Northland's up-and-coming athletes showed their class at the Junior Ribbon Athletics Day organised by the Whangarei Club at Kamo High School's track on Saturday.
Enthusiastic young athletes, from 7 to 16 years old, wearing their club colours, competed in the sweltering heat for winners' and placegetters' ribbons with red being awarded
for first, blue for second and yellow for third.
Looking every bit a champion, 10-year-old Lee Turner heaved with all his might to win the shot put and, with energy to burn, went on to win an impressive total of five red ribbons during the day.
But Turner didn't have it all his own way. Kaitaia's Zuriel Togiamata sent the discus soaring well clear of Turner's best, winning the red ribbon in the 10-year-old boys' grade and leaving Turner to take the blue ribbon.
Promising youngsters Ryan Slater, 16, and Paul Carter, 15, looked set to battle out the 800m when they took their marks, with Carter having beaten Slater over 600m in their last competition.
But Slater left little to chance and scooted around the first lap in 59 seconds, leaving the long-striding Carter unable to make up the deficit in last lap.
For Slater, the race went to plan.
"I was really hoping to beat him this time," he said.
Carter was content with Saturday's run, but will be looking for opportunities to head off Slater in the future.
"My coach, Ian Babe, said to have a firm run today and that's what I did last Tuesday," Carter said.
"I wanted to beat him [Slater] and I did.
"I'm hoping to beat him in the future. I don't mind how far in the future as long as I beat him."
Despite their rivalry on the track, Slater and Carter are mates.
"We do everything together, we're in the same soccer team, we went to the same intermediate and we train together," Carter said.
Other youngsters to impress were Stina Wilson, 15, from Waipu; Talei Togiamata, 13, from Kaitaia; Logan Sanders, 12, from Wellsford; and Cory Bellamy, 13, who travelled from Ruawai to experience some tougher competition.
