Touring New Zealanders soak up track experiences in U.S.

Team from St. Peter's Cambridge will move from New York Relays this week to Penn Relays

By Brian Towey of DyeStat

NEW YORK -- St. Peter's Cambridge made a grand entrance Friday night at the New York Relays. The boarding school from the North Island of New Zealand (about two hours from the capital of Auckland) placed two runners in the top four of the girls 3,200 meters, the "St. Pt" splayed across the Icahn Stadium scoreboard a mystery to local fans.

As it turns out, this team's appearance in New York marked quite a trip.

In 2015, Ange Russek, the track and field coach at the coed boarding school of 1,100 students had an idea: Take a group of track and field athletes on a tour of the United States.

"In 2015, we had a trip for athletes to experience American track and field," Russek said. "We went to the West Coast and had a small group of three. The trip went well and a couple of our athletes got American scholarships."

The group started in San Francisco, then made its way to Monterrey, Calif,. then on to Santa Barbara. But on the way, Arianna Lord, now a sophomore middle distance runner at Yale, earned an invite to the Stanford Invitational. Like that, Lord and Harry Ewing, now a redshirt freshman at the University of Wyoming (who recently ran 8:57.77 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase) earned entry into American track and field.

"I think the trip helped their recruitment," Russek said. "Because college coaches saw that they'd run in America and that they knew what they would have to do."

St. Peter's followed with trips to the Mt. SAC Relays and the Tiger Invitational in Pasadena.

"We said, 'We have to do this every two or three years,'" Russek said.

Saturday afternoon at Icahn Stadium, Charli Miller personified the meaning of the trip. In the girls 2,000-meter steeplechase, the gangly 15-year old churned through the invitational field for a 7:09 win.

"It's a bit colder here than I thought it'd be," she admitted afterwards.

Miller was one of 18 athletes from St. Peter's at the New York Relays, a group that included sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers.  

"We don't use this trip as a recruiting push," Russek said. "But to reward our athletes for their hard work, to give them something to work for, and to show they what track and field is like in another place."

They attended meets at Andover High in North Lawrence, Mass. (and visited Harvard), in Manchester, Conn. (and visited Yale and Providence College), then appeared in New York.

"It's been so incredible," said Sophie Waddell, one of Russek's captains. "Everyone has been so nice and the competition has been amazing."

What do they think of U.S. track and field? Track and field in New Zealand is more regimented and orderly.

"Here the meets are more suited to athletes," Russek said.

Added Waddell: "We come from a place where track and field is more formal and organized."

The St. Peter's team adjusted to the laid back vibe and sheer numbers of athletes at Icahn Stadium. 

"The quality of performance and how well things are run really stood out," Waddell said. "There's so many people that turn up for meets, no matter how low key.

"Everybody here has a place to fit in (the sport) --  even if they're in fourth, fifth, or 60th place, which is cool."

According to Russek, only 10-15 percent of New Zealand's top high school athletes continue in the sport beyond high school. There are few opportunities to run on college teams. For this reason, the U.S. college system appeals to many New Zealanders.  

"I think this trip will have made some of them more (confident) that they want to come here," Russek said.

Next up for the group is the Penn Relays. Miller is in the invitational mile. 

"We come from a country that is not very big," Russek said. "New Zealand has four million people. To come here and for them to compete with American athletes, that is a good thing."