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Organisers of the 2025 North Island Colgate Games in Hastings hailed the event a success.
Over 1000 young athletes competed, with strong performances from five Hawke’s Bay clubs.
Hawke’s Bay Olympians and New Zealand representatives awarded medals, inspiring participants with their presence.
Organisers of the 2025 North Island Colgate Games held in Hastings over the weekend are hailing the event a success, with the five Hawke’s Bay athletic clubs that entered also achieving strong results.
More than 1000 kids aged 7 to 14 from around the country and a few Australians competed at Mitre 10 Park in the athletic competition in front of what organisers said was an average of 1300 spectators each of the three days.
Sharee Jones, president of Athletics New Zealand, secretary of Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne Athletics, and one of the main organisers of the games, said that the event ran smoothly “when the weather played ball”, and praised the sponsors for keeping the competition running over the years.
“Colgate’s ongoing sponsorship for over 45 years now has been invaluable for our young athletes,” Jones said.
Hawke’s Bay Olympians middle distance runner Geordie Beamish and kayaker Aimee Fisher handed out medals, as did world championship NZ athletics representative Georgia Hulls, local councillors and Tukituki MP Catherine Wedd.
“[It’s] nice for the kids to come along and see those athletes and see the pathway there,” Jones said.
Hawke's Bay athlete Georgia Hulls awards pennants to competitors at the 2025 Colgate North Island Games at Hastings Mitre 10 Sports Park. Photo / Michael Dawson / Athletics NZ
Central Hawke’s Bay Athletics chairwoman Shaye Andersen said plenty of her discus throwers scored personal best results and one of her 8-year-old boys, Oscar Neville, achieved a place for every divisional race that he was in.
“It’s such an awesome event for kids to get involved in whether they are good athletes or not, just the confidence the kids get from meeting other people and giving it a go,” Andersen said.
Dannevirke Athletic and Harrier Club sent 14 of their athletes and achieved a bronze in the long jump with Will Hogan in the boys’ grade 13. Club treasurer Kelly Gillard says the games are a good environment for kids to have a go at things that they haven’t done before.
“[It’s a] really good experience for the young ones to be able to get out of their comfort zone, get out of the small town, go and see what it’s like on an artificial track – not just a grass track at home and it gives them reassurance if they want to stay in the sport,” Gillard said.
Yvette Pohe from Athletics Wairoa said her athletes delivered an outstanding performance, with Cagiva Huata achieving a gold in the boys’ grade 11 discus and a silver in the boys’ grade 11 shot put and Celia Martin qualifying for the finals in both the girls’ grade 11 800m and 200m events.
“The team showcased determination, skill, and great sportsmanship, and we are incredibly proud of their achievements,” Pohe said.
Napier Athletic Club chairman Richard Rutherford said he believed the club had its best Colgate Games in recent years, with Luka Donaldson scoring a silver in the boys’ grade 13 high jump and Eva Redward achieving a bronze in the girls’ grade 14 shot put and “a whole lot of pennants” for their 7, 8, and 9 grade kids.
“Great event, it was a little bit dodgy on the weather front at the end of the third day – apart from that, things went pretty smoothly,” Rutherford said.
Jack Coombe of the Hastings Athletic club races the 1500m at the Colgate North Island Games at Hastings Mitre 10 Sports Park. Photo / Michael Dawson - Athletics NZ
Hastings Athletics had over 70 athletes compete at the games and came away with several medals, including Hana Symes winning gold in the girls’ grade 14 400m and bronze in the girls’ grade 14 100m, and Alfie Kuklinski winning silver medals in the boys’ grade 14 100m hurdles, 100m and long jump.
The club also had Jennifer Eruo win gold in the grade 11 girls’ long jump, Sylvia Allen took bronze in girls’ grade 13 400m, 800m and as a member of the grade 13 girls’ 4x100m relay team with Scarlett Gray, Maia O’Connor and Lucy Strong.
Nikau Rowlands got silver in the boys’ grade 10 1200m race walk and Harper Aukuso, Jae Symes, Lola Burt and Indiana Riggs silver in the grade 10 girls’ 4x100.
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.
