Report: Annual Athletics Sports Day
On Wednesday 21 February, 200 Athletes competed at the School’s Athletics Sports Day at AUT Millennium Stadium in favourable conditions. Although the heat posed some challenges for those competing in track events by the afternoon, the athletes persevered and delivered some strong performances, personal bests, and a number of broken records.
In the Junior grade, Form 4 student T. O. Henderson took out the Gold medal in the 80m hurdles. Form 3 student K. J. Chow won the Junior 3000m in 11.16.20min, and Form 3 student J. L. Martin won the 200m sprint in 25.52s. Form 4 student L. J. N. Caffery broke not one, but two records in the Junior Shot Put and Discus, with throws of 13.70m and 56.30m respectively; for the latter, he managed to break the record three times before settling with his final and best throw. Form 3 student T. Zhang won the 300m, while classmate R. C. Davies was first in both the 800m and the 1500m. Martin’s win in the 200m along with the 100m in a time of 12.87s and the high jump at 1.66m meant that he was named as Junior Champion for 2024.
In the intermediate grade, Form 5 student L. C. R. Thomson won the 200m race in a time of 23.14s. He followed this up with wins in the 100m, the 400m, and the Long Jump, along with a second place in the Triple Jump, and was named the Intermediate champion. Form 4 student H. C. Day won both the 800m and 1500m, R. W. Walker won the 100m Hurdles in 14.96, and E. B. Mora won the 3000m in 9.33.78, with Form 5 students B. M. Armstrong and A. K. Sharma won the Triple Jump and High Jump respectively. In the intermediate throw events, a number of personal best records were made, with Form 5 student M. K. Jacobs throwing 13.10m in the Shot Put, Form 6 student S. T. F. R. Naufahu won the Discus with a throw of 37.97m, and Form 5 student O. D. D. B. Neely throw the Javelin to Gold in 42.86m.
In the Senior grade, Form 6 student C. P. Wagener won the 3000m in 8.29.45, a new record, and now holds the 3000m records in all age grades. Wagener also won the 1500m and was second in the 400m behind classmate C. G. Howlett who claimed Gold in the 400m and the Senior 110m Hurdles. Form 7 student R. W. Fitzpatrick was first in the 800m, second in the 1500m and third in the 400m. Form 6 students A. J. Bedford and H. P. Mossman won gold in the jump events, while the throw events were dominated by Captain of Athletics J. A. Thomson, who won all his entered field events as well as the 100m and the 200m, leading him to the Senior Champion title for the second consecutive year.
The squad is now looking ahead to the Zonal meet on Tuesday 5 March, which will hopefully culminate in representing the School at the Greater Auckland Secondary Schools Championships held at Mt. Smart Stadium on Tuesday 26 March.
We wish the team well and are looking forward to their further progress and performances.