Competitors in the girls' 1500m team race at the Whanganui Collegiate Inter House Athletics Match on Saturday. Photo / Rob van Dort
Cooks Gardens is the jewel in Whanganui’s sporting crown.
Right in the heart of the CBD we have a world-class athletic track and a great rugby ground. The adjacent velodrome, if covered, would add another jewel to the crown and would mean the possibility of including indoor athletics, becoming the envy of countries throughout the southern hemisphere.
The “Home of the Mile” will be busiest as February ends and we head into autumn. Over a seven-day period, the facility has been used by five secondary schools, a children’s club night and the regular senior club night, giving access to hundreds of young and aspiring athletes across the city.
There is a vibrancy and energy about school athletics with enthusiastic competition and the joy of escaping the classroom for the day. Each school takes a different approach and standards of competition may vary but enthusiasm and vociferous support are guaranteed.
The annual Whanganui Collegiate Inter House Athletics Match was the first school in action last Saturday evening. The sun shone even though accompanied by the ever-present wind. When the lights went on, it added another ingredient to the competition and a bit of Cooks Gardens magic, especially as the bright moon appeared in the darkening sky.
The Whanganui Collegiate athletics evening is about team competition.
Athletes are restricted to two individual events and two relays or team events. The distance team events are over 3000m, 2000m steeplechase and girls’ 1500m where three-to-score teams compete with cross country-type scoring. The evening concludes with a flying squadron relay (16 x 200m) with two teams from each of four houses, resulting in 128 participants (30% of the school roll).
While the limit of events an athlete may compete in may not help selection of a school team for the annual Inter Schools, it does guarantee wide participation and a tactical challenge for team captains.
New Zealand international heptathlete Juliet McKinlay would have loved to be able to compete and score in more events but had to settle for two. She and her house chose the 100m and 200m and, not unexpectedly, won both.
Isaac Ashworth, who 10 days earlier broke the Whanganui Collegiate junior javelin record when he won the Manawatū/Whanganui Centre title, threw almost as far (48.70m) in less than favourable conditions and added a personal best triple jump in his other event.
Grey House took the team title, leading from the opening event and winning the final flying squadron relay to conclude the evening. Harvey House made considerable inroads over the latter part of the programme.
I write this column having just returned from the Whanganui City College event before the evening’s B Club Night programme. Between the two, the children’s section of the club was in action between 5pm and 6pm.
It was great to see Whanganui City College on Tuesday adopt a rotation of activities to ensure students were given an opportunity to run, jump and throw. As a school, they are always a pleasure to work with.
It was especially pleasing to see one of the rotations included hurdles. Three lanes were set up for 50m races with 7.5m hurdle spacing adopted. I was impressed with the efforts of many in this discipline. If hurdles are available, hurdlers will develop. Athletics Whanganui has a hurdles event at every club night, with the result that Whanganui has gained considerable success in hurdle events with genuine medal chances at next week’s Athletics New Zealand Championships in Auckland.
By the time this article goes to press Whanganui Girls’ College will have held its championships. The Girls’ College sports is always a colourful and vibrant event with house spirit to the fore.
The school also has a crop of able athletes, including Grace Fannin and Harriet Jacobs in the senior section and Alrese Maree and Mareca Kedrewaca in the juniors with, hopefully, strong competition to keep them honest. Maree and Fannin are two of the aforementioned hurdlers who will be in Auckland at next week’s national championships.
On Thursday it is the turn of Whanganui’s largest school, Whanganui High School. There is a strong group of athletes at the school at present with a good athletic programme.
The school is well represented with both present and past students in the MWA team next week in Auckland. Notable former students include Jonathan Maples, Damian Hodgson, Nat Kirk and Lennox Brotherton. The additional activities, combined with championships, guarantee wide participation.
The week ends with the Cullinane College championships. It was good to have them back at Cooks Gardens last year and they have added photo timing this year, bringing another dimension to the event.
All schools will be selecting teams for the annual Inter Schools on March 12.