52nd NZSSAA Track & Field and Road Race Championships
December 5 to 7, 2025 - We participated in the 52nd New Zealand Secondary School Athletics Association Track, Field and Road Race Championships in Hastings and here are the results:
Girls 800m Senior
Day 1 (Dec 5) Heat
Lisa Heat 2 2nd 2:31.28 Q | Sarah Heat 3 1st 2:15.95 Q (official results)
Day 2 (Dec 6) Semifinal
Sarah Semi 1 1st 2:14.02 Q | Lisa Semi 2 2nd 2:18.15 Q (official results)
Day 3 (Dec 7) Final
1st Sarah Hellyer 2:08.48 | 2nd Lisa Hellyer 2:08.74 (official results)
The coverage of all three races by Whakaata Maori TV (click the time to watch videos):
Heat:
ATHLETICS | 2025 NZSS Track and Field Nationals | Session 1 (Lisa from 1:13:00 / Sarah from 1:22:52)
Semi:
ATHLETICS | 2025 NZSS Track and Field Nationals | Session 3 (Sarah from 1:35:24 / Lisa from 1:39:59)
Final:
ATHLETICS | 2025 NZSS Track and Field Nationals | Session 5 (from 47:06 / Lisa Lane 3, Sarah Lane 4)
My performance on the day didn’t go as well as I had really hoped for, but a second and a podium finish with my sister in the national champs I think makes it something that I can be proud of. Conditions-wise, I was very sharp that I had finished my final workouts, with one of my last 300 m clocking in at a time of 40 seconds and a 600 m time trial of 1:30. However, during prefect camp, which was held earlier that week, I had put my back out during one of the activities, which led to my back being very sore during the week leading up to the race and the weekend of such competition, which confidence-wise was a little degrading. Combined with the heat and dry weather of Hastings, and lack of hydration then too much hydration on my behalf, on the final day my body just felt very off and weak, which is something that I never want to feel again during a championship final. But nevertheless, I still managed to run a 2:08 mid in such conditions that weren’t so great, which makes me very excited for the season ahead.
In terms of race, as something to recap on so that I can learn for next time, again, would be my start. I’m going to be honest, the plan of me leading for 300 m, then my sister leading for the next 300 m, and then whoever has the gas left to get to the line first was a bad tactic in my eyes. I always end up going out too fast and getting tangled amongst the competition (which has increased chances as we have only raced 1 800 m race thus far in the season), which makes for a pretty tough second half. Not to mention, I was waiting for Sarah to come during the 300–400 m mark of the race, rather than getting ready to attack it. Another was that I kept telling my mind to just relax rather than to go, which formed a gap between me and my sister which shouldn’t really have happened, especially at that stage.
So this is what I am taking from such a race. The first thing that I am going to take away from this race is to train with intention. This means easy days easy, and hard days hard, and listening to coach (Dad) as well as giving my opinions, so that I don’t peak too early, as well as give my body a chance so that it can produce performances of confidence rather than those of defeat. Another is communicating about how my body feels after tough sessions so that we can learn to compromise paces to benefit fitness and performance.
Second is again about confidence, but this time being confident in my ability to cover the moves being made. During the final, although my back was a huge pain, I still could’ve at least been there for my sister until the 700 m mark to have possibly been able to support her (especially given that the pace wasn’t anything new to us), as well as give myself the opportunity to get a PB, as we went out at such paces. So definitely not giving up even if I feel off on the day is a takeaway.
And lastly, to test hydration and nutrition during regular training days, to ensure that I have somewhat of a routine to rely on during such champs, to ensure I can feel good on the day. I think these three–four lessons will be good to reflect on during the season, to hopefully decrease the chances of them reoccurring again.
So yeah, am I a bit annoyed with how that final went? Absolutely!! Very much so. But has it given me the opportunity to learn more about myself and the things I need to fix? Also yes!! I’m going to take this as the start of my comeback season to hopefully work harder than I ever have, but also… recover as hard as I ever have as well 😂😠so you know we don’t get injured. So yeah let’s see what this season produces!! Already under the U20 world champs standard!! How much more can we drop to be an absolute beast during it 😤🫡
Sarah:
Heat
Wanted to run comfortably and as smooth as possible. However, one of the girls decided to take it out faster than I wanted, so we ran 2:15.96. Wasn’t what I wanted but still manageable. I did find that because the schedule was delayed, our call tent time was longer and we had to sit in a hot call room for 40 minutes. This made me feel very dehydrated and tired before I even started, and I felt dehydrated and drained after the heat.
Semi
The semi-final was about the same as the heat. The same girl took it out at roughly the same pace and I just stayed more patient this time and kicked just a bit with 170 m to go. This was an easy race and we ran 2:14 low (still manageable). I did, however, drink too much water and probably lost a lot of my salts and minerals, which kept me feeling dehydrated as I was flushing everything out 🤦♀️. I felt like I should have hydrated better and brought other electrolytes other than Powerade, a note to self for the future.
Final
I wasn’t feeling the greatest going into the final. The warmup felt a little heavy and I felt quite drained (probably from heat and slight dehydration). Regardless, I did some drills and some strides, trying to avoid the sun as much as possible, and went to the call room. Luckily, the time in the call room was much shorter, only being about 15–20 minutes. Once we lined up on the start line, I didn’t feel great but knew that I could do at least 2:08 on a really rubbish day, which most of our competitors couldn’t do. Because of this, I was confident and was able to be patient. Everyone went ballistic at the start, going through the first 200 m in 29, which wasn’t sustainable. After a bit of jostling, Lisa was able to get to the lead and I was also able to do so just before 400 m to go (I was being patient). We went through 400 m in 62 and then I kept a smooth pace until 600 m, going through in about 1:33–1:34, until the last 100 m where I slowed down and the last 40 m where I really slowed down. I felt my form fall apart and I just let it happen. I basically began to jog, but luckily that was enough to get me across the finish line in a good position. It wasn’t the best day mentally or physically just because I definitely gave up towards the end, but I was proud of how we executed and I’m excited for the season ahead. If I can do 2:08 tired, what can I do when I feel fresh? (P.S. I had the fastest heat, semi, and final time, which was cool.)
