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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Athletics: Bay pole vaulter shines at NISS meet

By Shane Hurndell
Sports reporter·Hawkes Bay Today·
9 Apr, 2019 02:47 AM3 mins to read

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Josh Woodhead improved the intermediate boys pole vault record by 68cm at the North Island Secondary Schools athletics champs. Photo/File

Josh Woodhead improved the intermediate boys pole vault record by 68cm at the North Island Secondary Schools athletics champs. Photo/File

Aspiring Hawke's Bay decathlete Josh Woodhead has labelled the 2021 junior world athletics championships as his long-term goal.

If the 15-year-old Hastings Boys' High School Year 11 student continues to shine like he did at the weekend's North Island secondary schools athletics championships in Tauranga he should go close to ticking that goal off. With his gold medal effort in the intermediate boys pole vault of 3.40m Woodhead not only produced the best performance of any member of the East Coast North Island team but it was arguably the stand-out performance of the meet according to long-time manager of the team, Lindisfarne College's Murray Smith.

"I was pretty happy with it ... it was a personal best by 20 centimetres," Woodhead said.

It bettered the previous record of 2.72m set last year. Athletics fans will be surprised to hear Woodhead ranks pole vault third on his list of specialist events behind the high jump and long jump.

The fact the Murray Andersen-coached Hastings Athletics Club member only returned to athletics 18 months ago added to the significance of the feat.

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'I did athletics when I was 6 and 7 and then had a break before taking it up again late in 2017," Woodhead explained.

He also collected a bronze in the long jump with a 6.25m leap and finished sixth equal in the high jump with a 1.75m effort.

Woodhead was one of several stand-out performers in the East Coast North Island team, a selection of the top secondary school athletes from Hawke's Bay and Poverty Bay.

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Impressive Napier Boys' High School intermediate sprinter Josh Adegoke won three titles in his age group.

After completing the 100m-200m double, Adegoke, anchored the intermediate 4 x 100m relay team which also won gold. East Coast North Island's senior boys relay team also won gold, the junior boys were second and the senior girls third equal.

A further indication of the senior boys sprinting dominance was the fact three ECNI athletes made their 100m and 200m finals.

Napier Boys' High School race walker Ryan Jones was a convincing winner of the open 3000m walk. Gisborne sprinter Jack Sadler displayed his class with victory in the junior boys 300m and a bronze in the 200m.

Napier Girls' High School's Brianna Lee gained second and third placings in her respective senior girls 800m and 1500m events. In javelin Central Hawke's Bay College's Johanne Nieuwenhuis and Hastings Christian School's Pula Tolovae Peivi gained second and third placings in their respective senior and intermediate girls divisions.

Taradale High School's Amone Nel won bronze in the intermediate girls 80m hurdles final.

Lindisfarne College junior middle distance runner Callum O'Keefe won silver in his 800m and 1500m finals. Lindisfarne College's Grayson Hesketh captured silver in the intermediate boys 200m and Havelock North High School's Alex Van Oeveren won bronze in the intermediate boys pole vault.

Many of these athletes will be in action at the national secondary schools athletics championships in Wellington in December.

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