News & Updates

After two days of persistent rain the sun finally shone on the final day of the 2022 New Zealand Secondary Schools Track, Field and Road Championships in Inglewood and the athletes responded by executing a series of spectacular performances.

Identifying one particular performance above another is no easy task, but it is impossible to ignore the remarkable efforts of 15-year-old Alfie Steedman who secured victory with a championship record in the junior boys 1500m to sit alongside his 3000m title on Friday also achieved with the gloss of a championship record.

While the Westlake Boys High student dominated the seven-and-a-half lap race it was a very different story over the metric mile as he was pushed every inch of the way by Cooper Wightman (Christchurch Boys High), who also deserves a huge amount of credit.

Leading into the final lap Wightman led by several metres and appeared to be pushing Steedman to breaking point only for the tall Aucklander to hit back in the latter stages to post an eye-popping PB and championship record mark of 3:53.47. Wightman also produced an outstanding effort to record 3:55.64 – both under the previous championship record held by Isaiah Priddey at 3:57.19.

An elated Steedman admits: “With 300m to go I was five metres behind and I was going to give up. My legs were burning, everything was burning but I just stared at his (Wightman’s) shoulders and kept on going. I didn’t realise how fast we were going and poured it in with 150m to go.

“As I approached the line I let my emotions get the better of me and chucked my arms up in celebration. It was probably a bit cocky, I shouldn’t have done that but in that moment it happened.

“I’m over the moon. All the consistent work has paid off. It couldn’t have been a better weekend for either myself or Westlake as a school.”

World Under-20 400m semi-finalist Mia Powell was also in championship record breaking mood running a dazzling 54.86 to win the senior girls 400m in style. The Lynfield College student started aggressively in pursuit of the previous championship record mark of 54.92 held since 1989 by Toni Hodgkinson.

Powell started to tie up down the home straight but bravely battled to the finish to dip 0.06 beneath the record and to a richly deserved gold medal.

“My coach (Nuree Greenhalgh) wanted me to break the record in the heats but the conditions were bad, so I just ran to win and cruised the last 100m to save myself for the final.

“Amelie (Fairclough) my training partner (and eventual silver medallist) went off fast and I started driving earlier than the normal, so I got tired and crawled my way to the line.

“I’ve never even placed at a secondary schools before. The comp was cancelled last year and to come back here and win after worlds (U20) is pretty cool.”

James Ford completed the senior boys 400m and 800m double with a pair of exhilarating performances which lit up the TET Stadium.

The Kings College student who undertook the gruelling challenge of six races in his quest for the rarely achieved double opened today with victory in the two-lap event – unleashing a fearsome kick-finish to overhaul Thomas Cowan (Westlake) by the best part of a second in 1:52.15.

Ford, who is coached by Perry Cunningham, then returned to the track around four hours later and tore up the track in the 400m. Trailing at halfway he put on the after burners to record 49.11 to claim victory from his fellow Kings College student Kahurangi Cotterill (50.30), who smashed his PB to bank silver.

Ford, who won the 800m and 1500m U18 double at the New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Hastings earlier this year, said: “I’m stoked to win the double. It was a tough day yesterday with only a 30-minute break between the 400m and 800m semis. I’ve found my speed work has gone better than my endurance work, so I figured I’d try the 800m and 400m. Probably the 800m is my best event but I definitely plan to do more 400m.”

Karsen Vesty completed the senior boys 1500m and 3000m with a dogged victory in the former event before he claimed his third gold of the championships as he anchored the mixed senior 4x400m quartet from Havelock North HS to a championship record 3:46.48.

Vesty controlled the 1500m final from the front, and although he abandoned plans after lap one to chase the championship record of his coach Richard Potts he still produced an outstanding run to win in 3:51.33 and repel the efforts of silver medallist Ronan Codyre (Macleans), who finished just 0.31 further back.

“It was tough,” said Vesty. “I wasn’t expecting the last couple of days to make my legs feel so heavy.

“I went out hard but realised after 400m the record wasn’t going to happen, so when someone came on my shoulder with 300m to go I thought I’d better get going. I was a little bit worried down the home straight, but I still had enough.”

Mia de Jager, who on Saturday claimed an impressive victory with a pair of PB’s in the junior girls high jump, served further notice of her special all-round ability by plundering the senior girls 400m title courtesy of a massive new PB of 55.49. Unleashing a devastating turn of pace in the final 150m, the Rototuna College left a lasting impression in Inglewood.

Boh Ritchie (St Peter’s School) also secured a middle-distance double adding the junior girls 1500m crown to the 3000m title she snared on Friday by shading a thrilling duel with Imogen Barlow. Ritchie edged an absorbing head-to-head showdown in the final 100m to prevail by just 0.22 from the St Kentigern’s student in 4:34.54.

The Collette twins – Chayille and Addira – are a rising force on the domestic sprint scene and one again the St Peter’s College duo delivered.

The 17-year-old sisters from Palmerston North went one-two in the senior girls 100m – Chayille clocked 11.98 (0.4m/s) to Addira (12.21). With Chayille absent from the 200m because of a hamstring injury it was left to Addira to pounce as she destroyed the opposition to strike gold in a time of 24.60 (-1.0m/s) – more than half a second clear of silver medallist Micayla Whiti (Nayland College).

The pair then teamed up with Kimberley Walsh and Jayde Rolfe to strike gold for St Peter’s College – slicing 0.26 from the 25-year-old senior girls 4x100m record, stopping the clock in 47.53.

There was joy for Tyrone Trego in the senior men’s 100m final as the Hutt International Boys’ School student unleashed a powerful late surge to strike gold in 10.89 (0.4m/s) – 0.07 clear of silver medallist Alizjah Campbell (Lincoln High School).

Trego, the a try hungry rugby winger for the first XV, only took up athletics as a means for improving his speed, but has been rewarded by picking up one of the blue riband titles on offer at the championships.

“I’m really happy, I’ve been training really hard since coming back from a torn hamstring last season,” he says. “I knew I was on the cusp of running sub-11 and it is great to do so.”

Coached by his father, Trego says running has been of huge benefit for his rugby.

“It helps maintain my acceleration and speed off the mark,” he adds.

National U18 champion Kiera Hall defied a challenging preparation period to strike senior girls 800m gold in an impressive time of 2:09.06.

Hall of Rangi Ruru Girls’ School had struggled with a foot injury which denied her the opportunity to compete at either the Oceania Championships or World U20 Championships earlier this year.

However, despite a limited performance she was only within around half-a-second of her PB and finished just over a second outside the championship record held by her coach, Angie Petty.

Sofia Lumbreras (Havelock North), who slashed nearly six seconds from her PB to run 2:10.74 claimed silver.

Hall said: “If you had told me a couple of months ago that I’d even he be allowed to run, I would have been happy.

“So to win here and come so close to my PB is amazing. I’ve done a lot of cross training (since the injury) and I’ve only been back training properly for about six weeks.

“I was stressed with about 120m to go but once I opened up a gap I started to feel more comfortable. For Sofia to run a six-second PB was insane. She ran a great race.”

Maggie Jones galloped to a memorable senior girls 100m and 300m hurdles within an hour-and-a-half to enjoy a dream day in Inglewood.

The Whanganui High School student claimed victory in the former event – setting a PB of 14.13 (+0.2m/s) before returning to successfully defend her 300m hurdles title in a time of 43.36.

The versatile national U20 heptathlon champion said: “I am so happy it is something my coach (Greg Fromont) and I have been training for since the cancellation of the championships last year.

“I definitely prefer the 100m hurdles because it is shorter but I’m built more like a 300m hurdler, so both play into each other really well.

“I am so glad I got over the ten hurdles without hitting them and I then just grabbed some chocolate milk and sat on the grass before running the 300m hurdles.”

Also in double-winning form was Emilia Goldsmith (who secured the junior girls 100m and 200m titles in times of 12.62 (-1.2m/s) and 25.65 (-1.6m/s) to ensure an unforgettable championships for the St Cuthbert’s College student.

Stylish sprinter Rylan Noome blasted to success in the senior boys 200m, clocking 22.27 (-0.7m/s) to finish 0.13 clear of national U18 champion Asher Pettengell-Brand (Christchurch Boys High). Noome later added a second gold as one quarter of the victorious Napier Boys High school senior men’s 4x100m team.

In terms of sheer quality we should not ignore the performance of Louie Endres (Hillcrest High School), who came within two-and-a-half seconds of erasing the oldest event championship record.

The national U18 silver steeplechase silver medallist ran a blistering 5:55.35 in the senior boys race to come perilously close to the mark of 5:52.90 set by Geoff Shaw back in the 1975 edition of these championships.

Elsewhere, on a jam-packed schedule of finals today, Lisa Hellyer (Onehunga Girls) slashed more than three seconds from her PB to win the junior girls 800m in 2:14.15 – 0.12 clear of Poppy Healy (Wellington Girls’ College), who also set a PB.

Meanwhile, Emma Ferguson (Nga Tawa Diocesan School) ran a patient race to secure gold a highly-competitive senior girls 1500m final, recording 4:35.49 to finish clear of Zara Geddes (St Hilda’s Collegiate).

In the field, there was a big surprise in the senior girls shot as Isabella Pua (home schooled athlete) – competing in her first ever competition – tossed the 3kg implement out to 14.63m with her final attempt to overhaul Suzie Kennelly (14.44m) (Kings College) and deny her the senior girls shot and discus double.  

Percy Maka (Lynfield College) climbed the top of the podium in the senior boys discus with a PB of 57.82m to join his younger brother, Troy, who bagged a gold medal in the junior boys discus on Saturday.  

In a quality senior boys 3000m race walk Jonah Cropp (St Andrews College) came within less than a second of the 13-year-old championship record to clock 12:34.46 and shade a tight victory from Lucas Martin (Whanganui Collegiate).

Diocesan School for Girls captured the senior girls 4x400m championship record recording an impressive 3:56.21. St Peter’s School set a mixed junior 4x400m championship record of 3:49.86.

The Para athletes also impressed on the final day in Inglewood. Leading the way was T38  sprinter Jaxon Woolley who claimed gold in the para junior 400m and did so with a national U20 record mark of 60.77.

Girls senior para athlete Sarah James (Avonside Girls) also completed a memorable championships by setting national senior T53 records in both the 400m (75.40) and 800m (2:39.09).

Meanwhile, there were also national record marks for Papanui High School student Toby Paterson, who recorded a T20 U20 record of 3:00.15 in the 800m. Mason Pye (Whanganui High School) posted a national F44 record of 23.94m in the javelin.  

For full track and field results go here

For full road results go here