GOLDEN BOY: Mitchell Snell with the three gold medals he won at the North Island Colgate Games and topping that up with the Nick Willis Scholarship. PHOTO/Duncan Brown
GOLDEN BOY: Mitchell Snell with the three gold medals he won at the North Island Colgate Games and topping that up with the Nick Willis Scholarship. PHOTO/Duncan Brown
Mitchell Snell's memory of THAT day is vague and so is what transpired with New Zealand Olympian silver medallist Nick Willis at their home in Napier.
"I only met him once when, I think, I must have been about 3, sitting on a couch," says the 13-year-old Lindisfarne College pupil.
Fortunately - or unfortunately if you're a teenager who doesn't appreciate people gawking at your childhood photos - his father, Tony Snell, has a vivid recollection of that day and a photo to jog his memory about anything that may slip through in recounting it.
Recalls the senior Snell, a well-known physiotherapist, Willis was with former Napier Olympian Jason Stewart when the pair visited him at their home.
"Jason and Nick came to me for the usual check up and to say hi," says Tony of the pair who were on the brink of going to the IAAF World Athletics Championship in Helsinki, Finland, in 2005.
The short and tall of it all is that Mitchell is hoping to meet Michigan-based Willis today at the 17th edition of the annual Allan and Sylvia Potts Memorial Classic meeting in Hastings.
"Dad is catching up with him at some point so if I get a chance I'll meet him," says the teenager who was one of four athletes to receive a Colgate Palmolive-sponsored Nick Willis scholarships in Palmerston North.
DISTANT MEMORY: Nick Willis (pictured) who Mitchell Snell hopes to meet today. PHOTO/NZME.
The youngster, who will be in year 9 when school starts soon, claimed gold medals in the 800m, 1500m and high jump events of the North Island Colgate Games from January 8-10.
The Hastings Athletic Club member also competed in long jump and the 4x100m relay where his team came second but were disqualified for "crossing the lane somewhere" during the baton change.
High jump is his favourite discipline because he guesses he's good at it. He trains for the 800m race but the 1500m victory came as a pleasant surprise, after he discovered his father had put his name in as an entry.
"The 1500 win came at the end so I wasn't expecting to get gold there because I was just doing it for fun," says Snell who reconciles having to wake up early in the morning to train as " a good sacrifice".
He intends to bow out of athletics between the age of 20 to 25 to pursue non-sporty activities such as a career as a builder or a PE teacher.
"I want to do other things," says the youngster who feels it'll be "nice" to represent his country at Olympics but "I don't think I'm good enough".
Athletes who display outstanding performance receive the $500 scholarship. About 1000 of them, from 7 to 14 years old, competed at the games.
Awarded for the first time in 2013, the Nick Willis scholarships make a contribution towards sports gear, coaching, travel or other resources to help athletes achieve their goals.
The awards are not only for great performances but also excellent attitudes.
Mitchell, who also is competing today in the Potts classic, intends to buy a pair of specialised high jump shoes which has four spikes in the back and seven in the front.
"It gives you tons of lift," says Snell who has won his fourth consecutive high-jump crown at age-group level.
His maiden one came at the games in 2013 as a Reignier Catholic School pupil.
This time last year the father and son went to Auckland to consult coach Paul Lothian to hone his Fosbury technique after ditching the scissors approach.
His father, an accomplished runner, will continue mentoring Snell in running.
WHAT'S ON
12pm-4pm: Potts Classic Ribbon Children's Meeting 3yrs to U14.
4.15pm: 3000m track walk Open women-men field Allan & Sylvia Potts Track and Field Classic.
