St Paul’s Collegiate student James Hunt finished secondary school last week with gold medals and personal best times in the 110m and 300m hurdles at the New Zealand secondary school championships.
James, 18, who won the same competitions in the under-17 division last year, was also a member of the school’s winning senior boys 4 x 100m relay team.
The wins were added to victory in the 400m hurdles at the national track and field championships earlier in the year.
However, James said he would probably have to give up the 110m event as the hurdles are set at 1.09 metres and top competitors were ideally more than 1.83m in height. James is about 1.79m.
James has a milking job lined up as holiday work before beginning his studies towards civil engineering qualification at Canterbury University next year. The only drawback with Christchurch is that it has no functioning athletics track.
James’s key coaches at St Paul’s were long-serving staff member and 1980s national decathlon champion Paul Wilson and school sprint coach Gary Henley-Smith.
James was also a member of the school’s first XV, runners-up in the North Island secondary schools championships.
