Seven Mapu broke a 31-year-old record for the 200 metres. Mapu ran the distance in 23.35s beating Scott Baistow's 1988 time of 23.8s.
ATHLETICS
SEVEN Mapu dominated the intermediate championship events at the Gisborne Boys’ High School athletics day on Monday.
In the 200 metres he bettered a mark that had stood since 1988, when Scott Baistow ran the distance in 23.8 seconds.
Mapu ran it in 23.35s. It was the first Boys’ High record set on the track in over five years.
In all, Mapu won the 100m, 200m, 400m, long jump and triple jump.
The athletics day had been postponed from Monday the week before, and the school’s top athletes had travelled to Hastings to represent the school at the East Coast Athletics Championships on the Wednesday.
At the regional event, Matthew Ney won the junior 3000m, Cobus Kleynhans was narrowly beaten into second in the senior javelin, Jimmy Somerton was third in the intermediate high jump, and Mapu was third in the senior 100m and 200m.
When the school’s rescheduled athletics day came around this week, the weather was cool, with little wind.
Participation rates were high, with record entries in the 400m.
However, the early efforts on the track in the 800m, 100m heats, 400m and 200m — all before lunch — took their toll. As the day went on it became clear that many boys were tiring from a busy morning.
Participation was rewarded with house points, but the big points went to the top athletes in championship events.
Of the other intermediate championship athletes, Tyrese Nepe finished closest to Mapu in the overall points race. He had second-place finishes in the 100m, 200m and 400m.
Jimmy Somerton capped a great week by finishing third overall against older opposition. He won the high jump and was second in the javelin.
Other intermediate-grade athletes who competed strongly were Dayley Riri in the throws (first in javelin and third in discus), King Maxwell on the track (second in the 800m and third in the 100m and 200m), and Anaru Paenga-Morgan in the jumping pits (second in both the long jump and triple jump).
The senior championship was one of the most closely contested in years. Only a few points separated the top six or seven athletes.
Campbell Hall was overall points winner, having won both the 100m and 200m and placed second in the long jump.
Caleb Ney capped a busy few weeks to finish second overall. He won the 3000m and 1500m and placed third in the 800m.
Tyrese Tuwairua-Brown finished third with a strong all-round performance. He won the triple jump, and was second in the 200m and third in the 100m.
Other senior athletes who did well were Isaac Kinder in middle distance (first in the 800m and second in the 400m), Cobus Kleynhans in the throws (second in both the discus and javelin), Isaiah Lemaua on the track (first in the 400m and third in the 200m) and Sam Read in the distance events (second in both the 1500m and 3000m).
Just like the seniors, the junior championship points race was close. The top six athletes were separated by only two points.
Matthew Ney (first in the 1500m and 3000m, and second in the javelin) and Teancum Aupouri (first in the 200m and long jump, and second in the triple jump) shared first place.
Matthew, like elder brother Caleb, had had a busy few weeks competing in triathlons both within and outside the region, as well as regional athletics in Hastings.
Tied for second were Simione Latu, who dominated the throws (first in the shot-put and javelin) and Kaiaio Kerekere-Tangira who was a strong all-rounder on the track (first in the 400m, second in the 200m and third in the 1500m).
Third place was also shared, between Angus Blair, who did well in middle distance events (first in the 800m and second in the 1500m), and Sonny Kahn, who did well in the jumping pits (first in the triple jump and second in the long jump).
The House Competition was won by Tane Mahuta, with a strong showing in both championship and participation. They finished with a total of 759 house points.
The other houses weren’t far behind, with Tangaroa second on 678 points, Tawhirimatea third on 637 points, and Tumatauenga just behind them on 634.
The house competition will continue early next term with the summer sports tournament.
Physical Education and Health head of department Simon Murphy thanked students, staff and whanau for making the day such a success.
“In the wake of the Christchurch tragedy it was great to come together as a school and enjoy a day that encouraged participation,” he said.
It was also pleasing to see “some outstanding elite performances” from the school’s top athletes.