Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
From Picton to Stanford and the Olympics?
“It’s definitely been quite a challenge trying to balance, I guess, that studying-training sort of lifestyle.”
One of the world’s most prestigious universities is now home to a javelin thrower from Picton who is hoping to make her mark against America’s best student athletes.
And Abbey Moody has her sights set on more than just the United States.
Currently the New Zealand under-20 javelin champion, the 20-year-old was nearly halfway through her first year at Stanford University near San Francisco, after accepting a scholarship during her final year of high school.
Moody had been in talks with coaches from multiple colleges in 2022, when she got an early morning call.
“The coach, actually, I think she called me at about 2am or something crazy like that ... I called her back and she said I had been accepted,” Moody said.
“It’s been my dream school for so long, but I never really thought it had been possible I guess, and then it was just quite a shock, but yeah, definitely accepting the offer was one of the best feelings.”
She was one of nine “throwers” in the university’s track and field team, and was currently working on her javelin and discus game four hours a day, as well as taking five classes.
“It’s definitely been quite a challenge trying to balance, I guess, that studying-training sort of lifestyle ... I’m absolutely loving the training, my team is amazing over here,” she said.
Moody hadn’t yet competed for Stanford since heading over to California in September last year – she is still in training and study mode until her first
Abbey Moody
event in a few weeks’ time. However, she did get a taste for competition back home over the Christmas break, winning the women’s javelin event at the Lovelock Classic in Timaru on January 6.
Stanford had this year joined the Atlantic Coast Conference, a collegiate athletic conference whose teams took part in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). She was hoping to qualify for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June, where only the country’s best college track and field stars were invited, and Moody was “excited” about chances coming up to qualify.
“I’ve sort of been ready to go for quite a while, honestly ... I’ve had quite a big break off throwing, so I’m definitely, definitely looking forward to throwing, getting a chance to compete,“she said.
However, her ultimate goal since picking up a javelin for the first time was to qualify for the Olympics, becoming the first ever Kiwi female in her sport to do so, with the 2028 edition in mind.
“That’s definitely the big dream, especially because it hasn’t been done before, it’d be incredible. I’m definitely over here very proud to be a New Zealander,” she said.