Congratulations Miya

Miya competed in her first interclub athletics competition yesterday.  It was also her first time competing on a rubber track.

This was a relay competition; Miya was in the Takapuna Grade 8 girls team.  She ran in both the  4x100m and the 4x200m, as well as doing the shot put for the field events relay.

It was an awesome experience for Miya, both watching and competing alongside some great young athletes.  It was also a very enjoyable family day outing for all of us.

Before this, Miya hadn't had much experience doing relays, so on Friday evening (after ballet class) she and I had a bit of a training session at the track.  It probably took about 30 minutes to go through the basics of baton passing, and getting her to think about when to start running so she was up to speed to receive.  By the end of the session she had got the idea and was starting to get fairly smooth with our baton passes back and forth.

The four girls did brilliantly on the day, comfortably winning both the 4x100m and 4x200m.  Miya was delighted to get her first ever gold medal, for the 4x100m.  Unfortunately though, they were disqualified in the 4x200m.  Apparently there were two mistakes made -- someone stepped out of the lane, and a baton change was made outside of the changeover zone.  The girls all took the bad news well, and as disappointing as it was they all probably learnt a lot from the situation.

The field events relay was a lot tougher.  They only got two throws/jumps each, and no warmup throws/jumps.  Miya's throws were decent, though not at her best.  But we all enjoyed watching the power and skill of the best throwers.

The girls have qualified to enter the Auckland Relay Champs in the 4x100m on the 8th of December.  Unfortunately Miya can't make it because she is performing at the Belmont Music Centre end of year concert on that day.  Another girl will run in Miya's place -- all the best to them!!