Team Petty

Massive thanks to the Inspire Foundation for this opportunity to support a couple of young athletes by helping remove financial barriers to coaching.

This opportunity is ideally suited to young athletes who already do some running and are keen to develop further and be part of our training group.

If you or your child is interested in this opportunity, please send us an email to [email protected] to find out more.

Amazing racing by these 3 at the Australian Cross Country Championships in Ballarat today! 🇳🇿🇦🇺🏃‍♀️

Racing in the U17 Girls 4km, with over 60 of Australia and New Zealand’s best:

🥈 Tayla – 2nd
🔥 Isabel – 4th
💪 Milla – 16th (despite being sick!)

Tayla and Isabel the first 2 kiwis and Milla 5th kiwi!

The girls should be so proud of themselves!! It was their first time representing New Zealand as part of the NZ Secondary Schools team 🇳🇿

It was an incredibly muddy course, but that didn’t stop them from absolutely smashing it!

Massive congratulations, girls- such an awesome achievement! 👏❤️

Now time for a little break before track season woohoo! 🥳🏃‍♀️

Can’t believe it’s time to say goodbye to Alyssa! 🇳🇿🇺🇸🏃‍♀️

Alyssa was one of the very first athletes to join Team Petty back in 2019, when she was just 11 years old. Now, seven years later, she is heading off to Oklahoma on a four-year athletic and academic scholarship to attend Cameron University! 🎓🏃‍♀️

Over the past seven years, Alyssa has been such a huge part of Team Petty. She has been at almost every group training session 2–3 times a week, joined us for three Team Petty training camps in Hanmer Springs, competed at events all around New Zealand, and even raced in Australia.

One of the things we admire most about Alyssa is her perseverance. She continued to show up and stick at it through some health challenges and a few years where the PBs were hard to come by. That persistence made it even more special when everything started coming together this past year, with some awesome PBs including an 18:32 5km this winter! 🔥

But more than the running, Alyssa has become such a valued part of our squad and a close friend to many. It definitely won’t be the same without her at training each week, and she will be missed by all of us.

We’re incredibly excited to follow this next chapter and see Alyssa flourish in the United States. 🇺🇸 We know there are so many more exciting experiences, friendships and running and academic achievements ahead!

All the very best, Alyssa! We’ll miss you heaps, but you’ll always be part of the Team Petty family! It’s not goodbye but see you soon! ✨❤️

What a weekend it was for Tayla, Isabel and Milla at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships in Wellington!

Despite it being their first year in the Senior Girls grade (all three are only Year 11), they rose to the challenge in outstanding fashion. Competing against a field of 117 athletes, they tackled a tough 4km course featuring deep mud, river crossings, barriers and rain.

Tayla ran with such confidence going straight into the top 3 from the start, managing to hold the blistering pace, pass 3rd in the final km and cross the line in 2nd overall. Isabel paced herself perfectly, sitting around the top 10 the whole way before a strong finish for 9th. Milla showed incredible determination after a slower start and two falls during the race, fighting back strongly to cross the line in 13th.

The girls were also a part of the incredible Canterbury team who came 2nd in the 4x2km relays on Sunday.

All three girls have now earned selection for the New Zealand Secondary Schools team and are excited to represent New Zealand at the Australian National Championships this August.

A special mention also to Emily Watt, who finished strongly, passing numerous athletes over the final kilometre to place 49th. Great racing by CTA athlete Elza Harrington placing 30th in the Junior Girls.

The boys also gave everything with Otto Church finishing 43rd and Conall Latham (first year senior) 51st out of 193. It was a solid effort from 400–800m specialist Henry Sevier to complete the challenging 6km course, while James Trimboy unfortunately had to withdraw due to some tightness.

We couldn’t be prouder of the way everyone represented themselves and their schools on one of the toughest cross-country courses they’ll race all year!

Recent highlights 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

Here are some of the highlights from the end of the track season, along with recent road and cross-country races!

Special congratulations to Toby Tasker on becoming Oceania Champion as well as a bronze in the 5000m!

We’ve listed podium finishes and personal bests from each event (apologies if we’ve accidentally missed anyone).

There were also plenty of other fantastic performances, including many top-5 and top-10 finishes that we haven’t listed but are also impressive.

A huge congratulations to all of the athletes for their hard work, dedication, and commitment. While we love celebrating great results and achievements, we also recognise that sport comes with ups and downs. We are also proud of those who continue to show up, work hard, and give their best on the challenging days.

This post isn’t about us as coaches—it’s about recognising the incredible effort, perseverance, and progress of every athlete. Keep up the great work! 💪

PS we don’t have photos of everyone at the race where their result was listed so just put a few up 😀

It’s show time for Toby Tasker! 🇳🇿🔥

First Team Petty athlete to make a New Zealand senior team, he’ll be lining up later today in the 3km steeplechase and then again on Friday in the 5000m.

🏃‍♂️ 3km Steeplechase — 7:35pm NZ time today
🏃‍♂️ 5000m — 8:25pm NZ time Friday 22nd

The conditions will be tough with temperatures around 30°C each day, but Toby is tough.

Check it out live on the World Athletics YouTube page!

Let’s go Toby! 💪🇳🇿🔥🔥

Massive thanks to for our new team kit! Fun photoshoot with .photography on Tuesday 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

A big 4 days for Team Petty at the Athletics NZ Track & Field Championships in Auckland last week! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

10 athletes competing, with medals, PBs, and fantastic performances across the board 🎉🎉🎉

Swipe to see how everyone got on ➡️➡️➡️