It was a lovely sunny but very hot day for the Western Zone Athletics on Wednesday, 27 February. We had 27 students kitted up and ready to represent Rutherford. Overall it was a very successful day with all students doing their best in their events.

The day started with the 3000 meters and we had Harrison Chapman competing in the Senior boys. Not only did he finish 4th but he got a new school recorded finishing in a time of 10 minutes 29 seconds!

We had a number of students competing throughout various events and age groups, it was a very tough and large competition for some of the students. Sebastyan Jack came 3rd in both the 100 and 200 metre intermediate boys, Matt Darrah finished 4th in the 100 metre senior boys, Nakita Ru was 4th in the junior girls shot put, Marissa Ogilvie 4th in intermediate girl’s triple jump, Nikoia Vaihu 4th in the intermediate boys high jump and Ezra Feau 4th in the senior boys high jump. We got our fastest runners together and entered the junior boys, intermediate girls and intermediate boys into the competitive relay races. The junior boys finished 6th, intermediate girls 4th and the intermediate boys 5th.

So far three students have automatically qualified for the Auckland Championships on Wednesday, 20 March. These include Hannah Taylor for finishing 1st place in intermediate girls high jump, getting a new Personal Best of 1.52m, and 2nd place in Long Jump. Kea Churchill came 2nd in high jump intermediate girls and 3rd in intermediate girls triple jump, and Nikoia Vaihu was 2nd place in Intermediate boys shot put. The reserves for the championships are named at a later date.

A huge congratulations to all the athletes that attended the Western Zone Athletics and everyone’s individual achievements, and thank you to the teachers who attended.