Kerikeri High athlete aiming to be running in the Olympics

When Kerikeri teenager Melissa Simpson gave up her childhood passion of horse riding three years ago, she decided to take up running.
 And Simpson proved to be such a natural athlete, the 16-year-old was recently selected by New Zealand Athletics  to join the national performance training squad which is targeting the 2010 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
"I didn't really know much about it until I was sent a letter saying I had been recognised at the New Zealand Secondary Schools champs in December," she said.
At last year's national champs, after only three years competing in athletics, the Kerikeri High student ran second in the junior girls 1500m, her specialist event.
 Simpson said she was determined to make the most of the opportunity, and is focused on making the future Olympic athletics team, with the help of her current coach, Kerikeri High's head physical education teacher Grant Connon.
 Connon, a former decathlete,  recognised her potential when she attended an after-school training session and offered to take her under his wing.
 Simpson has shown steady improvement while competing under the Athletics Whangarei umbrella.
Since her selection in the squad, Simpson has  attended a training camp in Christchurch for specialist middle distance runners in January, followed by a Young Olympian training camp,  for athletes preparing for both the London Olympics and the Rio de Janeiro games.
"The people are really cool - I was one of the youngest. We had physios and nutritionists come in to talk to us. They [the training camps] were really helpful," she said.
Every six months squad members will be assessed on their results at competitions, and their development through the race season.
Simpson  will be tested for the first time as a squad member at next month's North Island Secondary Schools Championships where she will run the 1500m and most likely the 800m. She then will contest the National Club Championships in Christchurch where she is entered in the 1500m, and will most likely race the 4x400m relay with her Whangarei clubmates.
 Her goal is to better her personal best time of  4m 38s for the 1500m set at National Secondary Schools Championships in 2008, and 2m 19s for the 800m, set at last year's New Zealand Club Championships.
It will be a busy 12 months for the ambitious teen.
 Along with her Year 12 studies, she will need to juggle training, competitions and hockey - her second love, after running.
"I want to go as far as I can with hockey as well. Luckily the sports complement each other."
 Simpson played for Old Girls Premier Women and Northland Under-16 last year, and said she  gets a head start on her hockey fitness thanks to athletics during the summer, while hockey keeps her fit  during winter.