St Matthew's Collegiate year 12 student Kate Plimmer was one of the big success stories for Wairarapa at the North Island secondary schools track and field championships held at the Pugh Sports Bowl in Masterton last weekend.
Plimmer, 16, showed her versatility by placing second in the senior girlslong jump with a best leap of 5.46m and she was third in the senior girls 100m hurdles in 15.48s.
Plimmer, in her first year at St Matthew's after previously attending Chilton St James in Lower Hutt, was justifiably delighted with her results against quality opposition.
"There's never a lot between the top placegetters in long jump and hurdles so you just have to trust everything goes according to plan," she said. "I was hoping to place well but, no, I wasn't too confident, not at all."
Strong showings for sixth in both her specialist events at the Youth Olympics in Sydney, Australia, last January indicated to Plimmer she could have a future in the two disciplines and she was further encouraged by two fourth placings at the national interprovincial clubs championships last month. Add to them her efforts in Masterton last weekend and it is no surprise she is keen to build on the progress she has made in recent times.
Helping along the way will be her father, Rod Plimmer, a noted coach in the Lower Hutt area who is responsible for planning his daughter's training and racing regime.
"I have to do a lot of trainings on my own but I go home at weekends and Dad makes sure I'm doing all the right things, it seems to work well," Kate said.
