Hammer thrower Lexi Maples is back in her home town to compete in the Cooks Classic.
Hammer thrower Lexi Maples is back in her home town to compete in the Cooks Classic.
Former Whanganui athlete Lexi Maples is competing in the Cooks Classic, challenging Olympian Lauren Bruce.
Maples, now based in Los Angeles, progressed significantly in hammer-throwing at North Dakota State University.
She aims for the 2028 Olympics, encouraging more female athletes to try hammer-throwing.
Former Whanganui athlete Lexi Maples is taking a break from life in Los Angeles to compete in the Cooks Classic.
Maples excels in the female hammer-throwing event where New Zealand has had an array of talent, such as Julia Ratcliffe and Lauren Bruce, in recent times.
When Maples started athletics, she trained in sprints and long jump, courtesy of Whanganui Athletics Club president and her former Collegiate teacher, Alec McNab.
A stress fracture to her heel in 2017 made her focus more on hammer-throwing because it meant less frequent strain on the injury.
As she progressed, becoming a hexathlete was the only thing on her mind so she moved to Christchurch to study and try her luck.
A hexathlon requires athletes to compete in six specialised events.
An injury and advice from others motivated Maples to pursue hammer-throwing.
However, Maples' training to be a hexathlete did not go as planned.
“I just kept getting injured and wasn’t progressing as far in the hexathlon as I wanted to,” she said.
It took an honest conversation with a friend in 2020 to ignite her career.
“Someone who was quite dear to me, we had a really real conversation about what I wanted to do in my life and they ended up being the one that said ‘you should be a hammer thrower, I really think you have a chance in that’,” Maples said.
She took her friend’s advice, along with that of her former coach in Whanganui, Richard Drabcynski, completed her bachelor’s degree and started contacting American coaches.
She decided on North Dakota State University (NDSU) and left on scholarship in August 2023 to complete her master’s in health, nutrition and exercise science and progress with hammer-throwing.
Despite feeling unsure and having to “make a leap of faith”, Maples said the experience in the US was invaluable.
“North Dakota had one of the stronger athletic programmes,” she said.
“It’s a very small town but, for what it had to offer for my masters programme and my athletics, that was probably the only one that ticked my boxes.
“I certainly did progress. I was a 58m thrower before I went and then by the end of my master’s degree I was nearly a 65m thrower.”
Maples had rapid success in her time at NDSU. She made the National Collegiate Athletics Association Nationals and the second team all-American, Summit League champion throwing 64.97m, and becoming fifth on the all-time list for female hammer throwers in New Zealand.
Maples was the summit league champion for the women's hammer-throw, reaching 64.97m.
She admits it was not all free-flowing in North Dakota.
“It was definitely an adjustment - I learned a lot about myself,” Maples said.
“It’s very different to Whanganui, for one.
“I refer to my time there as my wilderness season, where I did feel quite alone for most of it but it was a really good chance for me to figure out my priorities and what was important to me.”
Maples found training, socialising, resting, trying to earn money, and demanding coursework for her master’s programme a difficult balancing act.
Maples graduated halfway through last year and has since been based in Los Angeles, teaching physical education and continuing to train.
She said the devastating fires in LA had affected her and people she knew.
“It’s very sad what is happening to people. There were a couple days where it hit me quite hard like, ‘while I’m okay, there’s a lot of people who will be wondering if they’ve got a home for the next year’. It is sad to imagine how it is deeply impacting people - my heart goes out to a lot of those families,” she said.
“I hope it gets better soon so we can have better air and have a good rest of winter in California.”
Maples, who lives about 5.5km from the nearest fire, could see the red smoke rising on the hills.
“A lot of the parents at my school had homes in that area that have had to be evacuated. The air quality when the fires were at their absolute worst was terrible; I was coughing up black phlegm.
“Everywhere you looked there was smoke in the air and looked like it was raining ashes.”
Maples returned to Whanganui for the Cooks Classic, a competition she first participated in more than 10 years ago.
Last week she competed in Wellington’s Sola Power Thrower’s Meet and then came to Whanganui to reconnect with family.
Maples said the Cooks Classic was an iconic event for her.
“It is pretty special to come back and compete for Whanganui - my hometown will always be Whanganui,” Maples said.
“The Cooks Classic has always been the ‘OG’ competition for me. My first-ever sprint coach was Alec McNab. He was my hexathlon coach and played a really big role in my life - I always saw him as that Mr Miyagi figure that I always wanted in a coach.
“It is always an honour to come back and compete in his meet that he hosts; he has always been super-accommodating for me.”
She has not competed in New Zealand for nearly two years.
Maples said the Cooks Classic would be more of an indicator for her rather than a “be-all or end-all”, with her season in the US not beginning until mid-March.
“I’m trying to keep realistic goals. I’ve only been with my coach for five months - I know I’m capable of throwing far but have to manage my expectations,” Maples said.
“This is my first international, competing not long after flying; my body has definitely been adjusting this week.
“I’m hoping to throw far. I’m hoping to give Lauren Bruce a bit of competition - she has always been my rival in hammer-throwing in New Zealand. It is kind of us two at the moment.”
Maples’ routine would continue much the same when she returned to LA.
“My life will look the same as it does now, but I’m doing everything I love so it doesn’t feel like a chore at all and I feel like I am living in my purpose.”
She will continue to train, teach and live in LA in preparation for the season but has big dreams for the future, competing at the 2028 Olympic Games in LA being one of them.
She said her journey had been challenging at times, but hammer-throwing was a unique sport she would like more female athletes to try their luck at it.
“You haven’t got to be good to start, you just have to start to be good,” Maples said.
