Geordie Beamish with Alec McNab at Cooks Gardens during a visit to Whanganui last October.
World 3000m steeplechase champion Geordie Beamish was named middle-distance runner of the year and won the Supreme Award (Molly Dorne Cup) at the Manawatū/Whanganui Athletics Awards in Feilding on Sunday.
Beamish, from Havelock North, started as a fourth-generation boarder at Whanganui Collegiate School in 2013. That year, he was a member of the three-to-score gold medal senior boys team at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships, finishing 23rd in his first senior race.
A year later, he was fourth and won a place in the New Zealand Schools team. In his final year, he followed his brother Hugo’s footsteps by winning the senior New Zealand Schools cross country title.
Six months later, he won the 3000m at Cooks Gardens at the New Zealand Schools Track and Field Championships which he backed up by running the second leg in the gold medal 4x400m relay.
Beamish won a scholarship to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and, after being a member of a highly successful NCAA champion cross country team, continued running professionally, based in Colorado. In 2024, he won the world indoor 1500m title in Glasgow after a sensational final sprint. The famous sprint was again evident last year when he won the world title in Tokyo.
Beamish not only holds the New Zealand steeplechase record but also the 5000m and 3000m records. He has pleasingly retained his Whanganui membership and we are delighted to have been part of his athletics development.
Lexi Maples, another former Whanganui athlete to retain her membership, was named the leading centre female thrower. Maples, based in Los Angeles, took silver in the hammer at the New Zealand Championships in Auckland in March and sits fourth on the New Zealand all-time hammer list.
Sally Gibbs was named the top masters female middle-distance runner and masters out of stadia athlete.
Gibbs shared the guest speaking role with Vanessa Hodge. Both have carved out world-class masters careers and give much back to the sport. They spoke on athletics being a sport for life.
Hodge, who was named the masters’ leading female sprinter, has won a world indoor masters 800m. She not only competes internationally as a masters athlete but also officiates and is an administrator. She spoke about how she failed to make the most of the sport as a young athlete but realised her passion for it when she returned to it some years later.
Gibbs, who has held masters world records and many New Zealand masters records, told her audience how she tried to avoid running when at school and in later years, only discovering running much later in life as a masters athlete. Their passion for the sport was evident.
Lucas Martin, who competed at the World Race Walking Championships earlier this month in Brazil, where he was the top performer of the three New Zealanders, was named senior walker of the year. Brendan Gibbs was the masters walks winner. Jim Blair, still competing in his 90s, was the masters male thrower and Noni Callander the masters female thrower.
Damian Hodgson, who won the New Zealand 400m hurdle title and was a member of the Manawatū/Whanganui 4x400m relay team, was named leading senior men’s sprinter/hurdler. Bruce McGregor, second in the New Zealand under-18 300m and the North Island intermediate boys 300m hurdles, was the under-18 male sprinter/hurdler.
Isaac Ashworth has made dramatic progress as a thrower, culminating in second in the intermediate javelin at the North Island Schools in March. His 51.29m throw, which would have been third in the senior grade, contributed to him being named the leading under-18 thrower. Auguz Thongskul, second in both the New Zealand under-18 championships and North Island long jumps, was the under-18 jumper of the year.
Francie Bayler, who has given long service to the club and centre, was named official of the year, a just reward for her long and valued service.
Other athletes with Whanganui connections also appeared on the awards list.
Emma Osborne (Palmerston North), who, while at Whanganui Collegiate School, won a New Zealand Secondary Schools 400m title (2018) and was selected twice for the New Zealand Secondary Schools team, has returned to competitive athletics after a horrific injury. Her comeback included qualifying for the New Zealand women’s 400m final. Osborne was named the centre’s leading female sprinter. Juliet McKinlay (Palmerston North), who also trains at Cooks Gardens, was named under-20 female thrower.