Rebecca Baker
The New Zealand Schools athletes, including the five Whanganui team members, are safely back in the country excited and enthused by their experience and can reflect on both their own performances and also the lessons learned.
There are major differences between the New Zealand and Australian Schools Championships.
In New Zealand, the championships are individual school-based and each school can enter one athlete in any event but can't enter more unless all have reached the standard.
In Australia, entry is through the states with only three athletes per state.
New South Wales, for example, apparently takes the state champion and two others who have reached the standard.
This leads to fairly small but high quality fields and with states that are larger in population than New Zealand making up a nation that is six times larger, this leads to very competitive fields, especially in the younger age groups.
It also means that with entries in each event, there are less than 30 athletes competing in only one round of qualifying for a final.
This leads to tough qualifying of only two from each heat and the next fastest two qualifying.
Middle distance events were straight finals and the 800m was run as timed finals with seeded heats, but the championship decided on time.
In New Zealand, with 210 schools represented it meant that athletes faced up to four qualifying rounds and even in 800m the juniors faced three rounds.
Leading runners under the New Zealand system tend to ease their way through the opening round, just as leading Olympians such as Usain Bolt are able to do at the Olympics.
In Australia, athletes do not have that luxury, as young Genna Maples will testify after she narrowly missed a final berth in the 100m in Adelaide.
The system produces quality competition but less opportunity for new faces to make a breakthrough nationally, unlike the case for New Zealand Schools.
As indicated in my earlier reports on the national event, this third article focuses on athletes who performed well but did not gain a medal but through the vehicle of New Zealand Schools made a significant breakthrough.
One such athlete was 13-year-old Ana Brabyn, who ran a personal best in Round 1 of the 800m, then took another three seconds off in the semifinal, and although a smidgen slower in the final still finished fifth in her maiden nationals in a grade where she has two more years.
Brabyn got a more tangible reward running in the 4x400m team which claimed the gold medal and broke the New Zealand record.
Travis Bayler (Whanganui High School) was expected to get through the opening round of the 400m but unlikely to make further progress.
He demonstrated his high potential by sneaking into the final on the line and then went on to finish fifth in the senior final with an outstanding personal best.
Bayler too has another two years left to develop into a national class athlete.
Logan Henry (Wanganui Collegiate) had a fairly flat build up to the championships, but recovered his form by snatching sixth in the Long Jump and fifth in the triple jump and ran in the 4x100m team that finished fifth and the 4x400m squad that finished sixth.
Richmond Wells was fourth in the 110m hurdles, fifth in the 300m hurdles and seventh in the pole vault, while his Collegiate team mate Pati Leo spun the discus out to a new personal best and now severely threatens the Collegiate record.
Both those athletes have a further year to make that step onto the podium.
The Whanganui High School team should be encouraged by their efforts, headed by gold medal winner Rebecca Baker and the effort of Bayler mentioned above.
The value of relay in the programme was further highlighted with the fifth placing in the junior girls 4x400m (Baker, Renee Teers, Paris Munro, Cassie Glentworth).
Next week, I will look back on the calendar year with special emphasis on the close of year New Zealand rankings.