Record breaker has eye on Rio

Bay of Plenty sprinter Molly Florence was celebrating after breaking a 36-year-old record.

The John Paul College student won the Mid Island Schools senior 100m in a time of 12.39s in Tokoroa, taking .01 of a second off the mark set by Rotorua Girls High's Morag McKenzie in 1976.

That record was equalled by Rotorua Girls High's Sarah Cowley in 2001 but not beaten until Monday.

Molly, 16, was delighted to get her name in the history books of the event, which includes schools from Rotorua, Taupo and South Waikato.

"That was my one goal for the day, I really wanted to break the record," she said.

"I was so happy that I did because I had never run that time on grass before."

Her record-breaking run came after she won two golds in the Auckland Under-17 championships last weekend, setting new personal best times in the 100m and 200m.

Molly, whose 100m personal best is 12.23s, is building up to the club nationals on March 23 where she wants to take the national Under-17 title.

"At the moment I have got the number one wind-assisted ranked time in New Zealand for my age group so I am aiming to win (the 100m)."

Her ambition is to compete at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and she is willing to do whatever it takes to get there. "I train six days a week. I go to Tauranga to work with my coach Todd Blythe twice a week and the rest of the time I do gym work.

"I love it so much, I so enjoy training."

It was a successful day for John Paul College, with a number of top three finishers and two other record-breaking wins.

Promising youngster Paige Satchell set a 3000m junior record of 10.50m, while Michael Gardner cleared 1.71m to claim the junior high jump record.

Like Molly, Paige runs for the Lake City Athletic Club and competes in a range of cross- country and middle-distance events.

"I normally do 1500m and 800m but I decided to do 3000m and I did quite well in it," she said.

Michael said he was very happy to have set the record but would probably not be able to attend the upcoming Waikato Bay of Plenty championships.

"I have a basketball tournament."

Sport director Arthur Faulkner said it was probably the school's most successful Mid Island event and he expected more good results at the Waikato Bay of Plenty meeting.