednesday evening (NZ time) with the final timed to start at 5.20am Thursday morning.