Bays Athletics

🇳🇿 BAYS MASTERS HAVE ARRIVED IN KOREA! 🇰🇷

Our Bays Masters are in Daegu and gearing up to compete at the 2026 World Masters Athletics Championships! 🌏🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

They’ve joined up with the New Zealand team, soaked up the atmosphere and are ready to take on the world! 💪🇳🇿

We’re incredibly proud to have our Bays athletes representing Bays Athletics and New Zealand on the world stage.

Go Bays! Go NZ! 🇳🇿🖤

Follow along as we share their journey and results!

🇳🇿🌏 Bays athletes represent New Zealand at Australian Cross Country Championships! 🌏🇳🇿

A huge congratulations to our Bays athletes Sali Leinfellner and Polina Klimova, who proudly represented New Zealand as part of the NZSSAA team at the 2026 Australian Cross Country Championships in Ballarat, Victoria. 🇳🇿👏

🏃‍♀️ Sali Leinfellner – U20 Girls
🥉 3rd place in the individual U20 Girls race
🥇 Gold medal in the U20 Mixed Relay!

🏃‍♀️ Polina Klimova – U18 Girls
⭐ 11th place in the individual U18 Girls race

Both athletes should be incredibly proud of their performances, competing in tough and very muddy conditions against some of the best young cross country athletes from across Australia and New Zealand. 💪🌧️

And a special congratulations to Sali, who backed up her fantastic individual 3rd place with a gold medal in the U20 Mixed Relay with Team NZ. 🥇🔥

What an amazing experience and achievement for two of our Bays athletes to pull on the New Zealand singlet and represent their country on the other side of the Tasman. 🇳🇿💚💛

Well done Sali and Polina — Bays is incredibly proud of you! 👏

Massive shout out to Polina and Sali! Good luck in your travels and comp girls.

All the best to our 2026 NZSSAA cross country representative team led by Brad Smith as they head to Ballarat, Australia for the 2026 Australian Cross Country Championship taking place this coming Saturday.

Additional details of the event, entries, results and livestream link can be found at https://www.athletics.com.au/event/2026-australian-cross-country-championships/

looking forward to a lovely day this Saturday! 💜 🕊

Bays Masters Head to the World Masters Championships

This week, nine North Harbour Bays Masters athletes will head to Daegu, South Korea, to compete at their first World Masters Athletics Track & Field Championships, taking place from 22 August to 3 September.

This is an exciting milestone for our Bays athletes, and we are incredibly proud to see them representing the club on the world stage.

Our athletes will compete across a range of events:

Sprints
Phillipa Green · Jill Hayman · Wayne Holroyd · Grant Hodges · Ryan Smith

Hurdles & Jumps
David Anstiss · Ho Young Do · Hee Sun Kim

Throws
James Thomas

Everyone at North Harbour Bays Athletics Club wishes our Masters athletes the very best of luck in all their events. We wish them safe travels, great competition and an amazing experience representing Bays on the world stage.

Go Bays!

Huge congrats to everyone who braved the wet & wild weather at Sunday’s Athletics Auckland Road Race Championships. Special mention to our five new Auckland Champions…!

🏆Wanjiku Gitau, Girls U10 - 2km
🏆Tyler Poland, Men U16 – 4km
🏆Olivia Gold, Senior Women – 10km
🏆Eryn Westlake, Women U20 – 5km
🏆Karen Davison, Women 55 – 10km Road Walk

💚 We also had a huge number of athletes make the top 10 in highly competitive fields.

Senior Men - 10km
6th James Matthews

Girls U8 - 2km
🥈Piper Van Der Westhuizen

Boys U10 - 2km
🥉Patrick Meyer

Boys U10 - 2km
7th Andrew Free

Girls U12 - 2km
🥈 Isla Tobin
10th Sophie Dale

Boys U14 – 3km
🥉Luca Tahuparae
4th Rocco Slade
10th Benjamin Nicholas

Girls U14 – 3km
4th Krya Geens
5th Vivienne Meyer
6th Fenella Foden

Women U16 – 4km
4th Georgia Stanton
8th Katie Gardner
9th Nyah Slade

Women 50 – 5km
🥉Michelle Hopkins

Senior Men – 10km
6th James Matthews

Senior Women – 10km
🥈Devon Lowyim
🥉Holly Manning

Full results here https://my.raceresult.com/408951/live
📸 Thanks to Action_Snaps 🤩

💚💛 What a Commonwealth Games it has been for the Bays whānau! 🖤

Over the past few weeks, we have watched with enormous pride as athletes connected to North Harbour Bays Athletics Club took to the world stage in Glasgow.

From Anthony Barmes, representing New Zealand in the Men's Hammer Throw and finishing an incredible 6th with a 67.49m throw, to Symone Tafunai, making history for Samoa and running a strong 12.03 seconds in the Women's 100m we couldn't have been prouder. 🇳🇿🇼🇸

We also had the privilege of watching Olivia McTaggart battle it out in the Women's Pole Vault, finishing 4th at the Commonwealth Games. While we know she was chasing more, what an incredible achievement to be among the very best in the Commonwealth. 💚💛

And a special mention to James Steyn, who represented New Zealand in the Men's Pole Vault jumping an incredible 5.10m to come 8th. James is a valued member of our club whānau as a committee member, and we were incredibly proud to see him competing on the Commonwealth stage. 🇳🇿

But behind every athlete standing on that start line, runway or throwing circle is a team of people who helped make that moment possible.

To the coaches, training partners, families, clubs, physios, strength and conditioning teams, medical staff, managers, supporters and everyone working behind the scenes we see you too. 👏🏽

The hours spent at training, the early mornings, the travel, the sacrifices, the encouragement after the hard days and the belief when things didn't go to plan all play a part in getting an athlete to a stage like this.

Athletes may be the ones under the spotlight, but they never get there alone. ❤️

To everyone who has supported Anthony, Symone, Olivia and James throughout their journeys, thank you. Your contribution is part of these achievements, and we celebrate you alongside them.

Four incredible people, four different journeys, and one very proud Bays whānau. 💚💛🖤

From Glasgow back to Auckland we were watching, we were cheering, and we were incredibly proud. 🌎🇳🇿

Congratulations to you all. 👏🏽

🇳🇿💚💛🖤 Karmen, you absolute legend! 🌟

7th in the WORLD at the World Athletics U20 Championships! 🌎🔥 What an incredible achievement, we are so incredibly proud of you!

We can’t wait to have you back home and back in action this season, inspiring the next generation and passing on those amazing throwing skills to all our young athletes. 💪🏽🏆

What a performance, Karmen! You’ve done Bays proud. 💚💛🖤

Congratulations! 👏🏽🇳🇿

Seventh in the world for Karmen Maritz 🌏🇳🇿

A strong comp to secure the first top-8 Kiwi finish of these championships 🌿

Amazing Karmen! Bring on finals! 🤍🖤

Karmen is heading to the discus finals!

After a solid qualifying throw to sit in fifth in group A, it was a short wait for group B to conclude to find out if she'd secured her position in the final.

💛🖤💚 To our Olivia,

Over the past few weeks, the entire Bays whānau has been watching every jump, celebrating every clearance, and cheering you on from here in Aotearoa. What an incredible privilege it has been to watch one of our own compete on the Commonwealth stage.

We know how much this meant to you. We know the years of dedication, sacrifice, resilience, and determination that it took to earn your place there. Every training session, every competition, every setback, and every comeback led to this moment.

While we know you were chasing more, we hope you also know what an extraordinary achievement it is to finish 4th at the Commonwealth Games. That is something very few athletes ever accomplish, and something your Bays whānau is immensely proud of.

But your legacy at Bays isn't just measured by heights cleared or where you finish on a results sheet.

It's also measured by the way you inspire others!

Just recently, one of our young athletes proudly competed at the Oceania Championships in a pair of spikes that you had so generously passed on. She went on to win a silver medal wearing them. 💛🖤💚

Moments like that remind us that the greatest athletes don't just achieve incredible things they lift others up along the way.
Thank you for being such an incredible role model to our athletes, for representing Bays and Aotearoa with humility and pride, and for showing our young athletes what hard work, kindness, and perseverance look like.

No matter where your next runway leads, know that your entire Bays whānau will always be behind you cheering every jump, celebrating every milestone, and believing in you every step of the way.

Olivia McTaggart NZ Pole Vaulter We are so incredibly proud of you.

Your Bays Whānau💛🖤💚