Tutai brings home a bronze medal

A bronze medal, personal best times and valuable track and field experience are the achievements of the six Cook Islands secondary school athletes who competed in New Zealand in December.

The athletes took part in the annual New Zealand Secondary Schools track and field championships held in Timaru with Aitutaki thrower Daniel Tutai winning a bronze medal in the javelin.Tutai won a gold medal at the same event in 2008 and is the current holder of the national open men and under 18 javelin records. Tutai’s record stands at 59.88m in the under 18 division and 60.3m in the open men’s division.

Tutai had to put up with an elbow injury during the competition and he managed to battle through pinching pain to throw a distance of 56.82m to win the bronze.

Rarotonga sprinter Patricia Taea sprinted her way to the semi finals of the senior girls 100m race and recorded a personal best time on the track in a time of 12.79 seconds.

While these were the two most notable achievements by the team of six local athletes – competing alongside some of New Zealand top emerging track and field athletes has provided the local athletes with invaluable experiences as they continue to develop their athletics skills.

Making up the team with Tutai and Taea were Noni Watt (Aitutaki), Turuariki Baxter (Aitutaki), Tokoono Jessie and Harry Ivaiti.