A large contingent of youngsters was present at the weekend meet at the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin.
That group included athletes from the city, Central Otago and Southland, many of whom were preparing for the national secondary schools championships in two weeks.
Several schools’ 4x100m relay teams were in action, and Otago Boys’ High School and St Hilda’s Collegiate School claimed wins. Otago Boys’ ran 44.86sec to comfortably finish ahead of Winton (46.15sec), although a slick King’s High School team was disqualified. Earlier, King’s runners Jacob Granger and Felix McDonald ran 11.70sec and 11.75sec to finish first and second in the 100m, and Max Aitcheson ran 11.82sec to win the 15-17 grade. McDonald got one back over Granger in the 400m, running 49.97sec to claim a comfortable win.
In the women’s race, St Hilda’s ran 51.03sec to win from Southland Girls’ High School (52.99sec). The St Hilda’s second runner, Joccoaa Palmer, ran 12.98sec to win the 15-17 100m, although her time could not better that of 19-year-old Christina Ashton, who ran 12.72 in her grade.
Leith runner Nathan Hill (16) continued his dominance of the 1500m, winning the men’s event in 4min 11sec.
In field events, Gore’s Andrew Allan (16) jumped 13.62m to rise to No2 in the under-18 national rankings. Allan broke 13m with all six of his jumps and timed his best one well, performing it with a legal tailwind.
In the women’s event, Otautau’s Atipa Mabonga (18) jumped an impressive 12.02m to win. The Central Southland College athlete broke the national secondary schools’ senior record in the event two years ago and seems set to make another challenge at a medal. Mabonga claimed a second win, in the long jump, jumping 5.37m in beating Paralympic gold medallist Anna Grimaldi, who jumped 5.02m. McDonald was the best in the men’s long jump, as his 6.55m gave him a comfortable victory. Taieri’s Ethan Walker (14) threw 46.01m to win the men’s 14-and-under javelin, while Winton’s Jessica Senior recorded 40.51m to win the women’s 15-17 event.
Brothers Hugh and Bryn McLeod-Jones won their age groups in the discus with throws of 42.76m and 41.20m respectively, and 15-year-old Hamish Mears threw 42.90m to win his competition. Mathew Cramond jumped 1.80m to win the 18-19 grade high jump, while Cameron Miller jumped the same height to win the 15-17 grade. Jamie McAuslan won the women’s competition with 1.50m.
