Excellent season drawing to close

LEGGING IT: Harry Symes on his way to one of his six Wanganui Schools titles.PHOTO/SUPPLIED

They say it is not all over until the fat lady sings. She has not sung yet, but is certainly on the stage.

It has been a long season and domestically there is only the North Island Secondary Schools at the weekend in Auckland and locally, one more club night, and the Wanganui Collegiate Championships left until the curtain comes down on the 2014-2015 season.

It seems a long time since the opening club night in mid-October. In the intervening period, the wonderful venue of Cooks Gardens has been used at least 50 times for competitive athletics. This is over and above regular training at this invaluable training facility we have in the city. These meetings have included local and district Secondary Schools and Primary School Championships, the weekly club nights as well as major competitions; giving great value for ratepayers. The first of the major competitions was the largest. The NZ Secondary Schools attracted nearly 1500 athletes from 212 schools throughout New Zealand. A month later the Cooks Classic returned to Wanganui and a week after that, the athletics section of the Masters Games was held. The Wanganui Secondary Schools Championships followed a series of school championships and more than 400 athletes competed for the 88 titles at the Wanganui Schools Championships.

On Tuesday, Cullinane College hosted the annual Viard Shield at Cooks Gardens. The Cullinane girls, under the leadership of Briley Zimmerman, won their four school event with the boys finishing second of the five Catholic schools competing in the boys' section. Jesse Theobold excelled, winning the high jump and finishing second in the long jump while North Island Secondary Schools-bound Adam Boult won the Intermediate 100m, a great confidence boost prior to North Island champs.

The Tuesday evening club night was a splendid final workout for many North Island athletes. Harry Symes, who had won six Wanganui Secondary Schools titles earlier in the month, excelled running personal bests in the 300m and 60m, and anchored his 2 x 100m relay team combination to victory. He stopped the clock at 35.91s in the 300m which is the ideal final preparation for North Island Schools, where he hopes to make his first individual podium appearance.

In the 600m, there were strong performances from Luke Gemmell who will be running in the 800m and 1500m in the Intermediate grade in Auckland at the weekend and from Megan Mackay who hopes for good performances in 800 and 1500m in the Senior Girls. The relay combination of Lexi Maples (who had earlier run a personal best over 60m), Kate Tylee looked slick, as did the combination of Kitty Cleary and Roimata Hipango. The popular 2 x 100m relay gives good racing and good baton change work for relay teams.

Two Wanganui athletes, Max Attwell and Geordie Beamish, will be heading for California to run in meetings in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego as part of a short tour. The meetings include the Mount Sac relays and the Arcadia Meeting which are established events on the American circuit and have huge entries and spectator support. I am lucky enough to be travelling with the group and after my report next week on North Island Schools I will send details of progress from the tour.

Cullen Cornaga, a former Wanganui High School student and only 16-years-old, has jumped an impressive 1.93m in a recent school meet in the US where he lives. In American terms and in the old imperial measurement this is a jump of 6ft 5ins. It will be interesting to watch his career progress.