There’s a new national school athletics champion in east Auckland.
Pakuranga College pupils Jordan Viljoen, Amelia McKenzie and Veronique Koole were among the standouts in the junior girls category at the recent New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Association Track and Field Championships.
Jordan won gold in the final of the 80 metres hurdles to be named national champion.
The 14-year-old blitzed the field with a winning time of 12.31 seconds, a new personal best (PB).
She also finished second both in the high jump with a best of 1.64 metres and the 300 metres hurdles in a time of 45.94 seconds.
Jordan, who trains at Pakuranga Athletic Club, says she went into the competition with the mindset of being able to win the 80m hurdles.
“I’d done trainings the week before, strength and conditioning, and running some races at club nights.
“In the heats I did a major personal best (PB) of 12.11 seconds and in the final I did 12.31.
“I was very happy with the gold.”
Jordan may have surprised some by finishing second in the 300m hurdles final given she was new to the race.
“I’d only done it previously in the heats,” she says. “In the final I was really nervous.
“Some other girls were maybe a bit older and had done it so many times before.”
Amelia finished fourth in what’s possibly the most difficult and technical of track and field sports, the pole vault, with a height of 2.20 metres.
The 15-year-old admires Kiwi Olympian pole-vaulter Eliza McCartney and has a long-term ambition to represent Auckland and then New Zealand.
“Currently my goal is to jump over three metres, so in the next year I want to do that at the North Island nationals,” she says.
“I haven’t been doing it for very long. The nationals [in the South Island] were my first competition doing pole vault.
“I think once I did a comp and get over my nerves, the development every year will be quite big.”
Amelia is also full of praise for Jordan for being named national champion in the 80m hurdles.
“Even though I didn’t place, and I came fourth, I’m still so proud of Jordan.”
Veronique finished sixth in the javelin with a best throw of 27.51 metres.
The 15-year-old had been suffering from a shoulder injury leading into the competition.
“My goal was to throw above my personal PB, which is 32 metres, but I came short and not everything went right on the day,” she says.
“I went down there and got to throw and made it into the next round with the top six.
“It was kind of disappointing because I knew I could throw above 30m, but just fell short.”
She became interested in the javelin from seeing it on television and her father used to compete in the sport also.
“I went to a few trainings and really enjoyed it and went from there.”
A versatile athlete, Veronique also competed in the 300 metres hurdles, making the semi-finals.
“Javelin is more about technique,” she says.
“Some people can throw with their upper body, but if you want to get distance it’s mostly from your legs and the momentum you get from the run-up.
“I’d love to keep doing both [javelin and hurdles] but in terms of where I go in future, I think javelin is the best option for me.”
She’s reflective of the chance to compete at the major track and field event alongside her two schoolmates.
“I find it really comforting that we’re the same age and are all girls going down and showing we can do it and represent our school,” Veronique says.
“It’s not always about the other sports. Athletics is also pretty big.”
