Report: Annual Athletics Sports Day
This year’s School Athletics Championships were held at the AUT Millennium Stadium with over 200 students involved across the day.
The day was opened with the hurdles, in which Form 3 student R. W. Walker ran the Junior race in an impressive time of 12.17 secs. He followed up on this success by also winning the 100m, 200m, and 300m races, and by jumping within 5cm of the School record in the long jump to deservedly claim the title of Junior School Champion.
In the middle-distance races, Form 3 student E. B. Mora ran to victory in the 3000m while fellow classmate H. C. Day won both the 800m and the 1500m, missing the record in the 800m by a mere second in 2:11.86min.
In the field events, Form 3 student L. Caffery claimed gold in the discus and shot put, Form 4 student O. O. D. B. Neely won the Javelin, and fellow classmate T.M. Bond was first in the Triple Jump. The Junior High Jump saw the rare situation of having three Form 3 students – A. N. Bolland, A. J. Edward and J. J. Licence – performing equally well, with all three dropping out at a height of 1.57m.
The Intermediate grade two school records were broken by Form 5 student C. P. Wagener, who ran two outstanding races in the 1500m and 3000m in a time of 4:10.91min and 8:54.99min, respectively. Form 6 student A. V. Wilkins won gold in the 800m, and Form 4 student L. C. R. Thomson won the 100m race in 11 mins 81 secs while having to concede first place in the 200m to Form 5 student C. G. Howlett. Howlett also managed to secure gold in the 100m hurdles and the 400m race, while placing second in discus; this combined earned him enough points to become Intermediate Champion.
The jumps were decided by Form 4 student N. J. Stanley for Long Jump, Form 4 student B. M. Armstrong for Triple Jump, and Form 5 student S. S. R. Lundon in High Jump. The gold for javelin went to Form 5 student M. W. Alpe and the discus to fellow classmate S. T. F. R. Naufahu, whereas in the shot put, Form 4 student M. K. Jacobs broke his personal best with a throw of 12.51m, thus securing first place in that event.
In the Senior grade, Form 7 student J. P. Dew won the High Jump, with a commendable jump of 1.81m. The gold medal for Long Jump went to Form 7 student K. R. O. Phillip and Triple Jump to Form 6 student H. J. Waldegrave, who also managed to win the 110m hurdles. Form 7 student I. P. Wilson came first in Shot Put, and Form 6 student J. A. Thomson claimed gold in both Discus and Javelin, the latter with an impressive throw of 49.12m.
Form 6 student R. W. Fitzpatrick managed to outpace his competition and win gold in both the 800m and the 1500m, while Form 7 student J. E. M. Park secured first place in the 3000m race. Form 6 student E. T. Akampa came first in the 400m and a close second in the 200m, the victory of which was ultimately claimed by Thomson. Together with his fourth and last win in the 100m with a time of 11.25s, J.A. Thomson was able to equally claim the title of Senior School Champion 2023.
The athletes are now preparing to advance into the Zonal meetings in March, culminating in the Greater Auckland Championships held on Wednesday 5 April. We wish the team well and are looking forward to their further progress and performances.