College sport: Westlake's Gill flies 7.25m to beat long jump record set in 1956

Hamish Gill has beaten the under-18 long jump record.

Long jump records have a habit of taking years to fall.

Case in point: Bob Beamon's world record leap at the 1968 Mexico Olympics was not surpassed until Mike Powell flew in 1991. New Zealand's senior long jump record of 8.08m is still held by Bob Thomas from 1968.

And the Auckland athletics under-18 long jump mark of 7.07m held by Dave Norris was set in 1956. Held until March 13, that is.

Westlake Boys' High School student Hamish Gill, representing the North Harbour Bays club at the Australian junior track and field champs in Sydney, soared to 7.25m. The 17-year-old set a personal best and beat the record. He had two other fine jumps that day, of 7.16 and 7.17m.

Norris was pleased to see his record fall to a fellow club member. He has known Gill since he was 9 and is the club president. "It was embarrassing that it took so long," says Norris, now in his 70s but still active in athletics. "But Hamish has got all the attributes. He's going to do 8m before he turns senior. He's the best young prospect we've seen in a while."

Training with the country's top long jumper Matthew Wyatt will help, and Gill's 7.25m is the third best long jump by a Kiwi this year.

Gill, in year 13 at Westlake, says he has only really dedicated himself to long jump in the past 12 months. The work has paid off and he has acknowledged his coach Elena Brown, nee Vinogradova, who represented Russia as an athlete in the 1990s.

"I've always wanted to jump 7m, but it's about the mental side. I always used to get hung up about making sure my jump was perfect. Before Sydney she said to empty the mind except for sprinting and hitting the board. As soon as I hit the board, I jump 7m. That's my mentality. In Sydney, I was pretty knackered in the Australian sun. It was about 30 degrees and I went through four drink bottles. I started the clap going ... and I ended up jumping 7.25m, which was really amazing," he says.

Even more amazing was the winning jump in Sydney, 7.49m by Queensland's Joseph Muller, but that did not faze Gill.

"I was still in the moment, pretty shocked. I was aiming for Sydney to be a PB, breaking the 7m barrier, so I was pretty chuffed about that."

Not content with the record and then a gold medal at the Champ of Champs last month, where he won the senior boys' long jump with 6.94m and placed second in the 200m for good measure, Gill claimed the national club under-18 title last weekend in a windy Wellington, and added golds in the 4x100m relay for under-18s and under-20s, plus a 100m silver medal.

Results

Cricket

Gillette Cup regional final:
St Peter's College 141 (Jack Parsons 54; Will St John 3-15, Hamish Mclean 3-31) lost to
King's College 145/9 (Charles Bevan 53*; Cameron Jones 3-22, Zane McEntee 3-36) by one wicket

Rowing

Maadi Cup A finals:
Girls' U17 4+: Westlake GHS 1, Wanganui HS 2, Baradene College 3
Boys' U15 double sculls: Whakatane High School 1, St Peter's School (Cambridge) 2, St Patrick's College 3
Girls' U15 4x+: Craighead Dio School 1, Glendowie College 2, Villa Maria College 3
Girls' U18 2x: Nga Tawa Dio School 1, St Peter's School 2, St Peter's School 3
Boys' U16 4x+: Marlborough Boys' College 1, Whakatane 2, Christchurch Boys' High School 3
Boys' U18 2x (N): Hamilton Boys' High School 1, St Peter's School 2, Christchurch BHS 3
Girls' U18 exhibition 8+ (N): St Peter's School 1, Columba College 2, Epsom Girls' Grammar School 3
Boys' U17 8+: Christ's College 1, St Paul's Collegiate 2, St Bede's College 3
Girls' U17 4x+: Southland Girls' High School 1, Glendowie 2, Gisborne Girls' High School 3
Girls' U15 coxed fours: St Margaret's College 1, Diocesan School for Girls 2, Waikato Diocesan School 3
Boys' U18 4x+: Whakatane 1, King's College 2, St Peter's School 3
Boys' U16 4+: Westlake BHS 1, Auckland Grammar School 2, Hamilton BHS 3
Girls' U18 4+ (L): St Margaret's 1, Christchurch GHS 2, St Kentigern College 3
Boys' U15 8+: Hamilton BHS 1, St Kentigern 2, AGS 3
Boys' U18 4+: Napier BHS 1, Hamilton BHS 2, Christ's College 3
Girls' U18 4+: Westlake GHS 1, Waikato Diocesan 2, St Margaret's 3
Girls' U16 4x+: Timaru GHS 1, Dio 2, Southland GHS 3
Girls' U18 1x: Hamilton GHS 1, St Peter's School 2, Te Awamutu College 3
Girls' U15 2x: Glendowie 1, Craighead Dio School 2, Hauraki Plains College 3
Boys' U15 4x+: Hamilton BHS 1, Christchurch BHS 2, Hamilton BHS 3
Girls' U17 8+: Waikato Dio 1, Sacred Heart Girls' (Hamilton) 2, Westlake GHS 3
Boys' U17 coxed four: St Paul's Collegiate 1, James Hargest College 2, Christchurch BHS 3
Girls' U18 2x (L): Rangiora High School 1, Westlake GHS 2, St Peter's School 3
Girls' U16 4+: Hillcrest High School 1, St Margaret's 2, Craighead Dio 3
Boys' U16 8+: Marlborough BC 1, Hamilton BHS 2, AGS 3
Girls' U18 4x+: St Peter's School 1, Nga Tawa Dio 2, Te Awamutu 3
Boys' U15 4+: Hamilton BHS 1, AGS 2, Westlake BHS 3
Girls' U17 2x: Glendowie 1, Southland GHS 2, St Paul's Collegiate 3
Boys' U18 4+ (N): Hamilton BHS 1, Wellington College 2, Christchurch BHS 3
Girls' U16 2x: Wanganui HS 1, Nelson College 2, Mt Albert Grammar School 3
Girls' U18 8+: Waikato Dio 1, Westlake GHS 2, St Margaret's 3
Boys' U18 8+: Hamilton BHS 1, St Bede's 2, Napier BHS 3

Tennis

Senior A1 semifinals: Boys: AGS beat King's 8-1, Westlake BHS beat Sacred Heart 7-2; 5th/6th: Rosmini beat MAGS 5-4
Senior A1 girls: Carmel beat EGGS 6-3, Westlake GHS beat Dio 9-0, MAGS beat Baradene 8-1

Water polo

North Island SS champs, final placings
A grade boys: Sacred Heart 1, Rangitoto 2, Westlake BHS 3, St Patrick's Town (Wellington) 4, Auckland Grammar 5, Kristin 6, St Kentigern 7, Hamilton BHS 8, King's College 9, St Peter's College 10, MAGS 11, Palmerston North BHS 12, Tauranga Boys' College 13
A grade girls: Westlake GHS 1, Wellington East Girls' College 2, Diocesan Schools for Girls 3, Epsom Girls' Grammar 4. St Cuthbert's 5, Queen Margaret College 6, Rangitoto 7, Kristin 8, Mt Maunganui 9, John Paul 10, Baradene 11, St Oran's 12, St Mary's 13, Hamilton Girls' High 14, Carmel 15, Sacred Heart Girls' (Hamilton) 16
B grade boys: Aquinas College 1, Long Bay College 2, Green Bay High 3, Cambridge High 4, Mt Maunganui 5, Takapuna Grammar 6, Northcote 7, Western Springs 8, Glendowie 9, Avondale 10, Hutt International Boys' School 11, Rutherford 12, Mt Roskill Grammar 13
B grade girls: Hillcrest High 1, Long Bay 2, St Kentigern 3, Takapuna Grammar 4, Waikato Diocesan, Western Springs 5=, MAGS 7, Glendowie 8, Marist College 9, Avondale 10, Rutherford 11