Lexi Maples won her first individual New Zealand medal at the weekend when she finished second in the under 20 Heptathlon at the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin at the weekend.
Throughout the weekend she gained inspiration and was helped by former Wanganui Collegiate decathlete Max Attwell who took his first senior men's Decathlon title at the same venue. Attwell may have lacked opposition as he was the sole athlete in the grade (he did compete in many events with both the under 20 and under 18 athletes in the same event). It was clear from the outset that Attwell meant business with a personal best 100 metres. He did not disappoint ending with a big personal best point tally over the two days (6662 points)
Maples hopes to follow in the Attwell footsteps. Attwell took a silver medal in his first decathlon in Auckland in 2014 gaining him a place in the New Zealand Team to the Oceania Championships to Raratonga where he took the gold medal. Attwell distinguished himself at his final New Zealand Schools at Cooks Gardens when he won the 300 metre hurdles and ran in both the winning Collegiate relay teams on his home track.
A year later in 2015 Attwell improved taking gold in the under 20 Decathlon in Hamilton with a new best total and although by then Christchurch based made his final appearance in the green singlet of Manawatu/Whanganui. At the end of the New Zealand season Attwell toured in California and finished sixth in the prestigious Arcadia Decathlon.
Last year Attwell returned to Cooks Gardens this time wearing the red of Canterbury to take bronze in his maiden senior national decathlon. He scored 6219 which he improved on at the Australian Championships (6510 for 8th). At the weekend in difficult conditions he again bettered his performance to record 6662 points.