Trans Tasman 21 Test Match – New Zealand vs Australia

Athletics Test Matches don’t happen very often in New Zealand, so when they do, there is bound to be a lot of interest. Douglas Track and Field at Waitakere, Auckland will be the venue for a New Zealand vs Australia Test Match for athletes 21 and under this Saturday afternoon.

The TT21 is a test match for athletes 21 years and under and is aimed at filling a gap in competition for athletes at a stage where there is a shortage of international competition.

Terry Lomax, the Rio 2016 Performance Project Manager for Athletics New Zealand, says that there’ll be some exciting performances on Saturday. “New Zealand’s probably the favourite to win it, but then again given the smaller size of the Australian team they might decide to double up in some of the events, just to push their match chances.”

Lomax says “What you can look forward to is international competition, which we don’t get a lot of in athletics here and some of our best young talent on show.”

The NZ TT21 team will be wearing white singlets, as this is classed as a white singlet event, because this competition comes under the third tier. But the singlets will still have New Zealand and the silver fern on them.

There’ll be some interesting matchups at the meet and Lomax says “The women’s high jump is one where Liz Lamb, after her 1.85m jump at the Porritt Classic, comes up against Australian Zoe Timmers. Zoe has a PB of 1.87m so they are well matched.”

“Looking at the way the fields are shaping up, the men’s 400m is one of the standout events because we have such depth in our young 400m runners. If you look at the quality of the likes of Alex Jordan who wasn’t able to make the team, that just shows it’s going to be an exciting event.” Matthew Robinson and Scott Burch are the 400m sprinters to watch.

In the shot put, Kiwis Jacko Gill and Tom Walsh will clash, but this time with the 7.26kg shot, and that’s something to really look forward to.

The women’s 100m and 200m should prove interesting as well, not just because of the New Zealanders who have been selected like Andrea Koenen, but also because National Champ Monique Williams is choosing to compete in those two events as well as part of her buildup.

There will also be an interesting matchup in the 100m. Kevin Moore, an Australian 100m sprinter, has a PB of 10.75sec, similar to New Zealand sprinters Isaac Tatoa and Clayton Mbofana. In the 200m Joseph Millar will be chasing another world junior qualifier.

In the men’s 1500m TT21 team members Aaron Pulford and Alex Wallis will be pushed by Alex Parlane and Eric Speakman, who are both invited 1500m athletes. They have all run good times recently and will both be up against a strong Australian selection.

The TT21 Match starts at 2.45pm with the javelin and pole vault, followed by the track events starting at 4pm with the 400m hurdles.