Maia Ramsden gains 1500m glory

Maia Ramsden created history by becoming the first Kiwi to snare a track gold at an outdoor NCAA Track & Field Championships by sprinting to a dazzling victory in the women’s 1500m final in Austin, Texas, on 10 June.

The 21-year-old Havard University student is currently based in the United States, and her family lives in Khandallah.

Maia unleashed a fearsome kick finish to storm to the title in a new personal best of 4 minutes 8.6 seconds – to finish 0.61 clear of Izzy Thornton-Bott (Oregon) to take out the biggest win of her career.

Maia ran a patient race in the final, refusing to get sucked into the searing pace at the front set by NC State athlete and pre-race favourite Katelyn Tuohy.

By the bell Katelyn’s race was run and on the final bend Maia hit the front and accelerated clear to the title.

“I can’t believe it,” Maia said after the race. “We thought it would be quick and I spoke to my coach [Harvard University coach Alex Gibby] about what kind of 800m split I could handle but that becomes pointless in the race, so he said ‘don’t worry about the splits, just run your own race, just be patient and maybe some girls will come back to you’.

“I’ve been working on staying really patient, staying smoother tucking in and just being ready, so I can get the most out of my kick.

“All of a sudden I was coming around the last bend, and it was like, wait a second, I have some legs left so let’s see what happens.”

Maia came into the meet with a 1500m personal best of 4 minutes 11.73 seconds but after placing second in her semi-final in Austin she lowered her best to 4 minutes 9.81 seconds to catapult to sixth on the all-time New Zealand

Big victory for J’ville Hawks

By Frank Neill

The Johnsonville Hawks continued their climb up Wellington Rugby’s Swindale Shield ladder with a big 61-22 victory over Northern United on 10 June.

With the win the Hawks moved up from fifth to fourth on the table and virtually assured the team that it will play in the second round Jubilee Cup competition, contested by Wellington’s top eight clubs.

Johnsonville produced a solid all round performance in the match, played at Porirua Park, with both the forwards and backs dominating.

This was underlined by the fact that the Hawks ran in nine tries.

Seven Hawks players scored tries in the match, which saw Johnsonville leading 28-7 at the half time break.

Finlay Sharp and Akuso Tuitama both dotted down twice.

Jacob Walmsley, Jason Tuitama, Anthony Pettett, Ha’amea Ahio and Ish Perkins also scored tries.

The kicking duties were shared, with Mark Sutton slotting five conversions and Morgan Williams three conversions.

The Johnsonville Rugby Football Club will celebrate Old Timer’s Day on 17 June when the premier team will take on the struggling Avalon at Helston Park.