Original Article appeared in ODT 10 Oct 2022,  Link Here.

Rising Otago star Catherine Lund has made some sort of a start to the season.

Lund (16) marked Athletics Otago opening day on Saturday with a sizzling performance in the 5000-metres that smashed multiple Otago records.

The Otago Girls’ High School pupil had a relatively modest start before finding another gear to break the 17-, 18- and 19-year age group records by 25sec.

What made it even more impressive was that it was the New Zealand under-18 cross-country champion’s first 5000m on the track.

Lund ran an 83.5sec first full lap of the race then showed outstanding pace judgement and strength to complete all the following laps in 80sec-81sec, finishing in 16min 51sec, smashing the old record of 17min 16sec.

Lund’s goal going into the race was to try to meet the qualifying standard for the world cross-country championships, a 5000m track time of 17min 24sec.

Her time will elevate her to the No 1-ranked under-18 and under-20 5000m runner in the Athletics New Zealand rankings.

It follows her blistering 8km leg at the New Zealand road relay championships in Christchurch last weekend.

She ran 27min 54sec for the fastest 8km time for under-20 women by a substantial margin, and third fastest woman overall.

Both Lund and cross-town rival Zara Geddes will be eager to qualify for the world cross-country championships.

A team of up to six men and women in the under-20 grade, along with senior athletes, will compete at Bathurst in February, the first time in more than 40 years that the event is being held in Australasia.

Article added: Friday 14 October 2022