Wellington College favoured to retain McEvedy Shield on Tuesday

The 95th annual McEvedy Shield athletics competition will be staged at Newtown Park, Wellington on Tuesday.

Wellington College, St. Patrick’s College, Wellington, St. Patrick’s College, Silverstream and Rongotai College are the fierce annual combatants.

The McEvedy Shield features four age groups, U14, U15, U16 and Open. Ten track disciplines and six field events are held. Points are rewarded on a 4-1 basis for every event with the winner receiving four points.
Can anyone stop Wellington College from a four-peat in 2018?

Wellington College
Has won the Shield a record 51 times. The sheer size of the school role, nearly double that of the other schools, is a significant advantage.

Last year Wellington won by 90 points, their biggest victory ever. Wellington won 31 of the 55 events contested, including a clean sweep of the 4x100m relays and the 1500m which equals 64 points, more than Rongotai’s entire total of 51 points.

In 2016, Wellington won 22 of the 51 events staged. They won at every age group and by 61 points overall.

In December, Wellington College won nine medals at the National Secondary School athletics championships (NZSS), including gold medals to Cam and Tim Robinson in the javelin. Tim broke the U15 McEvedy javelin record last year as well as earning points in six different events. Cam Robinson enjoyed a stellar 2017. He won gold in the U18 Oceania Champs and in the senior division at the NZSS.

Joshua Williams has won the U14 100m for the past two years. He is also in the shot put and javelin. Last year he was the North Island Junior champion in the 100m and javelin.

Jacob Waikari-Jones was Wellington’s top points scorer last year and has another heavy workload in 2018 competing in the U15 100m, 200m, long jump, high jump and relay.

Harley Patel-Muxlow is one to watch in both the hurdles and jumps. At the NZSS in December he picked up a Silver in the Junior long jump and bronze in the Junior hurdles.

Sean Howe won silver in the Senior shot put and Bronze in the senior discus at the NZSS Champs in December.

The Wellington College captain is Dylan Lynch who holds the McEvedy U14 3000m record and will be leading by the front in the 1500 and 3000m.

St. Pat’s Town
Town has won the Shield five times in the last 10 years and 20 times overall. However the depth of athletics coming through lacks the quality of previous classes.

Town won the Old Boys Cup against Silverstream by 113 points in 2017, nearly double the margin they achieved in 2016.  In 2018, Town only won the Old Boys Cup by 22 points.

Town was much stronger in the field than what they were on the track at Old Boys. Town won the field events by 167-134 and fared well in the open age group section winning that category 82-54.

Town were missing some leading talent at Old Boys and insist they have depth in the sprints particularly in the open ranks where 2017 McEvedy 100m champion Josh Mallon can't get a start because of the emergence of Isaac Oliver and the arrival of Oscar Schmidt-Uili. Both are capable of running 11.2s.

Schmidt-Uili and his younger brother Ethan arrived at St Pat’s this year from Sydney. They are the sons of Paul Schmidt-Uili who played rep rugby for Wellington, Manawatu, the Central Vikings and North Harbour in the 1990s. Schmidt-Uili is a noted jumper and will compete in six events.

Max Karamanolis is a  nationally ranked middle distance runner and outstanding young jumper Will Georgeson holds the McEvedy high jump record with a leap of 1.84m.

Others to watch for are Khya Wilson who competes in the U16 100m, 200m and high jump and Bradley Crichton an U15 shot put and discus thrower.

Town is coached by Leigh Lidstone.

St. Pats Silverstream
Hasn’t won the Shield since 2003, but has prevailed 14 times overall and holds the record for most consecutive wins with six between 1968 and 1973.

Silverstream was far more competitive in this year’s Old Boys Cup against St Pat’s Town, losing by only 22 points and winning the junior section.

A lot of Silverstream’s success in the juniors at Old Boys’ is due to the performance of Oliver Krynen. Krynen won the  U14 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100m relay, long jump and shot put. The National 100m  and 200m collegiate champion will feature prominently on Tuesday.

Hamish Lock in over-17 sprinting events was another multiple winner for Silverstream at Old Boys. Lock attended Nationals last year and will be fiercely competitive in his events.

Sautia Misa won the U15 High Jump at Old Boys by leaping 1.94m a Silverstream record for all grades and one the best jumps by anyone in his age group in New Zealand this year.  He also won the long jump and 100m hurdles.

Rongotai College
Rongotai College holds the record for the largest victory ever in 1989 and has won the Shield seven times overall.

Last year wasn’t a successful campaign, but in Andrew Eng (Y13) and Georgio Toulis (Y11)  Rongotai boasts  two fine McEvedy captains. Eng has been a member of the Rongotai team since Year 9 attaining many points for his school each year.

Georgio is a gifted athlete, representing Rongotai in a range of sports. He has been the driving force in McEvedy training and will be one to keep a close eye on.

Ezrah Vaigafa a National U16 basketball rep and Reon Paul, nephew of All Black TJ Perenara, could feature too. 

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