The Star: April 13, 2017

40 Thursday April 13 2017
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In Brief
CANTY BOWLERS LOSE SEMIS
Canterbury’s men’s and women’s
teams both bowed out at the semifinal
stage of the national under-8s
inter-centre in Christchurch at the
weekend. More than 20 provinces
competed at eight different
Christchurch clubs. The Canterbury
women’s team was on track to
defend their title before being beaten
by Dunedin. The men’s team was
eliminated by Waikato.
HIGH SCHOOL GOLFERS
Christchurch Boys’ High School
students Tom Parker and Dominic
Brettkelly finished in a tie for third
at the Australian boys amateur
championship in Wollongong.
The pair finished the four-round
tournament on four under par, three
shots behind tournament winner
Cameron John from Australia.
Parker held the clubhouse lead
going into the final round before a
final round score of 73 saw him slip
down the order. The prize for the
tournament winner included a spot
in this year’s Australian Open.
NZ UNIVERSITY TEAM
Five Lincoln and two Canterbury
university players have been
named in the New Zealand
Universities rugby squad for their
two-match internal tour this
month. Lincoln’s Jack Stratton
will captain the side. He’s joined
by teammates Caleb Makene,
Jono Osbourne, Chris Gawler
and Harrison Groundwater. Sam
Godwin and Nigel Gibb will
represent Canterbury University.
NZU will face the Bay of Plenty
Wasps in Mt Maunganui on Anzac
Day.
Former distance runner makes a splash in triathlon
• By Gordon Findlater
A SUCCESSFUL background in
middle distance running looks
to have set Southshore triathlete
Ari Graham on a path to glory.
Graham, 18, won the recent
Sea2Sky Challenge in Sumner,
the latest of many achievements.
She competed in last year’s national
track and field championships
in Dunedin, winning both
the under-18 800m and 1500m
titles. She is also a champion
cross-country runner and has
previously represented New Zealand
at secondary school level.
After trying her hand at a
couple of school triathlons she
made the bold move to turn her
full attention to triathlon and it’s
now paying dividends.
Graham has taken a gap year
following her final year at St Andrew’s
College and is currently
working part-time and training
full-time with the Canterbury
Triathlon Academy.
Over the summer, she competed
in the National Junior Series,
which is contested between the
top under-19-year-olds in the
country over five events. Graham
Two codes for coach
• By Gordon Findlater
MARTIN Field-Dodgson
will put a new spin on codehopping
when he starts in a
role at Mainland Football later
this month.
Field-Dodgson, 39, has a
strong background in rugby
which includes a number of
roles in development and
coaching at the top level in
Europe. He will soon transfer
those skills to football when
he starts as the community
football manager for Mainland
Football.
He will still play a big part in
rugby, in his first season coaching
the Sumner Rugby Club
division one side.
“Some people have said you’re
going to join the enemy but in
the modern day and age the
real enemy is doing nothing
and computer games,” said
Field-Dodgson. “The real driver
for me is that kids are doing
something, that’s the main
thing.”
In terms of football this will
be his first true role in the
sport.
“I had a run around for the
Cashmere Wanderer’s (now
Cashmere Technical) as an
eight or nine-year-old, that’s
the extent of my football prowess,”
said Field-Dodgson.
Although he may not hold an
extensive background in football,
Mainland Football CEO
not only won the series, she took
out all five events.
“I was really shocked with how
well it went in my first year of
triathlon. Every time I competed
I wasn’t really expecting to win.
I was just excited to compete and
learn from racing,” said Graham.
Graham has always been a
strong swimmer and runner.
Julian Bowden believes the
organisation is getting someone
with a huge skill set.
“His varied background
shows a great knowledge of
club systems and structures so
he was a standout for us,” said
Bowden. “The fact he’s actually
come from another code I find
quite exciting because I think
there is a whole lot we can learn
from each other.”
A connection between
Mainland Football and Sumner
Rugby Club isn’t something
new.
She has been hard at work on her
cycling with coach Axel Reiser
to develop her technique and
bunch-riding tactics this year.
The weeks are busy with four
pool, three run and three cycle
sessions. To keep it competitive,
she spends most of her time
training with a lot of the top
boys at the academy.
Bowden spent two seasons
playing for the top Sumner
side in the late 90s. Former All
White Ben Sigmund also played
on the wing for Sumner during
a break from football.
Field-Dodgson returned to
Canterbury last year after 10
years in Italy working in various
roles including academy
manager and assistant coach at
Pro12 team Benetton Treviso.
Pro12 is a European competition,
contested by the top Italian,
Irish, Welsh and Scottish
teams. In previous years, All
RISING STAR:
After making
the switch
from middle
distance
running, Ari
Graham has
dominated in
her first year
of triathlon.
PHOTO: AT
PHOTO
“It’s about putting her into an
environment where she’s being
pushed,” said Reiser.
He believes that Graham
shows all the signs for them to be
hopeful about her development.
However, like all young athletes,
there are a lot of factors in the future
which will determine what
she could go on to achieve.
JUGGLER:
Martin Field-
Dodgson
will work in
two codes
this winter
as Mainland
Football’s
new
community
manager and
as Sumner
rugby coach.
PHOTO:
MARTIN
HUNTER
Blacks such as John Kirwan
and Craig Green have played
for the club.
“It was an incredible experience
in terms of learning,” said
Field-Dodgson.
He has held a number of
development roles before his
time in Italy. After finishing
physical education studies at
University of Otago he spent a
number of years working with
the Queensland Rugby
Union.
Field-Dodgson begins the
new role on April 26.
“If you look at her times and
compare that to previous Olympic
champions, then she is now
faster than them at this stage,”
said Reiser.
Graham currently competes
over the sprint distance, which
consists of a 750m swim, 20km
bike and 5km run, half the
length of the sport’s Olympic
distance.
She’s been able to get a good
gauge of where she wants to get
to. Since dedicating her time to
triathlon, she has had the opportunity
to work alongside New
Zealand’s top female triathlete
Andrea Hewitt. They swim
together under the guidance of
Roly Crichton, who trains New
Zealand’s most successful Paralympian
Sophie Pascoe.
“I used to train with Roly at
QE II when I was younger,” said
Graham.
“I’ve always kept in touch with
him and, when I finished school,
I was able to train with him
again.
“Andrea is really east to talk
to and it’s amazing being able
to train with someone who’s so
accomplished.”