A brisk start of 5degCel added to the atmosphere of anticipation and excitement for the Dunstan zone athletics sports in Alexandra yesterday.

Held at Molyneux Park, close to 400 pupils from the ten Dunstan zone primary schools ran, jumped and threw, vying for places in the upcoming inter zone athletics.

Central Otago Primary School Sports Association Dunstan zone representative and The Terrace School (TTS) teacher Mike Dalgliesh said the weather conditions were ‘’perfect’’ for athletics.

“There [were] around 30 volunteer helpers and everything [ran] smoothly. All schools in our zone sent helpers which is fantastic.”

Mike said electronic timing equipment was being used for the second time for events and working well.

A change to the relay format this year meant that every single sprinter's time was recorded, and the top eight from each year group would qualify for the inter zone competition, meaning multi-school relay teams would represent Dunstan. 

Records fell throughout the day, including in the Year 6 and Year 7 girls discus. 

The Terrace School Year 6 pupil Fertia Taiulu threw 15m while St Gerard's School Year 7 pupil Anna Breen beat the previous record by 3m to make a 21m throw. 

Cromwell Primary School’s Maycee Ellis (10) holds the new Year 6 girls high jump record, clearing 1.21m. 

She also won her long jump event with a jump of 3.57m.

Watch Maycee’s record high jump of 1.21m. VIDEO: The Central App 

The sports kicked off at 10am when temperatures had climbed to 8degCel and finished with the team relay events wrapping up around 4pm. 

Top three finishers in a Year 6 boys hurdle heat were (from left) Goldfields School’s Theo Sutherland (10), Clyde School’s Henry Edwards (10), and St Gerard’s Schools Lucas Jenkins (10). PHOTO: The Central App

The Year 6 girls long jump winners (from left) are Maycee Ellis (10), Phoebe Lucas (10) and Sienna Trochon (10). PHOTO: The Central App

The Terrace School Year 4 pupil Jed Stewart warms up for the long jump. PHOTO: The Central App

Cromwell College 12-year-old Freddie Earl won shot put with a 9.59m throw. PHOTO: The Central App 

Nathan Arnesen (12) from Roxburgh Area School swings a discus after lunch. PHOTO: The Central App 

Putting their best food forward in the sprints were athletes from most schools in the district. PHOTO: The Central App 

Youngsters took part in seven events: sprints, 400M (year four only) or 800M (years five - eight), hurdles, high jump, long jump, discus, and shot put and relays.

Schools attending were Alexandra Primary School, Clyde School, Cromwell Primary, Goldfields Primary School, Millers Flat, Omakau School, St Gerard’s School, The Terrace School, Cromwell College and Roxburgh Area School.

The groundskeeper at Molyneux Park told The Central App that as cricket matches had recently been held there, they had been maintaining the surface and the grass. 

He had been looking after it for eight years and said “it’s come pretty right.” 

One parent commented that the track looked so good it almost could be mistaken for artificial grass. 

The top qualifiers for each event from Dunstan, Upper Clutha and Wakatipu zone competitions will pit their skills against others in their year group (Years 5 to 8) at the Central Otago zones on March 26, also in Alexandra.

Last year CO zone athletics was cancelled due to bad weather, and it was not held in 2021, or 2022 due to Covid-19 restrictions. 

Both Cromwell College and Dunstan High School recently had pupils competing at the Otago Secondary Schools Athletic Championships held at the Caledonian Ground, Dunedin (March 14-15).

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