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Twelve-year-old Sacha Fu-Oughton of Gulf Harbour outthrew older competitors to win her shot put and discus events at a recent North Harbour Zone secondary school athletics competition.
In the under-14 competition, the Whangaparāoa College year nine student threw 25.27 metres in the discus and put the shot 8.89 metres.
Proud dad Steve Oughton says the 8.89 metre shot put was a personal best for his daughter while the discus throw was somewhat short of her PB of 27.80 metres.
Sacha trains at North Harbour Bays Athletics where her coach, Hayden Kumerich, says he has seen a great rise in her form over the past year.
Hayden says Sacha did all-round athletics as a younger girl but then took a year off when interest waned, before telling her parents she wanted to pick it up again – but with a focus on throwing this time.
“It’s not a case of an athlete being pushed by parents – this is coming from Sacha. The drive is within herself, and those are the young athletes that tend to achieve.”
In addition to North Harbour Bays Athletics training, Hayden also coaches Sacha as part of a PREP squad in Papakura at the weekends.
He says Auckland-wide champs are coming up soon, ahead of national champs in November. He is confident Sacha will do well.
“The exciting part is that she still has two more years in the same age group, and by then she could very well be dominating the division.”
