Records fall to rising discus star

ANDREW BOARD/The Nelson Mail

DISCUS QUEEN: Courtney Clarke, 16, broke two school records at last week's Motueka High School athletics day.

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Heaver, thrower, hurler – call it what you want, Courtney Clarke knows how to put some distance between herself and a discus or shot put and has two new records to prove it.

Clarke, 16, is aiming for a spot at the Commonwealth Youth Games next year and has been steadily improving under the watch of Motueka High School athletics coach Tony Aikenhead.

Since making the move from Golden Bay at the start of the school year, Clarke has made huge progress, beating both the shot put and discus records for under-16 girls and landing a personal best 35.68 metre discus throw at last week's Motueka High School athletics day. Not an easy feat considering Missy Seymour, the previous record holder, was a national medallist.

While Aikenhead's input has been noticeable, he is not the only influence on the rising star. In late January, Clarke was selected for the young Olympians programme and attended its camp in Whanganui where former world champion Beatrice Faumuina passed on tips to the young thrower.

"She was really friendly and kept talking to us and giving us pointers. It was really helpful," said Clarke.

Aikenhead said she had the potential to have a big future in the sport.

"To start with, she has the right body type and is an athlete. That is really important to have that athleticism and she does. She plays netball and rugby very well so has the right attributes. She is also a quick learner and she will need to be to follow through on her goals," he said.

Among those goals are winning national youth titles, qualifying for the Commonwealth Youth Games at the Isle of Man in 2011 and eventually competing in the Olympics.

"That's definitely the goal [the Olympics] and I feel like I'm getting better all the time and throwing good distances and hopefully one day I'll get there."

Clarke's main discipline is discus but recently she has been training with a shot put. She first picked up a discus at 12 and has since been a big part of Golden Bay athletics, winning various titles and smashing records. She joined the sport performance course at Motueka High School this year, meaning she can train up for four hours a week as part of her course, a big asset for her future development, said Aitkenhead.

"There is plenty for Courtney to work on but she is progressing very well and some subtle technique changes are working well. She is spending a lot of time in the gym building her strength. It's still early days but she has the ability to do very well in the sport," he said.

Clarke's immediate goal is to put in a top effort at the national track and field championships in Christchurch this month.

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