Tom Walsh wins Young Sportsman of the Year at the South Canterbury Sports Awards 2010 and his coach Ian Baird won Coach of the Year.

Lord will join two others, Waikato pair Natasha Murrihy and Matthew Holcroft, in Chihuahua in mid-May.

Holcroft and Lord will compete in the junior men’s 10,000m track walk, while Murrihy will compete over the same distance in the junior women’s event.

Lord easily qualified for the event, breaking the 49-minute standard by three minutes in winning the New Zealand versus Australia under 21 test in Auckland in February.

The 18-year-old’s winning performance at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships in Christchurch last month clinched his selection .

Lord, along with South Canterbury clubmate Tom Walsh, have also been named in the Rio 2016 Squad to prepare for the 2016 Olympics in Rio Janiero.

Walsh is also set to compete in the shot put at the World Junior Track and Field Championships in Canada in July.

If Lord breaks the qualifying time of 43m 26s in Mexico he could be added to the squad for Canada.

Lord is studying physical education at Otago University in Dunedin, while Walsh is undertaking a building apprenticeship in Christchurch, but both still represent the South Canterbury Amateur Athletics Club.

The gold medal haul at QEII Park was boosted by five silver and five bronze medals.

Leading the charge was Daniel Lord who took out the men’s 19 walking double, winning both the 3000 metres in 13 minutes 34.11 seconds and 10,000m in 49min 26.14sec.

Tom Walsh won his first New Zealand senior men’s title in the shot put.

The event was won by the Frenchman Daniel Kilama but Walsh was the best Kiwi with a 16.21m effort.

He backed his titles up by winning two silver medals, in the men’s 19 discus, with a personal best of 49.09m, and the age-group shot put, with a distance of 18.65m.

The latter was a thrilling contest, with 15-year-old Jacko Gill from Auckland winning the title on his last throw with a fine effort of 19.92m. That set New Zealand records in both the men’s 18 and 19 grades.

Gill was too young under the rules to compete in the senior ranks.

Nicola Mackle won her first senior New Zealand medal, finishing third in the high jump with a 1.66m leap.

Mackle also finished second in the women’s 19 high jump, clearing 1.72m, and took out the bronze medal in the long jump with a personal best of 5.48m.

She was unlucky to clip the bar on her first attempt at 1.76m in the high jump.

Mackle may well have won the long jump had she hit the board spot on, as her distance could have been beyond 5.70m. Her 5.48m effort earned her the top age-group ranking, however, as the jumps of the competitors who beat her were wind-assisted.

Rebecca Hodgson was in excellent form in the hammer, taking silver medals in both the women’s 19 with a new Canterbury record of 47.01m and 45.82m in the women’s 16 event.

Lucinda Shaw also struck silver in the women’s 19 3000m track walk in 15min 41.86sec.

In the women’s 16 high jump clubmates Toya Te Kapa and Lee-Anne McKenzie had a great contest to finish third equal and both were awarded bronze medals after clearing 1.66m.

It was a personal best for Te Kapa and she was the only athlete apart from the winner who went close to clearing 1.70m.

The silver medal went to an athlete clearing the same height as her and McKenzie but the second place-getter got over at the first attempt, whereas the South Canterbury athletes cleared it on their second.

The other bronze medal was won by Michael Dewar in the men’s 16 hammer with a 40.11m effort.

The other excellent performance by a local athlete was Brent Clifford’s effort in the men’s 16 800m, where he reduced his personal best by three seconds to finish fifth in 1min 57.94sec. He also finished sixth in the 1500m in 4min 10.69sec.

Craighead’s Lauren Bruce, along with Brittany Cannell and James Sandilands, will compete.

Lauren, 12, will compete in the shotput, discus, high and hurdles and 13-year-old Brittany has been chosen in the sprints and shotput.

James will also have a busy time with the high jump, long jump, shotput and hurdles.

The Canterbury club, which includes the West Coast, has 11 athletes in each grade after their personal bests were collated.

They will face New Zealand’s 11 other athletic centres.

James’ stand-out performance was finishing second in the under-14 high jump at the South Island Secondary Schools track and field championships in Dunedin, clearing 1.68 metres, while Brittany won the under-14 200m in a personal best of 27.18 seconds.

It is also a case of turning back the clock for the Cannells. Brittany’s mother, Richelle, a sports co-ordinator at Roncalli, competed in the same team, at the same age, in the same track events back in 1983.

Lauren Nicol won the women’s 16 100 metres and 400 metres in 13.10 seconds and 59.96s respectively. Lucinda Shaw was second in the 3000m track walk in 16:36.0s.

Brett Clifford took out the men’s 16 1500m in 4:19.64, while Daniel Laws won both the 110m hurdles (17.74s) and the 400m hurdles (59.51s).

At the Wellington Track and Field Championships at Newtown Stadium, Simon Bunckenburg finished third in the men’s 19 800m in 1:57.90, with the winner recording 1:57.70 in a close-fought final.

Bunckenburg also finished second in the men’s 19 400m final.

At Dunedin at the Otago interclub meeting, Daniel Lord impressively won the men’s 19 2000m track walk in a personal best time of 8:14.83.

The win follows on from his performance the previous week in Auckland, where he won the 10,000m track walk in the Trans Tasman under 21 test with a personal best by 3:46.37.

The time saw him qualify for the World Cup in Mexico this year.

The talented pair will compete on Saturday, February 20 at Douglas Track and Field in Waitakere.

Nicola Mackle has also been invited and will compete in high jump, while former South Canterbury athlete Kieran Fowler was also named in the team, competing in the discus.

The test match, for athletes 21 years and under, is aimed at filling a gap in competition at the international level.

Athletics Australia has reduced the size of its team from the original 45 athletes, but Athletics New Zealand has named almost a full compliment.

In addition to those named in the New Zealand team, Athletics New Zealand has put together a list of invited athletes to fill spare positions in the events and that is where Mackle comes into the equation.

Meanwhile, Simon Bunckenburg caught the eye in winning the senior men’s 800m impressively in blustery conditions in 1 minute 59.46 seconds at the Canterbury interclub meeting at the weekend.

Daniel Laws took out the senior men’s 110m hurdles in 18.19s and the 400m hurdles in 60.62s, and finished fifth in the 200m in 25.21s.

In the women’s 19 100m Lauren Nicol won in 13.38s, with Nicola Mackle fourth in 13.95s.

Mackle impressively won the women’s 19 high jump with 1.65m.

In the women’s 16 hammer throw, Rebecca Hodgson was impressive, winning with a throw of 44.90m.

The 13 year old got off to a bad start in the 100m final but said it was her determination that made her catch the others at the 60m mark and then race on to take the gold medal placing in a personal-best time of 13.23 seconds.

She almost went on to make it a double but was pipped at the post by 0.09 seconds in the 200m final and had to settle for silver.

Brittany, who was competing in her sixth Colgate Games, was one of 44 South Canterbury athletes vying for medals in the 10- to 14-year age group.

Other standout performers were Elizabeth Hampton, who won the most medals of the South Canterbury athletes. It was the first time she was eligible to compete for medals.

The 10 year old won gold in the 400m, silver in the 200m and silver in the long jump.

Overall, South Canterbury won 16 individual medals, with Jonathon Lord taking out gold in the 13-year-old boys’ 1600m track walk and Sam Small winning gold in the 14-year-old boys’ discus. He also won a silver in the high jump.

The standout performer for the Geraldine Athletics Club was Jethro Palmer. He was a finalist in all his 14-year-old boys’ events and he won bronze in the discus.

Louise Hefford impressed with three silver medals in the 14-year-old girls’ shot put, high jump and discus.

For Temuka Athletics Club, it was Ronan Jacobs who was the one to watch, winning two silver medals in the 12-year-old boys’ 100m and 200m events.

About 915 athletes will compete in the three-day event, with organisers expecting more than 3000 people to arrive in town.

The event will be a busy one for South Canterbury’s Cocking family, who have four members taking part – 12-year-old twins, Whitney and Olivia, their eight-year-old sister Renee, and Dad Andrew, who is managing the South Canterbury club competitors.

Whitney and Olivia will be competing in their fourth Colgate Games, while Renee will be participating in her first.

The twins may even compete against each other in the 100 and 200 metres races, should they make it beyond the heats, and both are equally confident they will beat the other if that should happen.

Renee will be competing for pennants in the seven to nine age-groups, participating in the 60 and 100-metre sprints, as well as the long jump and discus.

The Colgate Games are the pinnacle event for young track and field athletes, aged between seven and 14 in New Zealand.

This year the games return to Timaru for the first time since 2005.

Promotions officer Richelle Cannell said the games attracted a large number of people and the age range of competitors meant they were always accompanied by families.

She said this year’s increased entries should bring even more visitors, many of whom would spend time holidaying in the region before or after the games.

“Over the years many families have based their summer holidays around the games. “With over 900 athletes competing, this will bring an estimated 3000 people to the district, including competitors and their families. The economic benefits are significant.”

The opening ceremony for the games kicks off at 9am today with competition starting at 9.30am

The event is designed to find South Canterbury’s best all-round athlete.

This year 18 athletes ran, jumped and threw their way through 10 challenging disciplines.

This is an astonishing number considering the New Zealand multi-event championships struggle to attract any more than a dozen competitors.

The decathlon is normally held over two days with such events as 100 metres, high jump, hurdles and javelin.

The South Canterbury Athletic Club has condensed the entire event into just five hours.

The bragging rights for South Canterbury’s Greatest Athlete this year goes to Simon Small with a total score of 4650 points.

Notable performances came from Sam Small with a powerful javelin throw of 36.80 metres, and Leanne McKenzie with an impressive 1.65-metre high jump.

Jonathan Lord also performed well with a 27-metre discus throw and Clayton Murray ran 1500 metres in 5m 21s.

As the final 1500 metre event began, a hail storm started and athletes were pelted by hailstones the size of marbles.

Results:

Open: C Murray (3755), W Doyle (3627), R Herrick (3414).

19 men: S Small (4650).

16 boys: M Dewar (3515).

14 boys: S Small (3984), B Laing (3301).