Rebekah Greene has a problem, because she is talented at two sports and will need to make a choice between them in the future.
But at the moment the 14-year-old St Hildas Collegiate School pupil is able to compete in both sports at a high level.
In last month's New Zealand gymnastics championships at Hamilton she finished fourth overall in level 8 and had the highest score of 14.2 points on a single apparatus in the vault.
When she returned, Greene received good news from another sport when she was added to the New Zealand athletics team in the 3000m for the Pacific Schools Games at Canberra.
She proved it was no fluke when she ran a personal best time by 19sec to win the Otago girls aged 15 and 16 3000m title at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday.
Her time of 10min 11.77sec was an Otago record for girls aged 14, 15, 16 and 17. It beat the old record set by Andrea Elvines (Alexandra) 25 years ago.
Greene followed her older sister Jamie (17) - a New Zealand gymnastics representative and wing in the Otago Spirit women's rugby team - into gymnastics at the age of 6. She has been running competitively for five years and sees a bigger future for herself in athletics than gymnastics.
"I prefer running," she said.
"I'm over the moon to make the team for Canberra. It's the first time I've represented New Zealand. I'm stoked and really looking forward to it."
Anna Kean (14), a pupil at Bayfield High School, has been selected for the 800m. Her best time in the event is 2min 17sec, which is a promising time for a 14-year-old.
"It's a good opportunity for me to see how far I can go against runners from the other countries," she said.
"I'm looking forward to it."
Kean comes from a sporting family.
Her mother Lynne Kean (nee Collie) represented Otago at swimming and was a member of Duncan Laing's training squad.
Both athletes are coached by former Sydney coach Jim Baird. His daughter, Fran, is also in the team in the 3000m walk.
Baird sees his role as a development coach for other Otago coaches. He identifies talent from children's and schools' athletics and works with most of the other coaches in Dunedin.
He originally worked with two of the other athletes who have been picked for the Pacific Schools Games - Guy Woodhouse (sprints) and Ben Jowsey (400m and 800m), who are now trained by Otago's international sprint coach, Brent Ward.
• Anna Kean (14)
School: Bayfield High Sshool.
Sport: Athletics.
Record: NZ Colgate Games, 2nd 800m 2007; 2nd in 400m and 1500m 2008. NZ team for Pacific Schools Games, Canberra.
Best times: 400m (61sec), 800m (2min 17sec), 1500m (4min 52sec.
• Rebekah Greene (14)
School: St Hildas Collegiate School.
Sports: Athletics, gymnastics.
Record, Athletics: 7th NZ secondary schools junior girls' cross-country; NZ team for Pacific Schools Games, Canberra.
Best times: 800m (2min 18sec), 1500m (4min 45sec), 3000m (10min 11.77sec).
Gymnastics: NZ championships 2008, 4th overall at level 8; highest score on single apparatus with 14.2 points on vault.
