The high jump area of the Caledonian Ground may need to be checked for springs.
It certainly proved a handy surface for three jumpers at the national secondary school track and field championships.
Josh Inger was the first to raise the bar to giddy heights on Saturday.
The Rangitoto College year 12 pupil thought he was having a laugh when he asked to run in at 2.05m.
Minutes earlier he had cleared 1.96m on his third attempt at the height to win the senior boys title — surpassing his old personal best of 1.95m in the process.
One jump later he cleared 2m for the first time.
He missed his first two attempts at 2.05m, before sneaking over on his third attempt to jump past his old PB by a huge 10cm.
While he had been uncertain he could make it, others had told him he was capable of it, which gave him confidence.
From there he raised the bar to 2.12, attempting to break Glenn Howard’s 25-year-old championship record, but that proved too much.It was the best performance by a New Zealand under-18 high jumper since Daniel Fake’s 2.06m in 2009.
Later that afternoon Rosmini College’s Jayden Williamson got his impressive weekend under way in the junior boys event.
The 15-year-old cleared 2.01m on his first attempt at the height to break Alan O’Neill’s championship record from 1986.
He missed just one attempt on his way to setting the record, which also improved on his 1.98m personal best.
It was just the start for Williamson — who showed tremendous versatility in also claiming gold in the junior boys hammer and discus.
Not to be outdone, Chilton St James School’s Josephine Reeves got within 1cm of the senior girls record yesterday.
The 17-year-old began jumping at 1.63m and did not miss the whole way up — jumping at every 3cm up until making 1.81m to set a new personal best.
From there she cleared 1.83m, before attempting to surpass Carmel Corbett’s record of 1.84m, set in 1990.
While she came up short there, it was the best performance by a New Zealand under-18 woman in the past decade.It also takes her to the top of the senior women’s national rankings for 2018 and 11th on the all time senior women’s national rankings.
