Athletics: Snell bags three in a row

Mitchell Snell with father Tony who is his physiotherapist as well as coach. Photo / Warren Buckland

Winning is hard enough so imagine what it must have been like for Mitchell Snell to try to retain his high jump title for the third consecutive time.

"I was quite nervous the day before, just thinking if I lost I won't get it," said the 12-year-old who was competing at the Colgate Games in Wellington the previous week.

Come the day of reckoning, Snell found peace of mind at Newtown Park as he took in the Western rolls and Fosbury flops coming under intense scrutiny from the unrepentant crossbar.

"I watched others finding it quite hard so that relaxed me," said the Lindisfarne Year 8 pupil.

When the thuds subsided on the deep-foam landing mat, the Hastings Athletics Club member emerged as the winner on a countback with a clearance of 1.51m on Friday, January 9.

"I got up to 1.54m but bailed out."

It's a great snapshot of mind over matter for not just youngsters but anyone aspiring to greater heights in the sports arena.

"I knew I could jump that at the Hastings club so I thought why not here?"

The 1.6m tall gold medallist was tied with Ezekiel Stallworth, of Lower Hutt, after all athletes had three attempts at new heights once they progressed.

"At 1.48m I had missed two jumps and on the third one I went really well and cleared it quite comfortably.

"I won because I missed fewer jumps than him [Stallworth]."

In 2013 Snell won his first title at the games, clearing the bar at 1.35m as a Reignier Catholic School pupil.

He reloaded and blew away the opposition in Whangarei the following year with a 1.48m clearance.

For the record, his brother, Hadyn, 16, also at Lindisfarne, is jumping at 1.65m.

"He [Hadyn] followed me and enjoyed it all the way."

The son of well-known Hawke's Bay physiotherapist Tony Snell got in the discipline at the age of six with his father's help at Napier Athletics Club before walking the floor in 2012 to Hastings because of the new all-weather track and facilities at the HB Regional Sports Park.

Besides, the senior Snell was good friends with the "godfather of Bay athletics", the late Allan Potts.

Father and son went to Auckland a month ago where they consulted coach Paul Lothian for two sessions.

"He gave me pointers, including how my back should be," said the youngster who started embracing the Fosbury technique last year after engaging in the scissors one before that.

"Dad was a runner and he did quite well."

That is where the younger Snell's athletics future will switch lanes from this year.

"I'm thinking of becoming a runner in 800 metres," said the boy who got silver in the distance last year (2m 26.04s) before emulating it this year in 2:25.

The person who was third in 800m last year won gold while the 2014 winner, Josh Kelmar, didn't return.

In his years of competing at the games, Snell has bagged six golds, two silvers and a bronze (last year in the 400m race).

The other three golds were for the medley relay (2013) and long jump (2013-14).

"I was unplaced in the long jump this year so I'm pretty gutted with myself."

His father, an accomplished runner in his heyday, will continue mentoring Snell in running.

"I play basketball but I used to play hockey, cricket and soccer."

He won't completely give up high jump but will make 800m a priority in line with the Snell family tradition.

So does his father work magic with his nimble fingers to keep him supple and fit?

"When I'm injured he's always telling me to do this or strap that," he said with a laugh.

However, he still totally appreciated where Tony was coming from for his endurance and longevity.

Hastings clubmate Oliver Wichman, in his games debut, collected three medals.

Nick Palmer and Georgia Rathbone, in their their last games, also won medals, as did transtasman-bound Charlie Roil in his second games and first-time hurdlers Reece Akuhata and Matthew Woodhead.

The club, which took 33 athletes, came away with three boys' relay medals.

The Napier club 4 x 100m 11-year-old boys' relay team (Coby Price, Cameron Dawson, Connor Leslie, Josh Adegoke) claimed gold in a time of 56:53s ahead of the Karori club.

Price won silver in the 200m race in his age group in 28.23s before jetting to Sydney for the Transtasman Championship.

Hastings medallists

*Angus Lovatt: B7yrs 60m 1st, 100m 1st, 200m, 1st, long jump 2nd.
*Jonty Roil: B8yrs 100m 3rd, 200m 3rd, shotput 2nd, discus 2nd.
*Hadley McDougall: B8 yrs 200m 3rd, shotput 1st, long jump 1st.
*Elle Lovatt: G9yrs 60m 1st, 100m 1st, 200m 1st, long jump 2nd.
*Grace Akeripa: G9yrs 60m 2nd, 100m 2nd, 200m 2nd.
*Charlie Roil: B10yrs 200m 3rd, 400m 3rd.
*Oliver Wichman: B10yrs 100m 3rd, long jump 2nd.
*Mitchell Snell: B12yrs high jump 1st, 800m 2nd.
*Matthew Woodhead: B12yrs 80m hurdles, 2nd.
*Reece Akuhata: B13yrs 80m hurdles 3rd.
*Georgia Rathbone: G14yrs high jump 3rd.
*Nick Palmer: B14yrs 1st shotput.
*4x100m relay medals: B11yrs 3rd (Cooper Flanders, Joshua Woodhead, Oliver Wichman, Lachie Young), B12yrs 2nd (Jacob Murphy, Matthew Woodhead, Wesley Akeripa, Rhett Mulinder), B13yrs 3rd (Reece Akuhata, Ben Allan, George Crosse, Max Ireland).