** UPDATE ** A record 4 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals at the 2024 Athletics NZ Championships in Wellington. Also 2 very close 4ths and many PBs. Fast forward a few weeks and they achieved 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze at the North Island Schools Champs. Not only is this team the most academically able but they are sprinting away with their success!

Sophie is a multiple New Zealand gold medalist over a number of distances. Her 5km time is faster than yours. Such domination of Auckland and New Zealand distance and road racing is not surprising given her extremely fast 3km time of 10m11 and 5km time of 17m37. It is merely progress on what she has managed to achieve in previous years. Sophie's remarkable performances, swift times and dominant displays, underline her unparalleled commitment to athletics. As a result she was awarded the 2023 Auckland Schools' Supreme Young Distance Runner of the Year Award.

Equally noteworthy is Sophie's outstanding academic journey, where she consistently excels in highly challenging subjects, reflecting her intellectual acumen from a young age. Her achievements in Year 13 Calculus and advanced mathematical concepts when in Year 10, highlight her aptitude for complex academic pursuits. Sophie's academic brilliance is evident given she gained a perfect SAT score of 800 in Math and an equally impressive 780 in Reading and Writing. Moreover, her current trajectory, based on first half results, suggests she is on the path to achieve a perfect 45 points in the International Baccalaureate (IB). This will consolidate her position well inside the top 1% of the world’s scholars.

Athletics fans know the name Scarlett Robb. She is a remarkable athlete with a commitment to excellence, not just in sports but in academic pursuits. Before turning to track and distance racing, she was a multifaceted athlete, excelling in springboard diving and swimming. At one stage she held an impressive 18 Auckland age group swim records. Her international acclaim also extended to gymnastics, where she contributed to the New Zealand team's triumph at the New South Wales Gymnastics Championships.

In the 2021-2022 season, Scarlett gained gold at the North Island Cross Country Champs and followed it up with a commanding victory in the NZ U16 Road Racing Championships. Academically, she displayed exceptional prowess, tackling advanced Year 11 mathematics concepts, while only in Year 9. The 2022-2023 season witnessed Scarlett's ascent to new heights. She dominated the NZ Secondary Schools Year 9, 3km Road Race, retained her North Island Cross Country Crown and although only in Year 10, still managed to maintain top scholar status in national Year 12 NCEA exams.

Indie Williams is a remarkable athlete with a passion for leading and winning races. In 2022, Indie dominated in the North Island Colgate Games and set an U14 3000m Junior Resident Record of 10m40. She then won gold in the Auckland Track and Field U14 1500m Championships. In August 2022, Indie won the Auckland Central Schools Y8 Cross Country Championships and the prestigious AIMS games Year 8 Cross Country, cementing her position as the premier Middle-School Female Cross Country runner of the year.

During the 2023 athletics season, Indie continued to shine, dominating all races and winning gold medals in the Auckland Zone Preliminary Championships (1500m and 3000m), Auckland Champion of Champions meeting (1500m and 3000m), and North Island Championships (1500m). She finished the season with a personal best time of 4m43 in the 1500m event, but her impressive winning performances suggest even faster times and records are within reach. At the end of 2022 she was named the Diocesan School Junior Sportswoman of the year, an award that has been hers since 2021. As a result of her outstanding performances she was also awarded a Diocesan School Board Sports Scholarship. In December 2023 Indie underlined her year of dominance by winning the NZ Schools Road Race. She then completely dominated the 2024 Athletics NZ Championships with commanding wins in the 1500m and 3000m and followed it up a few weeks later with a very commanding 1500m win in the North Island Schools Championships.

Greta only took up competitive athletics in 2022 but since then has certainly made her mark. From the start of the season Greta improved each race and slowly moved up the ranks. Greta finished the season with a bronze medal in the Auckland regional zones 1500m but then stepped up to silver in the Auckland Champion of Champion meeting at the end of the season. In between she also made the North Island 1500m finals. As well running, Greta is also a multi-talented athlete with medals in aquathon and a silver medal at the national cycling team time trial. Her team was later named the Baradene College junior sports team of the year. In between winning athletics medals, Greta plays for her school in the premier hockey grade. Like most of the athletes in this team, Greta is also a significant scholar who prides herself on academic excellence. Greta finished 2023 with a close 4th in the NZ Schools Road Race.

The Legacy

Although Lise was only part of the team for a season, she certainly made an impact. She came into the team as a medalist in the French 800m championships and left as New Zealand 3000m champion. She has since moved back to France where she is completing a Master’s Degree in International Law. More importantly she still finds time to compete at a national level and has run even faster over the 3000m distance. At the start of 2024 she was ranked as one of the top 6 runners over 3000m in France and in February she was a silver medalist in the French Elite Indoor 3000m championships.