• Howick and Pakuranga Times
At the North Island Colgate Games, Pakuranga Athletic Club competitor Xhavinae Samuel excelled, winning the gold medal in the girls-12 discus and bronze in the shot put. She could well be following in the footsteps of other great female throwers Valerie Vili and Beatrice Faumuina.
Xhavinae competed among 1600 athletes from around the North Island as well as a handful from the South Island and Australia in the annual athletics meet. For three days, Mt Smart Athletics Stadium swarmed with seven to 14-year-olds, parents, coaches and volunteers.
The up and coming athlete outclassed her opposition throwing the discus 38.32m, cracking the club record and reaching a massive 5.74m further than her nearest rival, Brooke Urquart, from Papatoetoe. In Xhavinae’s secondary event, the girls-12 shot put, she finished third with a 9.37m throw.
She felt good about her throws although her first went out, but the second was a winning performance. At Easter Xhavinae will compete at the inter-provincial competition in Invercargill.
She started athletics when she was seven-years-old and likes discus and shot put because she’s constantly improving. Her throwing coach is Nigel Edwards, while Roy Mendonca is her fitness coach.
“I train about two or three times a week,” says Xhavinae. “I’ve met Valerie Vili and that was cool.”
Fellow clubmate Paige Harwood comfortably won the girls-14 high jump reaching 1.6m, which was 8cm higher than silver medallist Jamie Sowter from Waitakere.
Paige took gold in the girls-14 long jump with a 5.1m leap, 19cm further than second place-getter, Michaela Blyde from Egmont.
In the girls-14 80m hurdles, Paige not only won silver but also cracked the Pakuranga Athletic Club record, finishing in 12.29s, more than half a second faster than her personal best.
The 14-year-old finished third in the girls-14 shot put and she broke another club record with an 11.44m throw.
Paige has been selected for a Rio 2016 Olympic development squad and she’s now involved in national training camps.
Pakuranga’s David Lee dominated the boys-14 1500m, winning the race in 4 minutes 31.64 seconds. His younger brother Joshua Lee finished third in the boys-11 1500m.
Ray Wang picked up two silvers in the boys-14 800m and 1500m, while Kieran Woods finished third in the 1500m only 0.11 seconds behind Ray.
Pakuranga Athletic Club showed further form in the boys-12 800m, with Jake Pallister winning in 2 minutes 18.58 seconds, followed closely by Hunter Curran in 2 minutes 20.39 seconds, who also finished second in the boys-12 400m. In the boys-12 1500m Jake was second.
The grade-10 mixed 1600m medley relay team scooped the gold medal.
Howick Amateur Athletic Club shared the glory when Kieran Paterson picked up a bronze medal in the boys-12 80m hurdles.
Other successful Pakuranga Athletic competitors were: Dylan Tavita boys-10 shot put 3rd, Hunter Waihape boys-11 long jump 2nd, Kenya Kavanagh-Vincent girls-12 400m 2nd, Denise Mendonca girls-14 1500m 3rd.
