
The fifth edition of the annual Rhythm & Jumps contest featuring some of the country’s finest jumpers is set to take place at Christchurch Boys’ High School on Friday 26 November.
The popular high-energy meet which combines high-class high and long jumping to music has been a welcome edition to the annual calendar and is similar in presentation and format to the Jumps to Music event – a longer established event in Hawera.
Terry Lomax, the organiser and creator of Rhythm & Jumps and Athletics NZ Lead Coach for Combined Events and Jumps, said of the meet: “The event was set up as a little bit of a follow to the Jumps to Music event and as a response to what some of the European meets had been doing. I wanted to inject greater interest in the jumps and with the athletes all selecting their own music to jump to it generates a bit of fun. The venue with the high jump apron right by the long jump pit helps create a nice intimate atmosphere.”
Last year the national senior men’s long jump champion Shay Veitch soared out to a personal best of 7.66m at the Rhythm & Jumps meet and the 20-year-old Ariki AA athlete once again returns to action in the men’s long jump.
Another reigning national champion Josephine Reeves heads a high-class women’s high jump field and while Olympic high jumper Hamish Kerr – a past competitor at Rhythm & Jumps – is not featuring in this year’s men’s high jump he will be on hand to provide a Coaching Clinic to youngsters prior to the meet.
“The intimacy of the competition and the support of the crowd acts as a real spur for the athletes to produce some great performances,” adds Terry. “The Friday night competition acts as the first part of a mini-festival of athletics followed by the inter-club meet on Saturday and I’ll be putting on a series of coaching clinics on Sunday.”
Confirmed star entrants
M LJ
Felix McDonald
Shay Veitch
W LJ
Tegan Duffy
Helena Dinnissen
Ashleigh Bennett
Kelsey Berryman
M HJ
Marcus Wolton
Quinn Hartley
W HJ
Josephine Reeves
Keeley O’Hagan
Imogen Skelton
Maddie Wilson
Jess Hendren
More detailed information will be found on the new domain once it is set up over the next two weeks