Athletics season finished

And another athletics season is over.

This season we were interrupted in our training by a month-long trip to China over Christmas and the New Year.  It was definitely worth it, but it made it harder to get top performances when we only trained two or three times the entire time we were over there.

Mulan:

This season Mulan got new personal bests in triple jump (10.44m), long jump (4.67m), heptathlon (3026 points), 200m (29.40s), 800m (2:50.68s), 600g javelin (19.92m) and 4kg shot put (8.00m).  She got the club record in the triple jump and heptathlon.

Mulan's big aspirational aim for this season was to achieve the qualifying standard in the triple jump to allow her to compete at the National Champs.  For the Under 20 women this was 10.20m, and she needed to get this at a recognised competition by the 16th of February.

At the beginning of the season she jumped 10.00m twice, so we knew that if she trained well and had good conditions it was possible.

One challenge was that Auckland Athletics doesn't put on many triple jump competitions.  In the new year and before the 16th of February there was only one competition, on the 10th of January.  And this was the day after we arrived home from our China holiday.

Not ideal, but Mulan had a go.  Understandably, jetlagged and with little training, Mulan didn't get the standard, falling short with a 9.65m jump.

Mulan's next option was to ask for special dispensation, explaining her situation and pointing out that there are very few girls meeting that standard, so the competition would be quite empty.  Unfortunately the answer came back no, because they don't give dispensations to juniors (under 20s).

We chatted about this with the Takapuna Athletics Club president.  He immediately said let's have our own official triple jump competition at the club.  He arranged for four nationally qualified athletics officials to come to the club and put on a recognised competition on the 11th of February.  (Thanks everyone, you were amazing!!)

Meanwhile, Mulan kept training daily.

On the day of the competition we were worried that the wind would be too strong (it has to be 2.0m/s or less).  But it died down enough, and the conditions were perfect.  Seven of us competed, to make it a real competition and to give Mulan a rest between her jumps.

The results of the Takapuna Triple Jump Exhibition are here.  Delightfully, on her third jump Mulan got a wind legal 10.22m.  She'd done what she needed to do, the competition was recognised, and she qualified for the Nationals.  More daily training followed after that.

And then at the Nationals Mulan did even better, coming 4th with a jump of 10.44m.  (Oddly, one of the girls competing didn't appear to have met the qualifying standard, with no recognised jumps over 10m.  We have no idea why there was this apparent inconsistency in selection.)

Auckland Senior Champs (21-22 February, 14 March), Under 20 Women

1st triple jump (9.96m)

1st javelin (19.16m)

2nd long jump (4.67m)

Results

Javelin results

New Zealand Champs (5-8 March), Under 20 Women

4th triple jump (10.44m)

Live results here

New Zealand & Auckland Combined Events Champs (21-22 March), Under 20 Women

2nd Auckland, 4th New Zealand heptathlon (3026 points)

Results

Miya:

This season athletics has not been such a big priority for Miya, as her focus has been on school and music, preparing for her school orchestra trip to China in April.  We can't do everything, and we have to make choices.  Consequently Miya hasn't trained so frequently and so hasn't improved from last season.

Nonetheless, Miya has still done very well, coming 5th= in high jump at the Nationals. She also picked up a gold medal at the Secondary Schools Nationals as part of her school's 4x100m relay team (school magazine article here).  And she broke her school high jump record, clearing 1.60m at the Westlake Girls Athletics Day (school magazine article here).  She also got a new personal best in the long jump (4.56m).

We also got to see Miya on TV!  Her Nationals high jump competition was shown on TVNZ here.

New Zealand Secondary Schools Champs (5-7 December), Junior Girls (Under 16)

7th high jump (1.58m)

13th triple jump (9.67m)

15th 80m hurdles (13.97sec)

19th 300m hurdles (53.73sec)

1st 4x100m relay (Westlake Girls team)

Results

Auckland Senior Champs (21-22 February), Under 18 Women

1st triple jump (9.75m)

3rd high jump (1.50m)

Results

New Zealand Champs (5-8 March), Under 18 Women

5th= high jump (1.54m)

Live results here

Auckland Secondary Schools Champs (19 March), Intermediate Girls (Under 17)

3rd high jump (1.55m)

3rd triple jump (9.96m)

Results

Me:

This season I newly moved up an age group to the 50-54 years category.  This meant that my hurdle heights lowered and my throwing weights lightened.  Much easier!

For the past several years I had been giving myself a personal fitness goal of still keeping up with Mulan and Miya when I turned 50.  For the most part I think I succeeded in that.  I'm still faster than the girls at the sprints, though the girls have better fitness and endurance.  Miya has been beating me in high jump for a few years now, and this season Mulan beat me in triple jump by 2cm, but in long jump I'm still ahead of them both (for now).

For the new age category I got club records in triple jump (10.42m), long jump (5.10m), high jump (1.45m), javelin (27.14m), 400m hurdles (1:24.81sec) and pentathlon (2277 points).  My pentathlon points was a new personal best.

Auckland Senior Champs (21-22 February, 14 March), Masters Men 50-54

1st triple jump (9.74m)

1st long jump (4.95m)

1st high jump (1.45m)

1st javelin (27.14m)

1st 400m hurdles (1:24.81sec)

2nd 60m (8.22sec)

2nd 100m (13.19sec)

2nd 200m (27.57sec)

Results

Javelin and 400m hurdles results

Auckland Combined Events Champs (21 March), Masters Men 50-54

1st pentathlon (2277 points)

Results

School's out for summer

School's now finished for the year for Mulan and Miya.

Mulan finished her final uni exam a month ago, completing her first year studying Biomed at Auckland University.

The results came back, and for the eight courses she sat this year she got five A+, two A, and one A-.

After their first year, if they wish students can apply to transfer from Biomed to Medical Imaging, Surgery, Optometry or Pharmacy.  There are limited places available for each of these four programmes, and only the top students get in.

Mulan's preferred choice is Pharmacy, and she is waiting to hear back if she was selected.

---

Meanwhile, last week Miya finished Year 10 at Westlake Girls High School.

At the end-of-year Junior Prizegiving on Thursday, Miya received an Academic Excellence award, as well as Distinction in Music, Maths, Social Studies and Textiles.

For her subjects next year Miya chose Music, History and Textiles, along with Maths, English and Science.

At the prizegiving Miya was also kept busy performing.  She played her French horn in the Junior Orchestra, sang in the Junior Choir and played her clarinet in a small-group ensemble.

In previous weeks Miya also attended the school Sports Prizegiving, where she was recognised for her achievements in athletics, and also the school Junior Music Prizegiving, where she was recognised for her involvement in several orchestras/bands/ensembles/choirs.

Mulan's first solo travel

Last weekend, Mulan solo traveled for the first time ever.

On Friday afternoon she flew down to Wellington, stayed in a backpackers, then flew back up to Auckland on Sunday night.

This was because the concert band that she plays in (West City Youth Concert Band) was performing at the New Zealand Concert Bands Association National Festival, which this year was held in Wellington.

In Wellington, Mulan caught the bus from the airport to the backpackers, and then back again.  Once at the backpackers she was able to walk everywhere, as it was close to the performance hall and CBD.

At the backpackers, Mulan roomed in a 4-bed dorm, and she used the shared kitchen to cook her meals.  Frequent family travels over the years meant she was pretty familiar with buying what she needed from the supermarket to cook.  So, independent living went smoothly.

She said that on Saturday and Sunday morning she did lots of sightseeing walks around Wellington, clocking up a couple of dozen kilometres on her phone app.

Then on Sunday afternoon her band performed at the festival.

They played four pieces, which happily were recorded and posted on YouTube for us family back home to enjoy:

We can see Mulan at the front centre, playing the flute.

Delightfully, the band was awarded Gold by the festival adjudicators.  Well done everyone!

It sounds like she had lots of fun, and this may be the first of many more travel adventures.

Exercise

After a month of rest, athletics winter training is starting next week.  Here's our plan for exercise over winter:

Miya:

Monday: Contemporary dance

Tuesday: Weights (athletics squad)

Wednesday: Running (athletics squad); Ballet

Thursday: 

Friday: Rock climbing

Saturday: 

Sunday: Running (athletics squad)

Mulan:

Monday: 

Tuesday: Weights (athletics squad); Ballet

Wednesday: Running (athletics squad); Ballet

Thursday: Weights

Friday: 

Saturday: 

Sunday: Running (athletics squad)

Me:

Monday: Biking & rock climbing

Tuesday: Weights (athletics squad)

Wednesday: Running (athletics squad)

Thursday: Biking & rock climbing

Friday: Rock climbing

Saturday: 

Sunday: Running (athletics squad)

Dance and climbing

In between athletics, music and academics, we have a little bit of time left for dance and rock climbing.

Mulan:

Way back in 2022, Mulan passed both her RAD Advanced 1 Ballet and NZAMD Level 6 Contemporary exams.   Then, throughout 2023 and 2024 she worked on Advanced 2 ballet.  (Her dance school didn't offer contemporary at higher levels, so she had to stop that.)

Finally, last August Mulan sat her Advanced 2 exam.

Unfortunately, Mulan did not pass.

We didn't know this so much at the time, but it turns out that Advanced 2 is pretty difficult to pass.  It's a bit different from the other previous exams that Mulan had sat.  Leading up to the exam, Mulan was attending up to about six hours of classes each week, but doing almost nothing outside of class.  We now know that that's not enough.  I get the impression that Advanced 2 is more for people who treat dance as their number one activity and are likely going to go on to do dance at tertiary level.  That wasn't Mulan.  But it was a great learning experience for her to try it out at that level.

This year (2025) Mulan is continuing to dance, doing a couple of hours each week of open classes at Mainly Dance.

Miya:

Last year (2024) Miya did both RAD Intermediate Ballet and NZAMD Level 4 Contemporary.  She sat the ballet exam in August and the contemporary exam in September, passing both of them.

This year Miya decided not to continue with ballet.  She is doing Level 5 Contemporary and, just for fun, attending an open neo-classical ballet class.

This year Miya also restarted rock climbing, after a couple of years away from it (she stopped at the beginning of 2023 because it was clashing with ballet and athletics).

In term 1 Miya joined She Climbs at Northern Rocks.  This is a fun social climbing group for secondary school aged girls.  The once-a-week meetup fits in perfectly for what Miya wants to do, and she's continuing this term.

Me:

A few days ago I also restarted rock climbing at Northern Rocks, after a couple of years away from it.

My body has been feeling increasingly sore from sprinting and jumping, so I decided that I need to change my exercise routine.  The plan is that most days I'll bike to the climbing wall (about 15 min) then climb for about 30 minutes or so.

Academics

In between athletics and music, Mulan and Miya also do a bit of academic stuff.

Miya:

Last year (2024), Miya finished homeschooling and started secondary school, entering Year 9 at Westlake Girls High School.

It all went well, and at the end of the year she got distinction in Maths, Music, Science and Social Studies, as well as Year 9 Academic Excellence.  She collected her certificates on stage at the end-of-year prizegiving.

This year for Year 10 she chose Music, Dance and Fabric Technology (ie sewing) as her three optional subjects.  She was selected into the Maths Extension class, and is also doing English, Science, Social Studies, PE and Health.

Term 1 has just finished, and Miya is having a relaxing school holiday.

Mulan:

Last year was Mulan's final year at secondary school.  Alongside sitting NCEA 3 in Music, Calculus, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, she also decided to have a go at Scholarship in Music, Biology and Chemistry.

Scholarship is pretty difficult.  Only the top students in New Zealand attempt it, and only about 3% of those who attempt it get it.  Our advice to Mulan was to just treat it as a fun learning experience, and a good introduction to how university learning will likely be.

Delightfully, she got Scholarship Music, and her marks were close in Biology and Chemistry.  Westlake Girls acknowledged the Scholarship winners early this year at a prizegiving.

But the priority for Mulan was to do well enough in her NCEA 3 courses to get into her preferred university course.

By midway through the year Mulan had decided that she wanted to go to Auckland University and do a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science (and continue living at home).

Entry into Biomed requires at least 280 points in NCEA 3 courses, which is higher than most other university courses (eg, a normal BSc requires 165 points).  Roughly, this meant that she needed to get at least 40 excellence credits and 40 merit credits at NCEA 3.

Happily, Mulan got what she needed, and was accepted into Auckland Uni Biomed.

At the moment Mulan doesn't yet know what she wants to specialise in.  She enjoys biology and chemistry, and there are lots of different directions it could take her.

This year Mulan has been kept busy with her studies.  There's a lot of content to learn, and when she's not at uni she's often in her room studying.  It's now mid-semester break and no classes, but unlike Miya most days she's still working.

Music

Alongside athletics, Mulan and Miya are equally involved in music.  Here's what they've been doing:

Mulan:

Last year (2024) Mulan was very involved with music at her school (Westlake Girls High School).  The Westlake schools (both girls and boys) have an excellent music programme, and are especially active in the large group orchestras, bands and choirs.

Mulan played cello in the Westlake Symphony Orchestra and Westlake Chamber Orchestra, and also sang in the Cigno Voce choir.  Mid year, they performed at the KBB Festival and Big Sing events.  Her string quartet performed at the Chamber Music Contest.

Through Westlake, Mulan had weekly lessons in both cello and singing.  She joined two weekend school music camps, for choir and orchestra.

She also played flute in the West City Youth Concert Band, and performed at the New Zealand Concert Bands Association Nationals in Hamilton.

But her main instrument continues to be the recorder, which she had private lessons in throughout the year.

Mulan took music as a Year 13 subject, and sat NCEA 3 Music, achieving excellence.

She also sat Music Scholarship, which involved her performing on the recorder and writing a 3000-word essay analysing the piece she played.  Scholarship is tough to get, and in 2024 of the 2088 New Zealand students who sat it in music, only 60 got scholarship plus 6 got outstanding (stats here).

Delightfully, Mulan got Music Scholarship (and $500 for her efforts)!

This year (2025) Mulan has stepped back a bit with her music, to focus on her university studies.

However, she continues to play flute in the West City Youth Concert Band.  The National Festival this year will be in July in Wellington.  This will be Mulan's first big independent trip, flying down and staying in a backpackers for the weekend.

This year Mulan has also started a part-time student job, teaching recorder at Birkdale North Music Centre.  On Saturday mornings, Mulan teaches five classes of beginner recorder to primary-aged children.

Miya:

Last year Miya started at Westlake Girls High School, and immediately got involved in lots of music groups.

She was in the Year 9 Music Academy subject class.  She newly picked up the French horn, and had weekly lessons in that and also clarinet.

She auditioned for and was selected into the senior Westlake Concert Band, playing clarinet.  She also played in the junior Symphonic Band.  She performed at the KBB Festival, and attended two weekend school music camps.

Miya also played clarinet in the West City Youth Concert Band, and performed at the Nationals.

This year, Miya is doing even more music at Westlake.

She is in four groups -- Westlake Symphony Orchestra, Westlake Concert Band, Westlake Symphonic Band, and Nota Bella choir.  She's having lessons in clarinet, French horn and singing.  Again, she's taking music as one of her subject options.  And again, she went away on a weekend music camp.

In the coming months Miya will perform at the Big Sing, KBB Festival, and the Chamber Music Contest.

With being so busy doing Westlake music, Miya decided to stop playing in the West City Band.

But the big exciting news for Miya is that Westlake is planning a music group trip to China in April of next year.  About 100 students across the four senior orchestra/bands will go to Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai, performing and sightseeing.