Emerging talent seen at champs | Manawatu-Wanganui Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Manawatu-Wanganui

There are talented athletes in all our secondary schools and annually, the Wanganui Secondary Schools Athletics Championships unearths many of them.

Last year Brendon Berquist (Rangitikei College), an unknown sprinter, made his mark as an U-14 athlete and went on to finish fourth at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships at the end of the year.

Tomorrow's championships at Cook's Gardens will prove no exception. There are 373 entries from 10 schools and although this is a little down on last year, Wanganui High School and Wanganui Collegiate School, following their record entries at the NZ Schools in December, have close to 90 athletes each.

Many leading athletes will use the championships as preparation for major competitions ahead. These include 400m specialist Sarah McDonald (WHS), Tom Symes, Kate Jefferd, Rebecca Attwell and Georgie Blackwood (WCS), all of whom will be travelling to the Athletics NZ Championships in Dunedin later this month.

Other athletes will focus on the North Island Secondary Schools Championships a week later and these include New Zealand's leading junior 800m runner, Brad Mathas (Cullinane), who has a North Island record in his sights, Annie Benefield (Cullinane), Kelly Davenport (Nga Tawa), Chelsey Monks (Nga Tawa) , Mikaelli Rabukataka (Rangitikei) and Harriet Donald (Collegiate).

The track events start at 2.30pm with heats and sprint hurdle finals in the afternoon and the evening track final events starting at 5.45pm.