Athletics Insight: Personal bests make this Whanganui schools team one to remember

Whanganui's winning intermediate boys 4 x 100m team all set personal bests in their individual events at the North Island Secondary Schools Championships - (from left) Kosei Furusato (100m), Ethan Wells (400m), Tyler O'Brien (100m and 200m) and Reiley Thomas (100m).

There is more to track and field team success than the number of times athletes from the team step on to the podium.

As reported in last week’s column, the 2026 Whanganui Schools athletic team met with considerable success at the North Island Secondary Schools Championships in Auckland, in terms of podium places, finalists and an outstanding 47 personal bests set.

Medal tables only tell part of the story and, although the Whanganui total was commendable, it was not a record and I suspect Whanganui has, over 50 years, returned with more top eight placings.

However, the combination of podium places, top eight performances and personal bests made the team of 2026 a special one.

Finishing fourth in competition can come with many mixed feelings for athletes and has been described as the “lead medal” as it is the heaviest to carry.

That feeling of frustration and disappointment is eased considerably when that fourth placing is accompanied by a personal best.

Tyler O’Brien (Whanganui High School) went into the intermediate boys 100m final as third-fastest with a personal best 11.43s.

In the final, he finished fourth with his second personal best of the day (11.38s). Just a few hours later, O’Brien was back in action, anchoring his Whanganui intermediate boys 4 x 100m team to victory. He was also fourth in the 200m, recording another best.

Daniel Sherborne (Whanganui Collegiate School) travelled north with a modest high jump personal best of 1.70m. At the championships, he cleared 1.75m, the same height as the third placegetter, but had to settle for fourth.

Elizabeth Morton (WCS) also dropped back on countback, sharing her 1.49m personal best jump with six athletes for fifth, with the same height as the second placegetter. Morton came very close to clearing 1.53m (the winning height) and can look forward to further progress next season.

Olive Coombs (WHS) ran a big personal best 12.61s to qualify for the intermediate girls 80m hurdle final. She was slightly slower in the final but moved from seventh qualifier to fifth. The following day, Coombs was fourth in the 300m hurdle final with an impressive 48.17s personal best. Coombs is clearly an athlete with an exciting future.

Grace Fannin (Whanganui Girls’ College) has had a difficult season, compounded by an ankle injury in the immediate run into the championships.

She finished fourth in the 100m hurdles in a personal best time and a day later finished fifth in the 300m hurdles and, although a little below her best, was very encouraging following injury.

Tilly Darke (WCS), a newcomer to the event, was sixth with a personal best, adding to her personal best and eighth in the 800m the previous day.

Sean Frieslaar (WHS) set personal bests in the 800m on day 1 (2m 04.86s for seventh) and over 1500m on the following day (4m 14.51s for ninth).

The personal bests bode well for his future and the 2026-27 season could be a breakthrough one for Frieslaar.

Ethan Wells (WHS), a member of the winning intermediate boys 4 x 100m team, ran well for seventh in the intermediate boys 400m, coming through from the slower-seeded heat in the timed finals.

His personal best of 52.94s was a significant improvement and was backed up by another seventh place in the 200m. Next season is full of opportunities for this promising sprinter.

Some podium athletes backed their medal performances with personal bests in other events.

Hannah Byam (WCS), who won the steeples, ran a personal best for her less favoured 3000m for eighth, while teammate Bailee Jones, who set a huge personal best in the hammer for third place, also set a best in the shot for eighth.

Jones’ younger throwing teammate Phoebe Corin lost her Whanganui Collegiate hammer record to Jones, finishing sixth, but did have the satisfaction of a discus PB for ninth.

James McGregor (WHS) backed his win in the 300m hurdles with a personal best over 400m for fourth in the senior boys and was a member of the third-placed senior 4 x 100m team.

The North Island Schools Championships brought the curtain down on the domestic season.

However, two of our athletes head to the Australian Championships in Sydney this week. Juliet McKinlay will represent New Zealand Schools in the heptathlon while Jonathan Maples runs in the 200m and 400m.

Both athletes have had a difficult preparation with McKinlay recovering from illness and Maples from injury. McKinlay should be encouraged by her massive personal best in the shot in Auckland and Maples by his excellent recent training sessions.