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Shot putter James Moore and discus thrower Finn McLeod, both 17, won their respective events competing against some far older opponents.
Moore threw 14.59m in the shot put – more than a metre clear of second-placed Max Abbot – and his worst throw was better than Abbot’s best.
McLeod took out the discus with a best effort of 47.07m from his second attempt.
Boys’ High head of athletics Mike Drury said the achievement is a special moment for the pair.
“I think it’s really significant. I’m certainly not aware of young men over the years having success in these events going up age groups.”
Drury said the pair had only decided last week to compete in the senior competition.
“Even though they’re only 17, they both thought they’d have a go at the senior shot put and discus titles.
“And tied in with that, it means that you’re throwing a much heavier implement as well.”
McLeod only had his first ever throw with the 2kg senior discus, up from 1.75kg for age-group competitions, three days before the event.
“Finn’s coach said to him: ‘Okay, why don’t you have a go at throwing the 2kg discus in the Canterbury champs this weekend’.
“So he got it out, had two throws, and that was his preparation for that event.”
The pair have signed up to compete in the International Track Meet next Saturday (February 24) – the biggest event on the athletics calendar in the South Island, featuring a number of overseas representatives.
Drury hopes the boys make the cut for the prestigious competition.
“I read the other day that there’s athletes from 20 different countries competing, and a total of 80 international athletes that are going to be competing on that day,” he said.
“So it’s a really cool event, and the quality of competition will be unreal.
“At this stage, both boys are hoping that they will make the fields for those, but it will come down to how many international athletes are coming over and happen to be in their events.”
McLeod could have the chance to compete against 2022 Commonwealth Games medallists Matt Denny (Australia) and Lawrence Okoye (Great Britain) in the discus.
Moore will face off with his coach Nick Palmer, ranked second in the country, and four-time Canadian champion Mark Bujnowski.
If they qualify, Drury thinks they’ll be competitive.
“Finn is actually ranked fourth in New Zealand right now for discus, and James is fifth in shot put.
“So that puts it into perspective about how well they are actually achieving.”
But it’s not just athletics where the pair put in the hard yards.
“These two guys, they’re involved in a lot of stuff – both of them are still prefects this year,” Drury said.
“They’re also both in the 1st XV this year, our head coach has been really obliging in terms of encouraging them to carry on with their athletics.
“Everyone at the school is immensely proud of them.”
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