Ben Taylor, left, and Joe Quinn won gold and set new records at the North Island Secondary School Championships in Tauranga. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED
ATHLETICS
CHRIS COGDALE
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Wairarapa athletes returned home with a swag of medals, including nine golds, from the North Island Secondary School Athletics Championships held in Tauranga over the weekend.
The throwers were to the forefront winning five of the gold medals.
Sixteen-year-old Wairarapa College student Joe Quinn was a dominant winner of the Intermediate Boys’ Hammer Throw, setting a new meet record of 58.91m and winning by more than seven metres. A shoulder injury he picked up during the hammer saw Quinn below his best in the javelin,
Rathkeale pupilt Caedman Hawkins impressed in winning the Intermediate Boys’ Shot Put by 0.6m with a best put of 13.71m.
AWD [Athletes with Disability] thrower Ben Taylor, of Wairarapa College, dominated his three events, winning the Senior Boys’ Discus, Shot Put and Javelin, in which he set a new meet record of 29.05m.
Jack Lewington, Kuranui College, also won three gold medals in the AWD Junior Boys’ 100m and long jump, and in the Senior Mixed 200m.
Josh Taylor, Wairarapa College, brought home a gold medal in the AWD Senior Boys’ 400m, and silver medals in the 100m, 200m and long jump.
Kuranui pupil Jarrod Yee won a silver medal in the Junior Boys’ Long Jump and a bronze medal in the Triple Jump, after only picking up the event in January and learning the technique watching a YouTube video.
Denny Lauvai, Wairarapa College, highlighted his potential with a bronze medal in the Senior Boys’ Shot Put.
Kate Sims, St Matthews Collegiate, finished third in a very strong Senior Girls’ 400m, and an unlucky fourth in the 200m
Other bronze medals went to Jack Hunter, Wairarapa College, in the Junior Boys’ 3000m, Kosta Mills, Rathkeale, in the Intermediate Boys’ 800m, Mia Bartlett, Wairarapa College, in the Junior Girls’ Hammer, and Isobel Ashwell, St Matthews, in the Junior Girls’ Triple Jump.
Team manager John Quinn was impressed with the efforts of the 57 strong squad who competed in 111 events over the two days.
“The two meet records were highlights, but many athletes made finals and set personal bests and you can’t ask for any more from them,” he said.
Wairarapa teams also competed well in the relays finishing fifth in the Senior Boys and Under 16 Boys’ 4 x 400m events, and the Intermediate and Junior Boys’ 4 x 100m relays.
Liam Lamb, Wairarapa College, had a busy meeting. As well as being a key member of the senior boy’s relay teams, he just missed out on the medals, finishing fourth in the Senior Boys’ 1500m and fifth in the 3000m.
