Greased lightning from Boys' High

JOHN HAWKINS/Southland Times

BLINK AND YOU'LL MISS 'EM: Southland Boys' High school-leavers Matthew Robinson (left) and Glen Ballam won gold in their respective senior boys' 400 and 800m track events at the national secondary school athletics championships in Timaru.

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It's official. Southland has two of the quickest track athletes in the country.

Southland Boys' High School year 13 leavers Matthew Robinson and Glen Ballam were sporting huge smiles yesterday after returning from the national secondary schools athletic championships in Timaru as 400 and 800m senior boys' track champions.

Robinson added another chapter to his glorious secondary school athletics career after winning gold in the senior boys' 400m for the third year in a row with a 48.11sec effort in the final. He also bagged a bronze in his secondary event, the triple jump.

The precocious 18-year-old talent said it was a brilliant way to finish off his time at high school.

"It just caps off all the years of going there ... It's good to end it that way."

Ballam also shone in Timaru claiming gold in the senior boys' 800m final with a time of 1.52.31. It was an outstanding effort from the youngster and made up for last year – when he ended up second in the 800m after losing a shoe 200m into the race.

"It felt pretty emotional," Ballam said. "I was really stoked after it. Last year, I was pretty gutted."

The pair then won their second gold of the championships when they teamed up with schoolmates Chad Butson and Mitchell van Schaik in the 4 x 400m senior boy's relay final.

Athletics Southland coach Lance Smith said it was a fantastic effort and he believed they both had massive futures ahead of them.

"I think they can go all the way."

He put their success down to their dedication, natural talent, and motivation to be the best they can be.

Robinson has made every post a winner in 2009. He won two titles in the men's 19-year-olds 400m race and the triple jump at the national athletics championships in April – shattering the Southland 400m record in the process. This year, he has also broken Southland 100 and 200m records.

If all that was not enough, he was then part of the New Zealand 4 x 400m relay team that headed to an International Athletics Federation grand prix meeting in Japan.

Ballam has also excelled this year, winning the senior boys' 800 and 1500m events at the South Island secondary school chams.

Next year, both Robinson and Ballam will begin tertiary study at Otago University, with Robinson studying commerce and law, and Ballam psychology and physical education.

The big athletics event that is circled on the youngsters' calendar for 2010 is the world junior championships in Canada in July.

Robinson has already achieved the qualifying time for the 400m but, with only two New Zealanders allowed to go in his event, he needs to make sure he keeps performing to a high level to earn selection.

Ballam needs to get down to 1min 51sec flat or better in the 800m to qualify, but should have no trouble if he continues going the way he is.

Robinson was looking forward to testing himself on the world stage, hopefully, in Canada, to see where he measured up internationally.

`It's good to see where you are in the world," he said.

brendon.egan@stl.co.nz

- © Fairfax NZ News

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