Mount Aspiring College (MAC) athletes broke Otago (club) records at last weekend’s South Island Secondary School Athletics (SISSA) Championships and earned multiple medals in what is considered the best performance by MAC athletes at the annual championships.

Winning medals in 10 events, the MAC athletes achieved personal bests and dominated some events, winning by several seconds.

“I think that these results are probably the best experienced by MAC at SISS,” MAC teacher and president of the Aspiring Athletics Club (AAC) Lincoln Bruce said.

Standouts included sprinters Niamh Townsend, Millie East, Abby Fisher and Estelle Gellatly and middle-distance runner Hannah Prosser.

Hannah won the Open (Girls’ U19) 3000m by a whopping 36 seconds after leading the race from start to finish.

Lincoln said MAC girls have dominated both provincial and national relay events all season and the SISSA champs was just one display of their prowess.

The winning Open Girls U19 4x100m team (L-R) Millie East, Niamh Townsend, Estelle Gellatly and Abby Fisher.

The girls’ U16 4x400m relay team comprising Niamh, Millie, Estelle and young Chantel Thurston (13) at her first SISSA champs, smashed the old Otago club record in an amazing performance with a winning margin of 4.6seconds ahead of the competition.

Abby Fisher, who also won gold in the girls’ U19 100m and silver in the 200m, then replaced Chantel, to join Niamh, Millie and Estelle in the Open (Girls’ U19) 4 x 100m relay. In a thrilling final, they crossed the finish line a full 1.2 seconds ahead of their nearest rivals, setting another new Otago record on the way.

Lincoln said the depth of talent MAC’s female sprinters is such that they were able to easily reconfigure the relay teams to qualify for both the Open and the U16 events and still break Otago club records. 

As well as gold medals in the relays, each of these sprinters also won individual medals; Niamh won gold medals in both the individual 100m and 200m girls’ U16; Millie won gold in the individual 400m girls’ U15 and bronze in the individual 100m; and Estelle won bronze in the individual 200m girls’ U15.

All athletes had to qualify to attend the SISSA champs by placing in the top three of their event(s) at provincial championships and, while not all of the MAC athletes achieved podium finishes at the champs, their performances “still translated to some pleasing results for them too and a very good end to the season,” Lincoln said.

In the field events, brother and sister Ryan and Amelia Young each achieved personal bests; Ryan in the boys’ U19 triple jump (5th); and Amelia in the girls’ U16 shot put (8th) and discus (6th); also qualifying for the champs and representing MAC were Hunter Tuck (boys’ U15 800m and 1500m) and Amaya East (girls’ U14 800m).

Team co-manager Kath Nicholson said the MAC athletes have consistently delivered high quality performances throughout a long season and these results were a great note to finish on. 

“While athletes had some impressive individual achievements...,Mount Aspiring College can be proud of how the students collectively stepped up another notch when competing [in the relays] as a school team,” she said. 

Billie Crowe, another AAC member and Wanaka local who attends St Hilda’s in Dunedin, also placed a remarkably close second in the girls U15 800m - missing out on a gold medal by a mere 0.09 seconds.

About 90 schools from all over the South Island were represented at the championships held in Christchurch (April 9-10).

Lincoln said a tribute should also be paid to the several coaches who prepared their respective athletes so well.

AAC coach Michael Beable said the success of all these young local athletes, especially over the last couple of seasons, has “helped greatly in raising the profile of athletics in the area”.

“We now have a waiting list of young athletes (12-years-old and younger) wanting to participate in the AAC junior club night held on Thursday evenings through the summer months,” he said.

PHOTOS: Sue Richard