News & Updates

25 January 2022 • Track and Field

Hamish Kerr heads Jumps to Music field

Hamish Kerr performs at a previous edition of the popular Jumps to Music event in Hawera.

Tokyo Olympian Hamish Kerr will be the star attraction at the ninth edition of the Jumps to Music event in Hawera on Wednesday (26 Jan), which can proceed safely at the red traffic light setting. 

Hamish, who last year set a New Zealand high jump record of 2.31m at the Capital Classic, is a four-time former winner of the event and a long-standing supporter of the hugely popular meet which takes the concept of combining music to jumps competitions.

The brainchild of Hawera-based jumps coach Ed Fern, the event has consistently attracted the cream of New Zealand’s high and long jumpers who revel in the novelty of the event. Unique elements to the Jumps to Music include an annual theme – this year it is ‘Girl Power’ – with the jumpers sometimes dressing to match the theme, and a row of school buses lined up parallel to the runway to protect the athletes from the worst of the elements.

Hamish first grabbed victory in Hawera in 2017 and has since gone on clinch top spot in 2018, 2020 and 2021.

Meet organiser Ed Fern said: “In 2019 Hamish was injured and didn’t compete but he still came along to put up the high jump bar in the rain, which shows what kind of guy he is. We are always love to have Hamish jump at our meet and given his rising status we can’t wait to see how he performs.”

Hamish’s best performance was 2.24m when winning in 2021 and he will hope to surpass that height when he takes to the high jump apron in Hawera.

A competitive women’s high jump will feature national champion Josephine Reeves (Old Boys United), who was triumphant at Jumps to Music in 2019 and 2020. Among her main opposition will be training partner, Keeley O’Hagan, a two-time former national champion who finished second in Hawera 12 months ago.

The headline act in the men’s long jump is reigning national champion Shay Veitch. The Otago-based athlete leapt out to a personal best of 7.80m at the Rhythm and Jumps event in Christchurch (coincidentally another jumps to music-style competition) to climb to sixth on the all-time New Zealand lists and it will be fascinating to see how he performs in Taranaki. Shay also claimed another impressive win with a best of 7.67m at the Potts Classic on Saturday.

Another athlete coming off the back of victory at Potts Classic, Mariah Ririnui (Athletics Tauranga), will be the athlete to beat in the women’s long jump. The 29-year-old national champion is in 6m shape but hoping to stop her will be Hawera local Ashleigh Bennett, who is also part of the organising team for Jumps to Music.

Ashleigh is a three-time national long jump silver medallist who posted a 6.02m mark in Inglewood last month.

“We have full fields of ten in all four events, which once again shows the desire of New Zealanders to compete in Jumps to Music,” adds Ed. “We are hoping for good conditions on Wednesday night, some top performances and, of course, the usual dose of good fun and excitement around this unique competition.”