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Taylor, the New Zealand junior pentathlon champion, is attending Massey University and is a welcome addition to the club scene. The men’s long jump was a close competition, with Forbes Kennedy winning with his 6.77m effort, 2cm better than Angus Lyver’s 6.75m. Kennedy was unfortunate the fluctuating wind meant his best effort recorded a following wind reading of 2.6m per second, so was not eligible to be recognised in the national rankings. Lyver’s best had a following wind of 1.9m per second, which is below the 2m limit, so will appear in the rankings. Lyver also won the javelin with a throw of 50.19m.
He achieved a personal best in the shot. Benji Noakes gained a bronze pennant in the 100m for the boys’ 9. Lucy Cadzow achieved a personal best in the girls’ 11 shot put. The Ashhurst club was successful and their highlight was winning medals in the walking events. Ari Bennett won the silver medal in the 13 boys’ 1600m walk and Finn Bennett the bronze in the 11 boys’ 1200m walk. Both achieved personal bests. Mya Thirkell in the girls’ 7 won gold pennants in the discus and shot put, as well as bronze in the 60m and 100m races. Emma Bennett celebrated her birthday by winning a gold pennant in the girls’ 8 discus and a silver pennant in the shot put, with personal bests in both events.
“At Colgate Games enjoy jumping the way you did at training.” Building confidence is important for these athletes so the sessions conducted will prove invaluable knowing how to get your run up right for the long jump or high jump. Knowing when to take off for a relay change and how to set up for a sprint are all things that can make a difference on the day. I loved the introduction George McConachy gave at the start of the open women’s sprint announcing each athlete from lanes one to five as being gold medallists from the New Zealand secondary school championships.