Dale keen to take athletics career to new heights

Dale “DJ” Arbuckle may not live in Marlborough any more, but he still wears this province’s colours with pride - and no small measure of success.

The accomplished 20-year-old, one of the nation’s leading high jumpers, completed his track and field apprenticeship in this province before moving to Nelson three years ago for his studies and to be closer to his former coach.

Although he has recently moved to Christchurch, Dale continues to compete nationwide in the maroon vest of the Marlborough Athletics Club.

Provincial loyalty is a big part of Dale’s DNA and he plans to represent the area where it all started for him as long as he can.

“I will still compete in Marlborough colours until the end of this season and hope to carry on doing that. It might be harder now I am in Canterbury, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it …

“I owe a big debt to Marlborough athletics – people like Dave Hansen, they set the building blocks and gave me the opportunities … I can’t really imagine myself competing for another club,” he said.

In recent times those Marlborough colours have become more prominent on the national scene as Dale slowly but surely raised the bar on his high jumping career.

Last year he broke through the two metre barrier, setting a personal best of 2.03m at the national champs where he finished fifth among a high-class field which included Olympic champion Hamish Kerr.

“My coach at the time [Chris Walker] and I were working towards [the two metre mark] – it was a big moment. Last season was something of a Cinderella story. I went into it with a personal best of 1.93 and to make the improvements I did was due to all the hard work Chris and I put in over previous seasons.

“I first cleared two metres at a competition a month and a half before [the NZ champs], so I was really stoked to do it again at nationals.

“It was also really cool to have Hamish [Kerr] there … I really love to celebrate if I have done a good jump and I remember walking off the mat and over to where the other competitors were and he said, ‘I really love your energy’, so that was a bit of a surreal moment to hear that from an Olympic champion.”

Being based in Christchurch has brought plenty of benefits, including a chance to train at the same venue as Hamish, which is “an amazing opportunity”, according to Dale. He has also switched coaches, linking up with the highly-accredited mentor Terry Lomax, formerly Hamish’s coach, who works with a high performance squad of Kiwi jumpers in Canterbury.

Dale began his athletics efforts as a handy middle distance runner before a growth spurt pushed him towards the jumping disciplines. He initially mixed high jumping with long and triple jumping, enjoying success across all three, but an ankle injury encouraged him to set his sights in a vertical direction.

An early spur for Dale was the athletic efforts of his father, Marlborough-based NZ First MP Jamie Arbuckle.

“It was so cool to see Dad out on the track when I was younger … and he is still getting out there when he finds time. He is definitely a great role model in that regard. My whole family have always been into athletics and to have their full support is very heartening.”

Dale has set his sights on representing his country but knows that opportunity will only come about with a continual improvement.

“I am set on jumping my best at the time and preparing properly for the New Zealand season … I would love one day to make the Commonwealth [Games] team and I want to do that when I am at my very best.

“At the end of the day – excuse the pun – it is about setting the bar as high as you can … people like Hamish have shown it is possible to go all the way, no matter where you come from, so why can’t we aim for the stars.”

His season culminates in another trip to the NZ champs, to be staged in Auckland on March 5-8 and, having cleared 1.97m at the recent Canterbury champs, Dale suggests, “things seem to be coming together at the right time”.