Wanaka athletes again won numerous medals and achieved new personal bests at the Otago Senior Athletics Championships and Otago Children’s Champs in Dunedin last week (February 15-16).

Aspiring Athletics Club (AAC) senior coach Michael Beable said while many of the young athletics squad from Wanaka performed well at the championships, three of the most outstanding athletes were Georgie Bruce, Abby Fisher and Naimh Townsend. 

“They not only won within their age groups but also performed better than many of the senior competitors. And if it wasn’t for strong winds, I believe the regional record for long jump would have fallen,” he said.

Competing in the Womens’ Under 18 category, 15-year-old Georgie brought home no fewer than six medals, including a gold medal in high jump with a leap of 1.62m which not only exceeded her previous personal best height by a whopping 5cm but also beat the best in the senior womens’ high jump, Michael said. 

Georgie was also second in discus throw, and ran second to Abby Fisher in the 100m and 200m and won another two golds as a member of relay teams. 

Sixteen-year-old Abby continued her sprinting dominance in her age group at regional athletics meets this season, with solid wins in both the 100m and 200m Womens’ U18 events, as well as running in the two winning relay teams.

Like many of the athletes in the sprint events, Abby’s 100m and 200m individual sprint times (of 12.73 and 25.84 respectively) were significantly affected by the strong headwinds experienced at the meet, Michael said. Nevertheless, her 200m time was still faster than the winner of the 200m Senior Womens’ 200m.

He said the same strong winds also impacted Niamh Townsend’s performance - but in reverse. Instead of headwinds, she experienced tailwinds which meant her winning Women’s U18 long jump of 5.45m, which represented a new personal best by 24cm and was 16cm greater than the current record, was considered to have been too greatly wind-assisted to be allowed as a new regional record. 

Jared Enoka is one of four junior Wanaka athletes to be selected for the Otago 7-11 Inter-Provincial Team. PHOTO: Supplied

Niamh recorded four jumps, all of which exceeded the record and “if the tailwind had been allowable, Niamh would have definitely set a new record”, Michael said. Irrespective of this, Niamh’s longest jump was still 30cm longer than any other female athlete on the day, he said.

As Niamh is still only 14-years-old she also competed in the Girls Grade 14 events, winning both the 100m and 200m sprints.

These AAC members also dominated the relay events. Abby, Georgie and Niamh were joined by hurdler Scarlett Norman to win the 4 x 100 Women’s U18 relay race.

Abby, Georgie and Scarlett then joined fellow AAC member Laura McCullough, who placed second in both the 100m and 200m Senior Womens’ sprints, to win the Senior Womens’ 4 x 400m relay.

In addition to being a member of both winning relay teams, 15-year-old Scarlett also earned two individual medals in the Womens’ U18 category winning the 300m hurdles and placing third in the 400m hurdles. 

Other athletes who also excelled at the championships included Amelia Young (14), Estelle Gellatly (13), Millie East (13), Amaya East (11), Jared Enoka (7), Jimmy Knight (11) and Amelia Knight (9) - the latter four being selected for the Otago 7-11 Inter-Provincial Team which will compete at a South Island Tournament on March 22. 

Amelia, Estelle, Amaya and Millie ran second in the Girls’ Grade 14 4 x 100m relay. 

Estelle and Millie also had a fine rivalry going on the track in the Girl’s Grade 13; Estelle was second in the 100m; first in the 200m; second in the 400m and also placed third in the Girls’ Grade 16 javelin; while Millie ran first in the 100m; second in the 200m and first in the 400m sprints.

Jared scored age group medals in the sprints and long jump; Amelia Knight and her brother Jimmy each won medals in sprints and shotput in their respective age groups; and Amaya was second in both the 400m and 800m in the Grade 11 Girls races.