Athletics

The New Zealand Secondary School Championships were held in Auckland in December 2016 which meant it was a small team which travelled to compete at the very highest level of competition. It was a highly successful weekend for the team and very exciting to come away with two medals.

Congratulations to Emma Ryan who won the bronze medal in the Senior Girls Shot Put, putting her among the very top young throwers in the country. Emma also went very close in the Senior Girls Hammer, only dropping to fourth place in the last round of throws.

Congratulations to Finn Rogers who won the bronze medal in the Junior Boys 2000m Steeplechase. Finn was a relative newcomer to this event so to place in the top three in the country in one of his first steeplechases was a great effort.

Special mention must also be made of the following:

Emma Ryan 8th Senior Girls Discus

Andrea McDowell 5th Senior Girls Triple Jump

9th Senior Girls Long Jump

Michelle Lindsay 10th Senior Girls 100m Hurdles

8th Senior Girls Pole Vault

Ruby Fleming 38th Senior Girls Road Race

To finish in the top ten in New Zealand is a significant effort which is reward for all the hard work these athletes do.

 

As always the Southland Secondary School Championships were held on a Friday and this helped to ensure that Hargest fielded a team of more than 120 athletes on the day. This is a huge number of students participating in an athletics meet at provincial level and it was awesome to see a large number of these students qualify to move through to the next level of competition. Titles gained were:

Under 14 Boys

Quinn Hartley High Jump and 800m

Sam Cole Discus

Under 14 Girls

Skye Singer Hammer, Shot and Discus

Jamie Coverdale Javelin

Jorja Aitken 80m Hurdles

Under 15 Girls

Rachel Boniface 400m and 800m

Briar McKenzie 1500m

Under 16 Boys

Ben Clixby Javelin

Senior Boys

James Tudor Javelin

Senior Girls

Andrea McDowell Javelin, Long Jump, 100m Hurdles and 200m

Laura Wallace 400m and 800m

Emma Ryan Shot and Discus

Elena Chetland de Vries Triple Jump and High Jump

Kate Harvey 100m

Open 4 x 400m Relay of Laura, Andrea, Rachel Boniface and Taylor O’Connor placed first.

Special congratulations to the Senior Girls 4 x 100m Relay team of Andrea, Emma, Kate and Laura who convincingly won the final, breaking the Southland Secondary Schools record in the process.

The Otago Southland Championships were also held in Invercargill this year which meant we were able to enter a large team without the hassle of travelling. Over 50 athletes had qualified for this meet and it was awesome to see some great performances in perfect conditions.

The standout performer for Hargest was Emma Ryan who broke both the Senior Girls Hammer and Shot records in an outstanding demonstration of throwing while also placing 2nd in the Discus. Other titles gained were:

Under 14 Girls

Skye Singer Hammer and Discus

Under 15 Boys

Mac Stodart Javelin

Tyler Hayes 3000m

Senior Girls

Emma Ryan Hammer and Shot

Andrea McDowell Javelin

Elena Chetland de Vries Triple Jump

 

A large team of over twenty athletes travelled to Dunedin to compete in the South Island Secondary School Championships the following weekend. This is the pinnacle event of the season for most secondary school aged athletes and it proved to be another successful weekend for Hargest. The team was a credit to themselves and to the school both on and off the track and it was great to finish the season in such a positive way.

Two athletes stood out for Hargest. Emma Ryan gained two titles in her final South Island event when she won the Senior Girls Shot and the Hammer. She also placed fourth in the 100m.

Elena Chetland de Vries gained top three placings in all of her events including winning the Senior Girls Triple Jump.

Other place getters were:

Under 14 Boys:

Quinn Hartley 800m 3rd

Under 14 Girls

Skye Singer Hammer 1st and Discus 3rd

Jamie Coverdale Javelin 3rd

Under 15 Boys

Mac Stodart Discus 2nd and Javelin 3rd

Under 15 Girls

Emma Hewitt Discus 3rd

Under 16 Girls

Esther Ayoade Triple Jump 3rd

Senior Girls

Emma Ryan Shot and Hammer 1st, 100m 4th

Elena Chetland de Vries Triple Jump 1st, High Jump 2nd and Long Jump 3rd.

 

Best wishes to the athletes travelling to the New Zealand Secondary School Championships in Napier/Hastings in early December.

A large contingent of over 60 athletes travelled to Dunedin for this event recently, some having to get up very early in the morning! It was a perfect day which enabled JHC athletes to gain a large number of placings.  Over half of the team qualified for the South Island Championships which is an exceptional achievement.

Special mention must be made of Emma Ryan who smashed the existing Otago Southland record to win the Senior Girls Shot and Michelle Lindsay who broke the Otago Southland Pole Vault record to win the Open Girl Title.

Other Titleholders were:

Mac Stodart, U14 Boys’ – Discus

Luke Holland, U15 Boys’ – Long Jump

Jackson Stewart, U16 Boys’ – Long Jump and Triple Jump

Tom Cowie, U15 Boys’ – 400m

Andrea McDowell, Senior Girls’ - 100m Hurdles

Sarah Boniface, Open Girls’ – Steeplechase

William Swan, Senior Boys’ – Triple Jump

Girls’ U16 4 x 100m Relay – Team Members Ruby Fleming, Elly Koehler, Rachel Boniface and Hannah-Jane Calder-Wood