Waikato Bay of Plenty Athletics Championships 2020 - results from Tauranga

Bethlehem College's Marguerite Johansson was one of the many young athletics stars to secure top placings at the weekend's Waikato Bay of Plenty Championships. Photo / File

The future of athletics in looks to be in good hands in Tauranga.

Tauranga hosted the 2020 Waikato Bay of Plenty Championships at Tauranga Domain on Saturday and Sunday, with more than 20 rising Western Bay of Plenty athletics stars taking home top three placings in one or more event.

Athletics Waikato Bay of Plenty committee member Malcolm Taylor, who is also president of the Tauranga Ramblers, says the event drew a good turnout from around the Bay of Plenty, including a large number of athletes from Tauranga and Whakatāne who took home top placings.

"We were pretty happy, particularly with the performances of our locals," Taylor says.

He says the juniors in were particularly strong in numbers and results, which confirmed the future of track and field was in good hands.

Among Tauranga's rising stars were Lily Aitken-Keogh with three first placings - in the girls U16 80m hurdles, girls U16 100m and 400m relays - as well as second places in the girls U16 long jump and 100m.

Olivia Hala won the girls U16 800m, 1500m, and girls U16 400m relay, while Andre Gundersen was a standout with first places in the boys U16 100m hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put 5kg, and discus 1.25kg events, on top of first in the boys U16 100m and 400m relays and second in the boys U16 javelin 600g.

Another young local who did well at the championships was Marguerite Johansson, who won the girls U16 long jump and triple jump, while also being in the winning girls U16 4x100m relay team.

The 15-year-old also won her 100m heat and finished fourth in the final which, she says, she does to help her jumping events.

"I'd probably say the jumping events are my strength but the running really helps with the jumping," Marguerite says.

Marguerite broke the junior girls' triple jump record for athletes under 16 at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships in December, recording a distance of 11.84m. At the weekend, she jumped 11.99m (4.9).

She says the champs are a good way to help progress ahead of bigger events throughout the year.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of well known seniors who claimed successes also.

Rotorua's Lisa Adams - a World Para Athletics Championships gold medal-winning shot put athlete and Halberg Awards finalist - won the senior women's shot put 4kg, and the discus 1kg at the Waikato Bay of Plenty Championships.

Adams threw 14.22m in the shot put, and 29.22m in the discus. The second placed shot putter - Tauranga's Michelle Bitcheno threw 6.25m and the second placed discus thrower - Karis Rintoul from Whakatāne - recorded 17.94m.

Waikato's Commonwealth Games women's hammer gold medallist Julia Ratcliffe unsurprisingly took out the women's Senior hammer throw 4kg with a 70.76m throw. Second place was Bitcheno with a 28.51m throw.

And New Zealand's top woman sprinter, North Harbour's Zoe Hobbs, took out the senior 100m race in 11.57 seconds, followed by North Harbour's Livvy Wilson in 11.9sec and Tauranga's Brooke Somerfield in 12.08sec.

Waikato Bay of Plenty Championships 2020 - Bay athletes with top three placings: