Lucky thirteen titles for Whanganui at NISS

Charlotte Baker competes at the North Island Secondary School Track & Field Championships on Saturday.

It was their largest turnout and also the greatest success for the Whanganui contingent at the North Island Secondary Schools Track and Field Championship at Cooks Gardens on Saturday.

Just over 750 athletes from 11 regions made the trek to the season-ending event, with Whanganui entries on home soil being the third-largest with around 80.

In total, they made the podium 33 times including winning 13 titles, statistically the best performance at the North Island champs.

Whanganui's athletics guru Alec McNab said the locals were particularly strong in the Intermediate Girls events – winning the 100m, 200m, 400m, 1500m, 3000m and the 4x100m relay.

There were 1-2 finishes in both the 200m and 400m.

Collegiate's Genna Maples won the 200m with Tayla Brunger the runnerup, while in the 400m it was Brunger the winner with Emma Osborne coming second.

Whanganui High School's Rebecca Baker took out the 1500m-3000m double with classy national-level performances.

Her 1500m time of 4m 33.73s will move her to second in the New Zealand Under 18 rankings and her 3000m time of 10m 12.56s will place her fourth.

Maples concluded a successful season with Intermediate grade wins in the 100m, 200m and the Long Jump.

Her 200m time of 25.11s while running into a 1.7m/s head wind strengthens her position at the top of the New Zealand Under 18 rankings, while her 5.64m long jump closes to within two centimetres of the national leader.

Whanganui last hosted these North Island championships in 2001.

Louise Brown in the long jump competition.