Hobbs straight into her stride

Sprinter Zoe Hobbs, who has had an excellent season, looked extremely sharp in her heat of the 100m when the track and field programme got under way.

Hobbs, 24, finished second in her heat with a time of 11.09s, good enough for fifth fastest overall of those who moved on from the first round.

The Aucklander’s time was only just off her personal best, the 11.08s she ran while making the world championship semi-finals last month.

Shot putter Maddi Wesche needed just one throw to progress through qualifying in the women’s shot put.

Wesche’s 18.08m was good enough for automatic qualification and eventually left her as the third qualifier.

Having placed sixth in last year’s Tokyo Olympics and seventh at the world championships in Eugene last month, the 23-year-old Wesche is one of the big hopes of the New Zealand track and field team. Her personal best throw is the 19.50m she
recorded in Eugene.

Connor Bell, 21, qualified sixth in the men’s discus with a best throw of 59.47m. The top qualifier was Traves Smikle of Jamaica with 64.90m.