Southland secondary schools athletics review

Last week’s preview for the Southland Secondary School Athletic champs finished with this paragraph:

“Athletics in Southland is in a re-building phase. The recent past saw a great many Southland school athletes prominent at national level (Quinn Hartley, Trent Hogg, Jordan Rackham, Atipa Mabonga, Greer Alsop, Todd Swanson, Rebecca Gibson, Matthew Robinson, Glen Ballam, Andrew Allan to name a few). But the current junior grades and first year seniors are stacked with talent. These Southland and national school championship look to the future. And the future looks good.”

The champs last weekend proved it to be prophetic words.

Certainly, well proven performers dominated as expected; Sienna Mackley (3000, 1500), Kennedy Taylor (steeplechase), James McLeay (steeple, 3000, 1500), William Robertson (100m), Jude Deaker (U15 1500m), Isla MacCallum (throws), the Scherp sisters Carlie and Ashlynn (all throws) and Rico Fisher (throws) prominent among them.

But it was the unknowns, the relatively new faces that created the most interest.

Four who particularly stood out were Cody Lawson of SBHS, Ollie Davis from CSC, Sienna Watson of WHS and Millie McFadzien of St Peters Gore.

Lawson, at just 14 is a sprint find. He had the second fastest 100 of all grades (to William Robertson) and the fastest 200m and 400m of everyone. His coach, Chris Knight knew he would do well, but was surprised how well.

Caption: Millie McFadzien and coach Hannah Miller.

Another who surprised his coach (Lance Smith) and himself was Ollie Davis. The 15-year-old in his first season of serious athletics achieved personal bests in the high jump, triple jump, long jump and 200m. His long jump was the best of the champs by 20cm and a whopping 23cm better than his previous best.

Sienna Watson is not exactly a raw novice, having competed in Canterbury prior to relocating to Queenstown. However, this was her first serious competition after a season off with injury and first time representing her new school. It took a while for nerves to settle but once the rustiness was overcome the 16-year-old dominated the triple jump and high jumps, achieving championship bests in both events.

Lock the name Millie McFadzien in your memory – one day this 13-year-old will be as famous as her cousin and coach Hannah Miller. A bold prediction but based on the way she was not intimated by experienced national medal winners Siena Mackley and Kennedy Taylor in the 3000m suggests the prediction is not a rash one.

Certainly, these four stood out but they were not the only ones with a stake in Southland’s athletic future. Elly Baird, Lucy Stewart, Harry Fletcher, Connor Gilliland, Caleb Diprose, Lewis Blay, James Weber, Ava Wiegersma and Charlie Forde are among the names to watch as well.

Not to mention a crop of talented youngster still at primary school. They will be out to prove their worth at Surrey Park this coming Saturday with the Southland primary school champs.