One of the highlights of the junior athletics programme was held last weekend in Palmerston North with Western Bay athletes performing with distinction against the best of the rest from New Zealand.
The 38th annual North Island Colgate Games and the South Island version on this weekend double as the national junior athletics championship for children aged 7 to 14. More than 2000 entrants are taking part with 50 athletes from the Bay of Plenty region competing at the North Island Games.
There were several outstanding individual performances from Western Bay of Plenty athletes.
Flynn Murdoch, 13, from Athletics Tauranga won four medals, with gold in the Boys Long Jump Grade 1, a silver in the 100m and bronze medals in the 200m and 800m. Andre Gundersen, 10, from Greerton Amateur Athletics Club won two gold medals in the Grade 10 Boys discus and shot put, and a bronze medal in the high jump. The Bellevue Athletic Club team of Abigail Griffiths, 12, Georgia Browne, 13, Bianca Pearce, 13, and Kayli Tuiraviravi, 13, won gold in the Girls 4x100m Relay Grade 13, while Taylor Smith, 13, from Athletics Tauranga also took home a gold medal from the Boys 400m Sprint Grade 13.
The 2016 Colgate Games ambassador and New Zealand champion 1500m runner Julian Matthews says it was grounding to see the kids competing at such an intense level.
