A small but mighty crew of Rolleston College athletes made their mark on the South Island Secondary Schools Athletics Championships, held in Nelson on 4-6 April 2025.

Taylan Endicott-Davies got the team off to a roaring start on Friday afternoon in the under-16 boys’ hammer throw. He gave a Sandra-Perkovic-at-Rio-2016-esque performance, fouling on all but his third throw, which was good for silver.

Saturday morning dawned warm and Judah Lodoviko kicked it off with a close second in the under-15 boys’ long jump. He led the competition by a significant margin until the last round where he was overtaken by just 3cm.

On the track, Zoe Hooper qualified handily for the under-15 girls’ 200m final, which would take place within an hour of her upcoming 100m heat.

Ben Calvert ran well in his under-16 boys’ 200m prelim, missing qualifying for the final by just two places.

Millie Long won her senior girls’ para 200m, before joining Kyle Endicott-Davies to take on the para discus events. Millie won the senior girls’ division and Kyle placed third amongst the junior boys. Kyle matched his effort later in the afternoon with another third-place finish in the shot put, while Millie was second in her shot put.

Left: Millie Long. Right: Kyle Endicott-Davies.

Around the same time, multi-talented Eli Craig competed in the under-16 boys’ long jump, taking seventh place in a strong field.

By the time Ciaran Harris had his start in the under-19 boys’ 3000m, the mercury was rising and he did well to turn in a new personal best and place seventh.

Left: Eli Craig. Right: Ciaran Harris.

Luke Angland faced similarly warm and still conditions for his under-15 boys’ 3000m after lunch. While he has the under-14 title from last season firmly under his belt, he didn’t have it all his way on Saturday, tailing a fast-kicking Sam Moore from Christ’s College on the final straight to place second.

This event was closely followed by the other end of the running spectrum: the 100m prelims. Judah made fast work of his heat, crossing the line in 11.73s with a following wind. In heat two, we were treated to the first of a few new South Island schools records when Bradley Kershaw of Nelson College produced an almost unbelievable wind-legal 11.04s, setting the stage for the final.

Cooper Ruri continued to impress with his second place finish in the under-16 boys’ discus, with a consistent series and his best attempt coming in the final round.

Zoe returned to the track for her 100m prelim, putting down a controlled run to qualify in third for the final on Sunday morning.

Her relay teammates Eden Innes and Sophie Warren raced the under-19 girls’ 100m prelims shortly afterwards, with Sophie equalling her personal best and Eden recording her best outing this season. Their runs qualified them for the final, which meant Sophie was in for a typically lactic acid-filled Sunday.

Sophie Warren (second from left) and Eden Innes (third from left).

Millie was second in her 100m, coming up shy of fellow Cantabrian Mattisin Wanhalla of Hornby High School.

Elodie Wightman, one of our youngest team members, ran an impressive race in the under-14 girls’ 800m—and what would have been a significant personal best—if not for a lane infringement. While a disqualification is a disappointing result, Elodie can take heart in the fact that she matched the pace of the winner for two laps, and demonstrated a very bright future in the middle distances.

Zoe capped off her day with a silver in the under-15 girls’ 200m final half an hour later, with a nifty new personal best of 26.49s—quite simply a cracking pace.

Minutes later in the under-19 girls’ 200m final, Eden Innes went one better, taking the South Island title in 26.12s. Relay teammate Sophie Mercer was hot on her heels in fifth place, lifting team spirit heading into day two to an all-time high.

Eli Craig made sure the Rolleston College cohort ended the field day on a high note, securing bronze after soaring close to his PB, with a 1.75m clearance in high jump. With a delayed start and one of the largest fields of the weekend, the Nelson skies had clouded over, leading to less than ideal jumping conditions. Ever the seasoned performer, Eli was not put off, besting the next three competitors on countback.

Sunday’s weather was less favourable for sprints, but it didn’t perturb Judah or Zoe, our first competitors for the day. Judah backed up his fast prelim with a silver, and Zoe matched him a few minutes later.

Eden Innes won bronze in the under-19 girls’ 100m final, with Sophie Warren shaving 0.01s off her personal best to finish fifth. She followed this up almost immediately with a fourth place finish in the 400m before reconvening with the team for a relay warm-up.

Elodie returned to the track for the under-14 girls’ 1500m ready to take some names, and she did just that with a remarkable run and gigantic personal best for silver. This run was a testament to her mettle and rallying ability, and we are so proud of her.

Luke took advantage of the cooler climes to deliver a masterclass in “leaving it all on the track” in the under-15 boys’ 1500m. Frequent readers may recall that he set a new PB of 4:21 in this event in December at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships in Timaru. Displaying all the poise of a well-tempered piano, Luke absolutely took apart the 1500m field here, and in the process set a new South Island schools record of 4:10.03. Crazy work.

Left: Elodie Wightman, and right: Luke Angland, deep in their 1500m flow.

Fifteen minutes later, Judah was back at it in his signature 400m event. He outclassed the under-15 boys’ competition, taking the win in 52.09s, with daylight to spare.

Ciaran did well to finish eighth in an unusually paced under-19 boys’ 1500m. He can be pleased with his two new PBs over tough distances in the weekend, and we hope to see him at cross country nationals once the winter months hit.

Taylan Endicott-Davies closed out our field efforts for the weekend with a fourth-place finish in the under-16 boys’ shot put.

Finally, our under-19 girls’ 4x100m relay team of Eden Innes, Sophie Mercer, Sophie Warren and Zoe Hooper did not disappoint, nailing all four legs to repeat as South Island champions. This was a superb run and a great way to finish the weekend!

Left: Eden Innes setting up to lead off the relay. Right: Zoe Hooper anchoring the team to a win.

Sophie Mercer, Sophie Warren, Zoe Hooper and Eden Innes: South Island champions in under-19 girls' 4x100m relay.

Huge congratulations to all of these athletes! We are so proud of you, and very grateful for all the work you and your family put in to contribute to the sport. Roll on off season!