South Canterbury Amateur Athletics Club

Roncalli College’s James Sandilands is a national secondary schools’ champion after winning the junior boys’ 100m hurdles with a superb effort.

Sandilands was one of eight South Canterbury athletes who won medals at the 39th New Zealand Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships but Sandilands was the sole titleholder.

All five Timaru schools competing at Newton Park brought home medals from the two-day event.

Sandilands ran 14.06sec in the semifinal to qualify third-fastest for the final.

He was then in outstanding form, running a very slick time of 13.48sec to claim gold and record a massive personal best by half a second. Sandilands’ effort was also an age group record and he was later named in the New Zealand Secondary Schools `paper’ team.

Mountainview High School high jumper Lee-Ann McKenzie also impressed.

She won silver in the senior event with a personal best jump of 1.70m.

The title was won on the same height but unfortunately for McKenzie was successful on a later attempt than the winner. However her performance got her named in the New Zealand team and entitles her to travel grants if selected to go overseas in the next 12 months.

Two other Roncalli athletes took medals, with Jacob Matson grabbing bronze in the junior boys’ 200m.

Matson ran a personal best time for the season in his quarterfinal clocking in at 23.08sec, a time that would have seen him share gold in the final.

Leanna Ryan, competing in the senior girls’ long jump, won bronze with leap of 5.31m.

Timaru Boys’ High School’s Jonathon Lord finished second in the open boys’ 3000m race walk in a time of 13min 41.38sec. The walk was seven seconds faster than the current New Zealand under-15 race walk record held by his older brother Daniel but he is still awaiting verification by Athletics New Zealand.

Tyler Collings ran an impressive 400m to win bronze in the senior boys’ final in a time of 48.90sec.

Two other medals were won in the hammer throw.

Timaru Girls’ High School’s Rebecca Hodgson won silver in the senior girls with a throw of 46.69m, while Craighead’s Tessa McNab won bronze in the junior grade with an 38.04m effort.

For now, Tom Walsh is happy enough flying under the radar but don’t be surprised if another Kiwi teenager achieves the Olympic qualifying standard for the men’s shot put before the summer is out.

The eyes of the world are fixed on Auckland kid Jacko Gill (16), who hurled 20.38m to shatter his own national record and seemingly book his ticket for London last week. But while the country celebrated Gill’s talent, Walsh (19) was quietly putting together a remarkable performance of his own.

In fact, the apprentice builder was far more consistent than his younger rival, adding 57 centimetres to his personal best and landing four other throws beyond that previous mark. His 18.83m makes him the world’s third-best junior with a 7.26kg senior implement this year, behind Gill and Pole Krzysztof Brzozowski (19.18m). It also ties him for fourth place on the New Zealand all-time rankings behind Gill, and former Commonwealth Games shot medallists Les Mills (19.80m) and Courtney Ireland (19.45m), and equal with former Commonwealth Games discus champion Robin Tait.

History is littered with great athletes who have toiled in the shadow of superstars, largely unnoticed. Tait played second fiddle to Mills his entire career until finally breaking through at Christchurch in 1974. Perhaps that will be Walsh’s fate.

“To be honest, when Jacko first came on the scene, I was a bit jealous,” he admits. “Now I realise that’s not a bad thing for me. I’m just in the background, working away, and the people who know about the sport know I’m here – that’s all that matters. Jacko’s getting all the hype, but he deserves it, there’s no doubt about that.”

n some ways, Walsh is the polar opposite of Gill. Born and raised in Timaru, his sporting career has revolved around the Kiwi staples of rugby, where he played No8 for the South Island under-16 team, and cricket, having represented Canterbury age group teams as an all-rounder. This is really the first summer he’s pursued athletics as his top priority, although he has represented his country internationally over the past three years.

“I was more interested in cricket until about a year ago but I started to talk to other athletes around the world. They had done all this training, yet I was just a newbie and throwing just as far as them. It made me realise I could go a lot further.”

At 1.83m and just over 105kg, there is certainly some growth left in him. While Walsh considers himself technically sound, he acknowledges his strength and explosive power needs work.

“I was pretty happy with my results last week,” he says. “They’re probably a bit ahead of where I thought I’d be. I’d love to qualify for the Olympics but it’s definitely going to be hard – I’d say a 40/60 chance at this stage.” Gill’s presence just makes Walsh’s job a little harder. Gill has already achieved the Athletics NZ selection standard of 20.30m, they’ll need to surpass the international A standard of 20.50m if both are to appear at London.

The pair will face off again tomorrow at Auckland’s Sovereign Stadium in the second of three special record attempts. This time, Gill will focus on beating the world junior record of 22.73m with a 6kg shot. Walsh will take aim at 20.93m, good enough to take him past Brzozowski and give New Zealand the world’s two best junior shot putters for the year.

by Grant Chapman

Timaru Boys’ High School’s 400m exponent Tyler Collings is a leading candidate for a medal at the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Track and Field Championships starting in Wellington today.

Collings will also anchor the senior boys’ four by 400m TBHS team which includes Brett Clifford, Henry Chamberlain and Josh Westland and which could also be among the medals.

Tom Charteris is an outside chance in the senior boys’ steeplechase.

Hammer thrower Rebecca Hodgson, of Timaru Girls’ High School, is another who could be among the medals at the largest athletics meeting in the country.

Hodgson broke a Canterbury record as the Aorangi Park all-weather athletics track before departing and carries good form into the meeting.

The field events could well carry South Canterbury schools’ best chances with Waimate High School’s Ruby Cochrane in the senior javelin and discus while TGHS’s Caitlin Henderson is a contender in the junior javelin.

TBHS’s Michael Dewar is also an outside chance in the open boys’ hammer.

Mountainview High School’s Lee-Ann McKenzie will also be competitive in the javelin and will compete in the high jump.

TBHS’s Jonathon Lord is also a likely medallist in the 3000m open walk.

Roncalli’s Leanna Ryan, competing in the senior girls’ 100m and long jump, will be looking to gain good results after missing out on last year’s nationals due to an injury.

Sprinter James Sandilands (Roncalli) qualified to the final of the junior boys’ 100m hurdles last year when he finished 7th.

Sandilands will be hoping his improvement may put him in medal contention. He cleared 1.85m at a recent club meet and that should have him inside the top 10.

Roncalli’s Jacob Matson could be the surprise package. Matson qualified for the junior boys’ 200m quarterfinals last year in his first year at athletics. If he can reproduce his best form he should seal a final spot.

Unfortunately, Roncalli sprinter Brittany Cannell is out with injury after showing some good early season form.

Craighead’s Lauren Bruce will compete in the junior hammer, triple jump, discus and shot put.

She won both the hammer and triple jump at the South Island event so is a medal contender, but it is a big step up against the North Island’s best.

School-mate Tessa McNab was second in the hammer so will also be out to impress.

Rachel Rolleston was third in the senior pole vault at the South Island championships but will need to do better to win a medal.