Athletics: Long-awaited New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships kicks off on the weekend

Nat Kirk, Maggie Jones (Whanganui High School), Daniel Sinclair, Louise Brabyn (Whanganui Collegiate School) and Paige Cromarty (Whanganui Girls College) will be among the 1000-plus athletes in Inglewood. Photo / Supplied

More than 1000 athletes from 202 New Zealand Secondary Schools will be at Inglewood this weekend competing at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships at Inglewood.

This will be the 49th edition of the championships and returns to Taranaki for the first time since 2003. The cancelled 2021 championships had been scheduled for Inglewood. Although the total number of athletes shows a small drop in numbers, much of this is because of location and the residual effects of Covid. Encouragingly, there are 202 schools — an increase — competing from throughout New Zealand.

Three Whanganui City schools have 45 athletes in Inglewood with a further 17 entered by Nga Tawa who are now part of the Manawatū Schools district. Whanganui Collegiate School have 28 athletes bolstered by relay entries in both the junior boys and girls 4 x 100 and 4 x 400. Whanganui High School have 16 entries that also include good relay entries. Paige Cromarty, who featured in last week’s column, is the sole Whanganui Girls’ College representative. The large entry from Nga Tawa is a tribute to Bill Twiss’ work with the Marton school who have steadily increased their participation numbers, including healthy numbers at the Regional League Meetings in November.

The Whanganui High School Team will be spearheaded by the experienced Maggie Jones and Nat Kirk. Jones is defending champion from 2020 in the 300m hurdles and was the silver medal winner in the 100m hurdles. In March at the Athletics New Zealand Championships, she won the under-20 400m hurdles and was second in the 100m hurdles. At the second Regional League in Palmerston North, she ran a personal best over 100m hurdles into a headwind and impressed in the longer 300m hurdles even with some hurdles on incorrect marks.

Nat Kirk has had a year coping with injury interruptions but with bronze medals at the last edition of the championships in the 110m and 300m hurdles, he has the credentials to take a higher step on the podium. He also will compete in the javelin. Relays provide much for a team dynamic at a championships and High School have a useful senior boys 4 x 100m team with Theo Almazan, Nat Kirk, Vincent Walters and Damian Hodgson who looked slick when I saw them train at the weekend. The mixed 4 x 400 (introduced at Tauranga at the last championships in 2020) features a potential podium Whanganui High School team bringing together Kirk, Jones, the experienced Charlotte Baker and the rapidly improving Thomas Gowan who was in the bronze medal junior mixed team in 2020. The junior 4 x 400 team will gain valuable experience while para athlete Mason Pye starts with realistic hopes in the 100m, 200m long jump and javelin.

Whanganui Collegiate have one returning medal winner in race walker and athletics captain Lucas Martin. Martin has won a silver medal at each of his three New Zealand Schools. His Manawatū/Whanganui and Whanganui Collegiate School record at Masterton at the end of November was an encouraging performance as he faces strong opposition in Inglewood. Daniel Sinclair and Louise Brabyn both run in the 3000m on Friday and hope to double with the 2000m steeplechase on Sunday. They both head the New Zealand under-18 rankings in the steeplechase (Brabyn also winning the New Zealand under-18 title in March). Both have the credentials to be among the leaders in strong 3000m fields. Brabyn was third in the March under-18 3000m championships, a race that included a major fall. Whanganui Collegiate School track and field captain Jacky Dai was third at the last major Schools Meet at the North Island in April last year and fourth at the last edition of the Schools Championship. He is a great competitor, important in a stacked triple jump field. Injury and unavailability have weakened a good mixed 4 x 400 team. The school will be represented in 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 in both the junior boys and girls.

Emma Ferguson is Nga Tawa’s leading podium chance with excellent times over both 800m and 1500m to her name while Paige Cromarty, who has made great progress in 300m hurdles and 200m, flies the flag for Whanganui Girls College.

The championships should have been the 50th as the New Zealand Schools Association was formed 50 years ago with the inaugural championships held in December 1973 at the QE II Stadium in Christchurch as part of the buildup for the 1974 Commonwealth Games seven weeks later. The 50th championships will now be held next December in Christchurch, where it all began. Closer to home, the 100th Whanganui Riverbank parkrun takes place on Saturday at 8am.