New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Nationals 2022

After a couple of late withdrawals due to injury, six St Paul’s Collegiate School students competed at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Championships held in Inglewood from 9-11 December.

Wet weather made for challenging conditions during the first two days. The team of primarily first-time athletes, due to Covid-19 restrictions and cancellations, competed with admirable determination and achieved pleasing results. Best finishes included:

• Ben Kalma (Year 13) placed sixth in the senior boys' javelin throw.
• Renee Carey (Year 11) placed sixth in the senior girls' javelin throw as well as 10th place in the 3000 metres.
• Tori Clarke (Year 13) had the eighth fastest time for the senior girls' 300m hurdles but missed out on the final as she was fourth in her heat. Tori also placed 14th in the 400m sprint.
• Sam Hull (Year 12) was also close to making the senior boys' 300m hurdles final in his first race over that distance. He was the ninth fastest qualifier, with only 6/100th of a second behind the eighth fastest qualifier. Sam also placed 11th in the high jump.
• Sam Forward (Year 10), fresh from the Tihoi experience and his first time on the track, ran well to place 20th in the junior boys 3000 metres, breaking 10 minutes in the process.
• In his first competition, Hamish Boyd (Year 13) also finished fourth in the senior boys' 100m sprint heat but failed to progress into the semi-finals.

Well done to our athletes on these fantastic results!