Eleven-year-old Rhys Shadbolt and 13-year-old Megan de Klerk set the meet alight in the first event at the Athletic Northland Children's Track and Field Championships on the all-weather track at Kensington Park on Sunday.
In the combined 1500m, Shadbolt shot out into the lead with de Klerk following for the first
lap, before taking over for the next two laps.
Shadbolt surprised by sticking with de Klerk and moving into the lead again on the bell lap. De Klerk tucked in behind, poised ready to strike down the straight.
The final few metres saw Shadbolt just hanging on to win in an excellent 5min:08.03sec, with de Klerk in his shadow recording a new personal best (PB) of 5:08.17 - a massive 23s better than her previous best.
Shadbolt, a Year 7 student at Otamatea High, who runs with the Kaiwaka club, was all smiles afterwards.
"It was fun racing her. I was leading from the start and then on the second and third she was leading," he said.
"I thought [when she passed me], this is going to be easier now," he added.
De Klerk stayed calm and focused, despite the fast start.
"He had a pretty fast pace at the beginning - he went past again in the last 400m and was leading in the straight - it was very exciting, we were neck and neck at the finish line," she said.
The meet was held on the Kensington Park track, with seven to 14-year-old children from Wellsford, Kaiwaka, Whangarei, Kamo with a new club from Hokianga also competing.
Rivers Reihana was the standout athlete of the meet, breaking two field event records: the discus with a mighty throw of 31.20m and the shot put with an impressive 10.69m.
Significantly, Reihana participated in the recent coaching weekend in Whangarei, featuring top coaches Kirsten and Pat Hellier.
Perhaps, ultimately, of even greater significance, Reihana's father took part in the weekend and qualified as a level 2 field events coach. Other top performers at the meet were Imogen Hull in the G13 200m and Amanda Still in the G12 800m.
Four-by-100m relays at the conclusion of the meet created plenty of excitement, including a polished winning performance by Athletic Whangarei's Amanda Still, Megan de Klerk, Mikayla Gulik and Imogen Hull.
