Event results
Olympic had 29 athletes competing at the North Island Colgate Games from the 7th to the 9th of January at the Hastings Regional Sports Park. For the majority if our athletes, it was their first taste of competition at this level and it was fantastic to see how well they all did. Special mention should be made of some exceptional performances. In the 10 and under age group we were very well represented, especially in the 9 year old age group. They don't have finals in this age group, but each athlete who places in their division of their event gets to stand on the podium and is presented with a pennants. Kushla Smith got to stand on the podium in the first position five times. We are now calling her Carl Lewis! She came first in her division of the 9 Girls for 100m, 200m, Long Jump, Shot Put and the 4 x 100m relay. Grace Ohlsson and Blaine Abbis made it onto the podium four times each, with Grace finishing 1st in the 60m, 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay, and Blaine finishing 1st in the 60m, 100m, 200m and 3rd in the long jump. Our 9 year old team of athletes also had Keller McDonald who placed 1st in both the shot put and discus, and came 3rd in the long jump, and Danielle Ohlsson came 1st in the 100m, the 4 x 100m relay and came 3rd in the 200m.
In the 10 and older age group the competition was tough with heats and finals in all running events. Josh Nairne (11) had an exceptional first Colgates with three PBs. His last one was in the 400m (1:02.87) where he finished brilliantly to almost claim gold. It was a photo finish and it took 5 minutes to get the final result. He also finished 2nd in the 800m final with a PB of 2:28.25 and in the 1500m he came 5th in a PB of 5:08.46.
Jess Kerr (12) ran an amazing race in the 1500m leading from the start to win. She also achieved her goal of going under 5 minutes, beating her previous 1500m time by 9 seconds to win in a time of 4:53.72 (and got a mention in an Athletics New Zealand media release). She then made the 800m final and went onto come 2nd in another PB of 2:27.29. It was a gutsy effort as in the first 250m of this race she strained her calf muscle but continued on running strongly to claim the silver medal. In the same age group Amelia Harris, who was competing at her first Colgates, made the final of the 400m finishing 5th in the final in a time of 1:06.51. She then came 8th in the final of the 800m. With Jess and Amelia both working hard together at Alastair's trainings they will continue to improve their times even further.
Unfortunately Liam Kennedy (12) didn't get to compete in the 1500m final as he injured his hamstring in the heat so had to withdrew. He was on target for a very good time as he'd just done a great PB in a pre Colgate meet the week before. He managed to achieve a PB in the 800m the day before of 2:27.88 to finish 5th in the 800m. Karl Brownlie (12) also achieved a PB in this race finishing in a time of 2:30.46 placing 7th. He gave it everything in the 1500m final to finish 6th.
Emerson Yee (10) also had a fantastic first Colgates coming 3rd in the long jump, 3rd in the high jump and coming 5th in the final of the 100m. She was also 12th fastest qualifier for the 200m so wasn’t far off making the finals for this too. Ben Murdoch also had a great first Colgates making the final of the 200m and coming 5th in this race. With further training these two athletes have a very good future in athletics.
Roshani Thuraisingham (11) achieved a personal best in her 1500m race finishing in a time of 5:30.35 and placing 4th. She was also 9th fastest for the 400m in a PB of 1:11.75, just missing out on a place in the final. Callum Brooker (10) also achieved a 4th place in his 800m final. He also ran the same distance in the 10 year old medley running strongly to help our relay team achieve a gold in this event.
We couldn't have asked for better with both our relay teams. We came away with two golds. One in the 9 Girls 4 x 100m relay and one for the 10 year old 1600m medley relay. For the 4 x 100m relay the team of Grace Ohlsson, Georgia Nairne, Danielle Ohlsson and Kushla Smith absolutely blitzed the field to win in a time of 1:04. And then on the final day the 10 year old medley team of Emerson Yee (100m), Amelia Kerr (400m), Callum Brooker (800m), Ben Murdoch (200m) and Dillon Lewis (100m) gave it absolutely everything to win their relay by 80 metres in a time of 5:01.71. It was a great finish to a very successful games for Olympic Wellington.
Special thanks to Alastair Leslie for his coaching as all his athletes achieved PBs, and not just by a few seconds. The training they received meant they were able to achieve results way beyond expectations. And also to Amanda Goldsmith who travelled up to Hastings to warm up and mentor our young athletes over the 3 days. She also ran additional training sessions in the build up to the Colgates and the extra training really paid off. The results of all her athletes were brilliant. She was just as excited as the kids with what they all achieved.
Well done to all the Olympic athletes.
Report courtesy of Jo Murray
Note: the official results only include those athletes aged 10 and older as they don't do times or distances for those aged 9 and under. Placings for the 9s and unders below are for divisions/heats only.
Club results:
Day 1 results:Under 10s
Kushla Smith, 1st in her division for 9 Girls Shot Put
Keller McDonald, 1st in his division for 9 Boys Shot Put
Grace Ohlsson, 1st in her division for 9 Girls 200m
Kushla Smith, 1st in her division for 9 Girls 200m
Kushla Smith, 1st in her division for 9 Girls Shot Put
Kate Fenton, 3rd in her division for 9 Girls Shot Put
Danielle Ohlsson, 3rd in her division for 9 Girls 200m
Hepzibah Thuraisingham, 3rd in her division for 7 Girls 200m
Tasmin Kennedy, 2nd in her division for 9 Girls Shot Put
10 and older
Emerson Yee, 3rd High Jump, 110 Girls
Amelia Harris, 5th in final of 400m, 12 Girls
Josh Nairne, 5th in final of 1500m, 11 Boys
Amelia Kerr, 5th in final of 800m, 10 Girls
Roshani Thuraisingham, 7th in final of 800m, 11 Girls
Michael Fenton, 10th in his division of discus for 12 Boys
Ben Murdoch – made it to the semis of the 10 Boys 100m
Emerson Yee – made it to the semis of the 10 Girls 200m
Day 2 results:
Under 10s
9 Girls Relay Team of Grace Ohlsson, Georgia Nairne, Danielle Ohlsson, Kushla Smith – 1st
Kushla Smith, 1st in her division for 100m and long jump, 9 Girls
Danielle Ohlsson, 1st in her division for 100m, 9 Girls
Grace Ohlsson, 1st in her division for 100m, 9 Girls
Blaine Abbis, 1st in his division for 200m, 9 Boys
Hepzibah Thuraisingham, 2nd in her division for 100m, 7 Girls
Phoebe Yee, 3rd in her division for 100m 7 Girls
Keller McDonald, 3rd in his division for long jump, 9 Boys
Blaine Abbiss, 3rd in his division for long jump, 9 Boys
Georgia Nairne, 4th in her division for 100m, 9 Girls
Kate Fenton, 5th in her division for long jump, 9 Girls
Tasmin Kennedy, 3rd in her division for 9 Girls Long jump
10 and older
Jess Kerr, 1st in 1500m final in PB of 4.53.72, 12 Girls
Josh Nairne, 2nd in 800m final in PB of 2.28.25, 11 Boys
Emerson Yee, 3rd in Long Jump with jump of 4.08m, 10 Girls
Roshani Thuraisingham, 4th in 1500m in PB of 5.30.35, 11 Girls
Callum Brooker, 4th in 800m final, 2.38.27, 10 Boys
Ben Murdoch, 5th in final of 200m in PB of 29.67, 10 Boys
Emerson Yee, 5th in final of 100m in 15.53
Liam Kenney, 5th in 800m final in PB of 2.27.88, 12 Boys
Karl Brownlie, 7th in 800m final in PB of 2.30.71, 12 Boys
Amelia Kerr, 7th in 1500m final in PB of 2.50.93, 10 Girls
Callum Brooker, 8th in long jump with jump of 4.11m, 10 Boys
Oscar Harris, 13th in high jump with jump of 1.25m, 11 Boys
Day 3 results:
Under 10s
Keller McDonald, 1st in his division for discus, 9 Boys
Blaine Abbis, 1st in his division for 60m, 9 Boys
Grace Ohlsson, 1st in her division for 60m, 9 Girls
Georgia Nairne, 2nd in her division for discus, 9 Girls
Phoebe Yee, 3rd in long jump in her division for long jump, 7 Girls
Kate Fenton, 4th in her division for discus, 9 Girls
Danielle Ohlsson, 4th in her division for discus, 9 Girls
Tasmin Kennedy, 3rd in her division for 9 Girls Discus
10 and over
Gold for 10 year old medley team of Emerson Yee (100m), Amelia Kerr (400m), Callum Brooker (800m), Ben Murdoch (200m) and Dillon Lewis (100m)
Josh Nairne, 2nd in 400m final in PB of 1.02.87, 11 Boys (same time as winner – a brilliant finish)
Jess Kerr, 2nd in 800m final in PB of 2.27.29, 12 Girls
Roshani Thuraisingham, 9th overall (1st reserve for 400m final), 11 Girls with a PB of 1.11.75
Karl Brownlie, 6th in 1500m final in time of 5.12.23, 12 Boys
Liam Kennedy, qualified for final of 1500m in time of 5.20.73, but had to withdraw from final due to an injury
Amelia Harris, 8th in 800m final, 12 Girls
Ben Murdoch, 9th in high jump with jump of 1.20m
Amelia Kerr, 14th in 400m in time of 1.17.22, 10 Girls
Dillon Lewis, 18th in 400m in time of 1.18.18, 10 Boys
Oscar Harris, 20th in long jump with jump of 3.66m, 11 Boys
Michael Fenton, 23rd in long jump with jump of 3.99m, 12 Boys
Matthew Brooker, 35th for times (15.72) for 100m, 13 Boys